The Official Art of Anarchy Thread

[chtimixeur]

Bumblefoot can play guitar.
But has ever written a memorable song? Not so sure about that.
I also don't understand why he would have the same singer in two different bands of his. It doesn't make sense to me.

The issue with AoA is that they're extremely generic, and the twins have zero charisma.
The fact that they sue their singers whenever they don't reach success doesn't help their cause.
I wish them well, but I'm done with that band.

[nagpo]

I'm done with them too

[Mr. Slash]

They've reunited with a new singer and bassist, with a third album due next year. Interestingly enough their new singer, Jeff Scott Soto, has a pretty rich discography. He's sang for Yngwie Malmsteen's solo band, Sons of Apollo with Bumblefoot and Mike Portnoy and he even sang for a band called Human Clay in the 90s! He was also in that movie Myles was in; Rock Star.

As for the song....its uhh.... something I guess. They should have tried harder for someone like Whitfield Crane or Brett Scallions. I think (lawsuits aside) having a singer established in the 90s added flavor to the music these guys like to play. It helps it stand out more. This sounds like some nothing band from the 80s, and the awkward PTSD/Joker message just feels out of place. Geoff Tate can't narrate for shit. I stand by Whitfield Crane being the best choice for these guys. His voice is alternative enough to keep them from sounding too 80s, yet he has the same influences as the other guys. It seems like he'd be able to speak their language better than Stapp and Weiland did. The new album cover looks pretty awful too. Here's Vilified

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0YsFetchXQ

So they've become a dad-rock band it seems!

[Devil Inside You]

They've reunited with a new singer and bassist, with a third album due next year. Interestingly enough their new singer, Jeff Scott Soto, has a pretty rich discography. He's sang for Yngwie Malmsteen's solo band, Sons of Apollo with Bumblefoot and Mike Portnoy and he even sang for a band called Human Clay in the 90s! He was also in that movie Myles was in; Rock Star.

As for the song....its uhh.... something I guess. They should have tried harder for someone like Whitfield Crane or Brett Scallions. I think (lawsuits aside) having a singer established in the 90s added flavor to the music these guys like to play. It helps it stand out more. This sounds like some nothing band from the 80s, and the awkward PTSD/Joker message just feels out of place. Geoff Tate can't narrate for shit. I stand by Whitfield Crane being the best choice for these guys. His voice is alternative enough to keep them from sounding too 80s, yet he has the same influences as the other guys. It seems like he'd be able to speak their language better than Stapp and Weiland did. The new album cover looks pretty awful too. Here's Vilified

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0YsFetchXQ

So they've become a dad-rock band it seems!

*Astronaut pointing gun*

Always has been

[Devil Inside You]

It probably means nothing but I've noticed Bumblefoot has been commenting and following a lot of posts Mark is on Facebook. A few of them are even Creed related. It just stood out to me given what happened between him and Stapp

[nagpo]

Just a snake in the garden

[Devil Inside You]

New song. Musically its very good. Way better than that awful Vilified song. Its too bad they didn't (or couldn't) play something like this when Stapp was in the band. Its like a softer version of Gematria by Slipknot in some parts. Man, these vocals though. I just cannot feel anything for this guy's singing. I'm going to give this album a listen from beginning to end because do I like them as musicians but I really wish they had someone like Whitfield Crane instead

https://youtu.be/hJr8mdBMHRw?si=3u-weCpLVgzc30dF

[nagpo]

it's a 7:30 song shitting on stapp lol

[Devil Inside You]

it's a 7:30 song shitting on stapp lol

You think so? I got more political leanings from it than Stapp references. Not that I'm that invested in the lyrics but I know for sure there will be songs shitting on Stapp that I'm curious about. Echo Your Madness and Blind Man's Victory are very obviously going to be about Stapp. The Good, The Bad and the Insane is probably going to include some Weiland slander too.

[nagpo]

I just feel like these guys are so childish and vindictive that the record will be about people they feel have wronged them.

[Devil Inside You]

So I just listened to their new album in full. Funnily enough, I preordered it and apparently it didn't arrive for myself and many others until this week, more than a month after the release date. I got it a few days before I got Stapp's new album. They even have some cheeky post on Facebook about it finally being in stock again. I can't help but wonder if that was some subtle middle finger to Stapp. I also got an ad for Bumblefoot's new band when I was watching the If These Walls Could Talk video.

That aside, its not a bad album. I know these guys get a ton of crap for the way they've handled their professional lives, but the Vottas and Bumblefoot are very talented musicians. Their new bassist is as good as John Moyer and the instrumentation is excellent for the whole record. You can tell they finally made the album they've always wanted to since they came out in 2015. There's many songs that remind me of other bands, which is expected to happen when you're having fun writing music. Your influences will seep through. Die Hard sounds like a radio friendly version of Gematria by Slipknot. Writing on the Wall and Rivals are two songs I distinctly remember enjoying but there were tons of tracks with insane playing. I'd be lying if I said it didn't get me pumped at times. Even Vilified fit in with the album. The only awful song was Dying Days which has a horrendous vocal melody.

Speaking of vocals, Jeff Scott Soto is my least favorite aspect of this whole thing. I finally have solidarity for people who say they love Creed musically but hate Stapp's singing, because that is generally how I feel about this record. There are times where he does sound really good, and he definitely has an impressive range, but he just is not as engaging as a frontman the way Weiland and Stapp were on their respective albums. What made Art of Anarchy a unique band wasn't their singer drama, it was the fact that you had four musicians who loved heavy metal having their songs being reinterpreted by an alternative rock (specifically Grunge) singer. With Jeff Soto they may as well be any other metal band currently in existence. For every moment that I enjoyed, there were several where I just rolled my eyes, and thought I was listening to some lame Anvil record. There is this weird masculine energy throughout and not in a machismo type way, but more in a way that I can't picture any woman listening to or enjoying a single song off this album. It has that type of metal vibe where it would have been dead on arrival in the 90s.

Lyrically, Jeff Soto is no Weiland or Stapp. Even though he's made at least three times the album of the respective discographies for both singers, there isn't a single line on here that resonates the same way the Weiland or Stapp tracks did. I'm just glad the entire record isn't hating on Stapp as a person. The closest thing to a spiteful song is Echo Your Madness and even that song is very obviously dedicated to Scott Weiland.

I can see a lot of people in AB Nation liking this album. Blind Man's Victory sounds like a Metallica song crossed with Five Finger Death Punch, and again, the solos and riffs here are super impressive at some points. Hell, I'm sure it could even grow on me with repeated listens. But honestly, I'd rather just listen to the music these guys have made that I already did enjoy with their two prior singers, or even just play Higher Power again, something I already love. Art of Anarchy was grandfathered into my life by working with two of my three favorite singers ever, but so long as they're moving forward with Jeff Soto, I highly doubt they'll release anything I enjoy as self titled or The Madness ever again.