Make Some Noise
Make Some Noise is easiest to enjoy when The Dead Daisies stop asking the songs to represent anything larger than a good hard-rock performance. John Corabi has a rough, capable voice, the rhythm section moves firmly, and Doug Aldrich's guitar gives the riffs plenty of character. The musical language is familiar. The question is how often the band can make that familiarity feel alive.
“Long Way to Go” supplies a strong entrance, with guitars and voice pulling in the same direction. It has a direct, rolling momentum that suits the band. “We All Fall Down” changes the feel through a deeper bass presence and a steadier groove, while “Song and a Prayer” makes one of the album's clearest melodic statements. The chorus works because the arrangement leaves its outline easy to hear. These are experienced players making sensible choices around a song.
“Mainline” has an especially forceful opening, though its later sections do less to develop the promise of the riff. That limitation appears elsewhere. The title track is built as a shared chant, and it delivers the expected release without finding much individual detail inside it. The covers of “Fortunate Son” and “Join Together” are confidently played, but they also make the writing of the originals sound more sharply defined by comparison. The band's affection for the material is clear; a distinctive reinterpretation is less obvious.
There is enough instrumental pleasure to keep the album moving, especially in the exchanges between Corabi's rasp and the guitars. What it lacks is a more consistent sense that a particular song could only belong to this band. The musicians can create impact almost on demand, but impact is not always the same as a memorable turn. Make Some Noise works well as a straightforward dose of classic hard rock. Its stronger tracks, particularly “Song and a Prayer,” show how much better that approach becomes when the chorus has an identity as firm as the playing.
