By John Bedard
‘A Million Volt Scream’ is my first introduction to Transport League. I am not really sure what I was expecting before going in, but I was definitely not disappointed. There is definitely an old school feel with this album. Listening to it brings to mind some elements of Black Sabbath or Kiss. It is not a copy of them by any means but there is a clear influence back to the classics that is very well done. It was a particularly enjoyable album to listen to while driving as it made every trip feel like I was the star of an action film who was about to do something awesome. Even if all I was doing was picking up milk.
The majority of the album has a fantastic high energy that is mostly uninterrupted through the experience. I would say the exception to this would be “Dawn of Lucifer”. It is at an odd place on the album. It is not a bad song by any standard but with the way the rest of the album is it feels like it would have been much better at the end of the album while the energy winds down. In the middle it takes you out of the moment and I think does a disservice to the song and with the next song being back to the high energy I was left wondering why the mood was subdued when it was instead of just putting the song later on the album. I know it is a very small thing and probably should not bug me as much as it did, especially when the album is so good overall: I really should just forgive it.
With this being my first introduction to the band I will not go too much into comparisons to past works however I did go listen to some of their older music to try to get a feel for what they have done before. It is in the same style so if you are a fan of them already I don’t think you will be disappointed. I do think this is far more refined. There is a higher production value and it sounds like the band was really comfortable with this release. Every song seems so effortless like the band is just a bunch of friends having a good time and it just happens to also produce an album. This gives the album a very natural feeling that is really nice to hear.
Definitely give this one a listen. It is a lot of fun and would be hard to not like by anyone. With that modernized old school style I think this will appeal to far more people than would realize it. The album bridges a musical gap across a couple styles and eras that people from all generations will find things they like here. Apparently, they do still make music like the good old days.
‘A Million Volt Scream’ is released on 6 September. You can get your copy HERE.
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