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New Band - The Winery Dogs


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I like the one song I'd not previously heard, Time Machine. Pretty cool cut.

 

Hey P-D! :hi:

 

Did you get the phisical copy or the download? I bought the download, but the sogn "Criminal" is not included in the final tracklist!

 

It´s a real shame that this band hasn´t received much attention in the forum yet - they sound great!

 

The theatre they´ll play tonight has a 600-crowd capacity, and it´s sold out. As much as I think they deserve a bigger venue to play, it will be great to see them so close. I brought the Niacin CD and will try to get it signed by Billy.

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The album is good. Glenn Hughes without the histrionics and better Bass/Drum. Lots of interesting instrumental stuff going on. Where it falls down for me, like most CD-era albums is that its a bit long, still rooted in the Vinyl era I guess, put your best 40 minutes on there, not everything plus the kitchen sink. Also the slower songs get too much into Rod Stewart territory for my liking.

 

In the silly Amazon star rating system I'd give it a solid 4.

 

However it's a Portnoy project so we'll probably only get one album.

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I've got a few problems with this band; 1 - I just don't like Richie Kotzen's voice, he can sing but it has a whiney tone that irritates me, 2 - He's an advanced guitarist but here he's just playing average blues-rock licks. And who wants to hear any of these guys, Portnoy, Sheehan, just play pseudo blues. I'd rather them do a prog, metal or jazz/fusion album. Someone compared this band to Black Country Communion, I say no f***ing way!
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Fair comments, T-D. Richie´s voice is indeed whiny, but I like it anyway. And your second comment somehow mathces one I read on youtube - watching these guys play straight up rock and roll is like watching Usain Bolt swim - they´re out of their usual element. But to me that´s the beauty of it, they´re trying different things. Except maybe for Richie. This album is almost as if he´d done a solo record with the best backup band ever.

 

If you want shredding, check out an (almost) 100% instrumental album he did with Greg Howe, called Tilt. only one song has vocals. Here´s a sample:

 

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Fair comments, T-D. Richie´s voice is indeed whiny, but I like it anyway. And your second comment somehow mathces one I read on youtube - watching these guys play straight up rock and roll is like watching Usain Bolt swim - they´re out of their usual element. But to me that´s the beauty of it, they´re trying different things. Except maybe for Richie. This album is almost as if he´d done a solo record with the best backup band ever.

 

If you want shredding, check out an (almost) 100% instrumental album he did with Greg Howe, called Tilt. only one song has vocals. Here´s a sample:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Hrt4eRG0c

Yeah I know that one, it's pretty good.

 

I have another record he did that's similar to the Winery Dogs, Forty Deuce - Nothing to Lose, it was called and I tried to get into it but I just couldn't stand to listen to it for very long. It was the same with his Fever Dream album, good but I just didn't like it. He's good but there's something missing.

 

I think this project was originally supposed to feature John Sykes and when he went in another direction Kotzen was drafted in.

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I like the one song I'd not previously heard, Time Machine. Pretty cool cut.

 

Hey P-D! :hi:

 

Did you get the phisical copy or the download? I bought the download, but the sogn "Criminal" is not included in the final tracklist!

 

It´s a real shame that this band hasn´t received much attention in the forum yet - they sound great!

 

The theatre they´ll play tonight has a 600-crowd capacity, and it´s sold out. As much as I think they deserve a bigger venue to play, it will be great to see them so close. I brought the Niacin CD and will try to get it signed by Billy.

 

I bought the CD, but a friend had sent me a download of the album with Criminal WEEKS ago, so I kept that one and included it on my playlist along with the rest.

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Just came from the show. No luck with meeting any of the guys for autographs, but since I got to the venue straight from work, I managed to listen to the whole soundchek from outside. Great concert, these guys rocked Rio! Richie was the star of the show, but all three sounded amazing. Even my wife loved it. If these guys make it to your area, don´t miss them!
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My take on the album:

 

The Winery Dogs is a fine project with a very good debut and room for improvement as well, so I’m hopeful. I can’t bring myself to the full-five star gushing that the album is largely getting, nor am I pulling back from that as a reaction to the praise. I’m simply not the type to levy undo criticism merely to counter-point. In fact I’m ecstatic that it’s being received so well by listener and critic alike. No, this really is a very good record, but it’s not perfect.

 

The good is obvious: the band is of enormous talent and that’s on display here. Richie Kotzen now has a chance to be known to more than 8 people across the world and good for him because his degree of prowess deserves a broader stage. The vocals are largely terrific, aside from the occasional big chorus that isn’t entirely necessary. Sometimes I think just Kotzen’s voice would suffice. Billy Sheehan’s lead bass style may not be everyone’s cup of tea and far from the traditional role on that instrument, but I’ve always been a fan and he’s on full display here. Mike Portnoy, well, I’m just not a fan. I’ve never much dug his over-the-top histrionics in Dream Theater, but to his credit he’s pulled back here considerably. I really thought he’d be the proverbial bull in the china shop, and while I largely deem his playing on this debut album to be nothing spectacular, it’s also not the train wreck I fearing it would be either. So props to “Silent Bob” (pick another visual style, Michael) for exercising much appreciated restraint.

 

The songs are a bit hit-and-miss with me, none of it owing to the playing or the album’s sonics, but rather the writing…which is occasionally just at the rock blandola level. Only on one occasion does the album dip into the skipable area and that’s on the unfortunate We Are One, which musically is fine enough, but whose lyrics are so bad I ultimately deleted it from my playlist. I’m not normally a lyrical guy (especially rock wordsmithing), but bad lyrics and a cheesy chorus can tank a tune if you’re not careful. On an already indulgent album, this definitely should have gotten the boot.

 

The good news is that beyond that cut, the songs range from very listenable to downright excellent. Elevate, I’m No Angel, You Saved Me, Time Machine, Regret, and the incredible The Dying all make my best-of-show and easily worth the purchase price alone. Criminal (overseas release only) is also a choice cut if you can acquire it. The others are serviceable, although I’m not blown away by them, except in fits and starts (ooh, I like that solo; ooh, I like that bass line there, etc).

 

I’d really like to see these guys work with an involved producer, talented as they may be, for focus and direction and to avoid the pitfalls of self-editing. I think with touring and maybe some writing on the road, they can have their Black Country Communion 2 equivalent because I believe there’s still room to grow as a unit, maybe over multiple albums if they’re blessed enough to not self destruct or let egos or boredom get in the way of a promising thing, also a BCC reference, but also a nod to the journeyman nature of these three guys and their many projects. If they make an album that matches their potential, watch out. So far that hasn’t happened and I’m actually glad. It’s nice to see a band make a record that likely isn’t destined to be the best thing they ever did right out of the gate. Nowhere to go but lateral or down if you blow your load right from the start.

 

Personally I’d like to see The Winery Dogs get a little edgier, dirtier, and a bit more dangerous in their writing. Heavier too. Their Fair Warning, for lack of a better description. Somewhere between Kotzen’s solo song You Can’t Save Me, Elevate, and Time Machine -- mixed in with a dabbling of the types of moods reached for on The Dying – lies an ideal album. I’d be for kicking the arena choruses and oooh-ahhh backing vocals to the curb to get a bit nastier as well.

 

4-stars

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I really wish Portnoy'd just settle down and form a single band and stick with it and not have all these side projects all the time. Holy shit it's hard to keep track of them all!

 

"Hi everybody, we're the

LIQUIDFLYINGMAJESTIDREAMSLANTIC DOGS!!"

Edited by Del_Duio
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Just heard a few of the clips. It's not bad or anything, but it's nothing too amazing either (IMO).

I enjoyed his Flying Colors album a lot more.

 

P.S: The singer sounds a lot like Chris Cornell to me, maybe too much.

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I like the one song I'd not previously heard, Time Machine. Pretty cool cut.

 

Hey P-D! :hi:

 

Did you get the phisical copy or the download? I bought the download, but the sogn "Criminal" is not included in the final tracklist!

 

It´s a real shame that this band hasn´t received much attention in the forum yet - they sound great!

 

The theatre they´ll play tonight has a 600-crowd capacity, and it´s sold out. As much as I think they deserve a bigger venue to play, it will be great to see them so close. I brought the Niacin CD and will try to get it signed by Billy.

 

I got the download Itunes version adn "criminal" is missing from mine also But has Time machine on it which is not listed in the track list.

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I’d really like to see these guys work with an involved producer, talented as they may be, for focus and direction and to avoid the pitfalls of self-editing. I think with touring and maybe some writing on the road, they can have their Black Country Communion 2 equivalent because I believe there’s still room to grow as a unit, maybe over multiple albums if they’re blessed enough to not self destruct or let egos or boredom get in the way of a promising thing, also a BCC reference, but also a nod to the journeyman nature of these three guys and their many projects. If they make an album that matches their potential, watch out. So far that hasn’t happened and I’m actually glad. It’s nice to see a band make a record that likely isn’t destined to be the best thing they ever did right out of the gate. Nowhere to go but lateral or down if you blow your load right from the start.

 

I fully agree with this. After fast food, fast dating, fast everything, we live in the era of fast bands - "supergroups" put together that release one or two albums betting on the strength of the band members, but that never take proper time to gel on the road, grow as a band and make more records. That has been the case so far for Chickenfoot, Black Country Communion, Superheavy (Mick Jagger´s project), Adrenaline Mob, Flying Colors, PSMS etc. Coincidence or not, my list has a lot of projects that Mike Portnoy was involved in. It would be great if he could focus on one project, like Del_Duio said, and give it time to grow. Unfortunately, it´s hard to see that any of the guys Mike is working with will leave the bands that give them more bread in favour of those projects. I would also like to see another Winery Dogs album - they got off to a great start!

 

Here´s a few photos of the show two days ago:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img818/2945/blk6.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img51/2975/0tgq.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img689/5582/gl2m.jpg

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I dig the tune Regret. Sounds like a cross between Rod Stewart and Harold Melvin &The Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now.". In my top five albums of 2013 so far.

 

Regret "kicked in" this week as well. Great track, and it brings a sad feeling when I listen to it.

 

I´m not sure how this went down exactly, but Rolling Stone Brazil had an article about Portnoy arguing with the guy who was responsible for the lighs at the Winery Dogs show in São Paulo. I went to the Rio show so I didn´t see any of that. Apparently he was upset that the guy didn´t dim the lights properly in one of the tracks.

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