Candlebox are nu-metal’s ultimate working band, blue collar guys with white collar brains, stacked with more than enough talent and chops to knock one out of the park, even if it’s usually the same hunk of horsehide.

From the record’s onset, the band’s bets are all on 7s and 11s: “Stand” creeps in with only the slightest of variations on the busy-beetle guitar doodle that opened “You” from their eponymous 1993 debut, after which it proceeds directly to their other staple shtick, which could be summarized as Van Hagar Goes To Hell Wearing Papa Roach Tee Shirts. Thing with these guys is that they’re so bubbling over with technical ability that their thievery often goes undetected, as when they rook from both Rush and Jimmy Page on the same tune (“Miss You”) or smuggle Zep’s “The Ocean” through the great rock n roll scam detector by adding a white-guy-blues vocal effort straight out of Black Crowes (“Breathe Me In”).

Fellow early 90s curiosity Live gets vibe-checked in the weirdo-love rocker “Lover Come Back to Me.”

By Eric Saeger

Homepage: Candlebox