Gov’t Mule – Mulennium (Provogue).
This release is a live recording made at the Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia on 31/12/2009 with Bad Little Doggie opening up the 3 CD set and they give it a big build up, just like a preacher. This is a chunky blues rock and the singer has a classic rock voice – a great opener. Lay Your Burden Down has the band in a groove. It’ a grinder with excellent guitar work. Blind Man In The Dark has them raiding their back catalogue with a fuzzed vocal on this standard blues rocker. Life Before Insanity is a great title and the band slows things right down for this classy rock ballad. Larger Than Life has hypnotic drums and the vocals are holding up well. This track shows just how good a band Govt Mule is. Towering Fool is classic slow rock – moody, brooding and peppered with stinging guitar. Countdown Jam is essentially a 90 second warm up and lead into a cover of King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man. Although King Crimson covers are rare, Govt Mule stays true to the original complete with heavy vibes and fuzzed vocal. The Who’s We’re Not Gonna Take It follows and this is a great version of another song that is not often covered. A trio of covers finishes with Led Zeppelin’s Dazed And Confused, which is delivered with panache by the all Mules line up and closes the first set after 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Set 2, 1 hour and 43 minutes, is a selection of songs with blues legend Little Milton and opens with When The Blues Comes Knockin’. This classic rhythmic blues has Little Milton on vocal and his smokey tones add a little piece of class. My Dog And Me is a Chicago blues about when your woman leaves and all that’s left is the dog! The guitar will touch your soul and, when added to the heartfelt vocal, makes for a top class blues song. Lump On Your Stump continues the Little Milton collaboration and what a title that is! This bounces along very well and the message to come out of it is – don’t mess with Milton. I Can’t Quit You Baby is another classic blues song and they play it to perfection whilst their version of It Hurts Me Too is not quite as raw as those of say, Elmore James and Eric Clapton. However, it is just as good and the dual vocals works well. Milton is the man as they take on Blues Is Alright, perhaps best known to some by the Gary Moore cover, and deliver it in an authentic and vibrant style. Former member Audley Freed (also ex-Black Crowes) joins them for Is It My Body and the addition of his guitar is noticeable. They go for that fuzzed vocal again but I feel that it is not necessary this time and it slightly spoils a good track. Disc 2 ends with Power Of Soul and Freed stays on for this funky offering. It turns into a bit of a jam but when there are two excellent guitarists on show then it doesn’t really matter too much.
The final disc, which has them finishing at 03:43 am, starts with a version of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter and although it loses to the original on vocal prowess, it is as frantic and is still a class apart. Sometimes Salvation has Freed still with the band and he makes his mark on this classy, slow rocker. Robert? Adds his vocals for 30 Days In The Hole whilst Freed continues on guitar. This is vibrant and even mentions Newcastle Brown! The drummer gives it plenty on this and the guitarists swap licks effortlessly. With Freed now filling in full time as they move on to the classic rock themes of End Of The Line. The addition of slide guitar to the mix makes for a more rounded sound. Out Of The Rain takes quite a while to get going but the powerful, soulful vocal is worth waiting for. The singer turns in a great performance and the addition of steel guitar gives it a country feel. The Americana standard, I Shall Be Released, is delivered with great melody and there’s a new bassist and guitarist added. Freed is back for a brilliant take on the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, Simple Man. This is one of my favourite songs and Govt Mule’s version is worth every one of the 15 minutes that they give us. They certainly don’t do too many short songs and you certainly get your money’s worth on this album and this is what music is all about. Having said that, they follow up with Crowd and, at less than 2 minutes long, I feel short changed!! Seriously though, this is just the sound of the crowd at the end of the gig.
This is a great introduction to the music of Govt Mule so go get it.
http://www.mule.net/
http://www.provoguerecords.com/
David Blue.
This release is a live recording made at the Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia on 31/12/2009 with Bad Little Doggie opening up the 3 CD set and they give it a big build up, just like a preacher. This is a chunky blues rock and the singer has a classic rock voice – a great opener. Lay Your Burden Down has the band in a groove. It’ a grinder with excellent guitar work. Blind Man In The Dark has them raiding their back catalogue with a fuzzed vocal on this standard blues rocker. Life Before Insanity is a great title and the band slows things right down for this classy rock ballad. Larger Than Life has hypnotic drums and the vocals are holding up well. This track shows just how good a band Govt Mule is. Towering Fool is classic slow rock – moody, brooding and peppered with stinging guitar. Countdown Jam is essentially a 90 second warm up and lead into a cover of King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man. Although King Crimson covers are rare, Govt Mule stays true to the original complete with heavy vibes and fuzzed vocal. The Who’s We’re Not Gonna Take It follows and this is a great version of another song that is not often covered. A trio of covers finishes with Led Zeppelin’s Dazed And Confused, which is delivered with panache by the all Mules line up and closes the first set after 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Set 2, 1 hour and 43 minutes, is a selection of songs with blues legend Little Milton and opens with When The Blues Comes Knockin’. This classic rhythmic blues has Little Milton on vocal and his smokey tones add a little piece of class. My Dog And Me is a Chicago blues about when your woman leaves and all that’s left is the dog! The guitar will touch your soul and, when added to the heartfelt vocal, makes for a top class blues song. Lump On Your Stump continues the Little Milton collaboration and what a title that is! This bounces along very well and the message to come out of it is – don’t mess with Milton. I Can’t Quit You Baby is another classic blues song and they play it to perfection whilst their version of It Hurts Me Too is not quite as raw as those of say, Elmore James and Eric Clapton. However, it is just as good and the dual vocals works well. Milton is the man as they take on Blues Is Alright, perhaps best known to some by the Gary Moore cover, and deliver it in an authentic and vibrant style. Former member Audley Freed (also ex-Black Crowes) joins them for Is It My Body and the addition of his guitar is noticeable. They go for that fuzzed vocal again but I feel that it is not necessary this time and it slightly spoils a good track. Disc 2 ends with Power Of Soul and Freed stays on for this funky offering. It turns into a bit of a jam but when there are two excellent guitarists on show then it doesn’t really matter too much.
The final disc, which has them finishing at 03:43 am, starts with a version of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter and although it loses to the original on vocal prowess, it is as frantic and is still a class apart. Sometimes Salvation has Freed still with the band and he makes his mark on this classy, slow rocker. Robert? Adds his vocals for 30 Days In The Hole whilst Freed continues on guitar. This is vibrant and even mentions Newcastle Brown! The drummer gives it plenty on this and the guitarists swap licks effortlessly. With Freed now filling in full time as they move on to the classic rock themes of End Of The Line. The addition of slide guitar to the mix makes for a more rounded sound. Out Of The Rain takes quite a while to get going but the powerful, soulful vocal is worth waiting for. The singer turns in a great performance and the addition of steel guitar gives it a country feel. The Americana standard, I Shall Be Released, is delivered with great melody and there’s a new bassist and guitarist added. Freed is back for a brilliant take on the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, Simple Man. This is one of my favourite songs and Govt Mule’s version is worth every one of the 15 minutes that they give us. They certainly don’t do too many short songs and you certainly get your money’s worth on this album and this is what music is all about. Having said that, they follow up with Crowd and, at less than 2 minutes long, I feel short changed!! Seriously though, this is just the sound of the crowd at the end of the gig.
This is a great introduction to the music of Govt Mule so go get it.
http://www.mule.net/
http://www.provoguerecords.com/
David Blue.
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