TSOL
Divided We Stand (Nitro)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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TSOL returned to recording and touring with their 2001 album Disappear, a surprisingly good effort from the reformed band (minus original drummer Todd Barnes, who sadly passed away a few years ago). Divided We Stand sees that same band reunited with early '80s period keyboardist Greg Kuehn, and the results are quiet astonishing. In many ways this is the follow-up album to 1982's Beneath The Shadows that TSOL never made, since original singer Jack Grisham quit after that album, and TSOL replaced him with singer Joe Woods, who was co-incidentally Grisham's brother-in-law! With Woods, the band made one really good album, Change Today?, and then headed in a far more hard rock/hair metal direction, with Woods gradually taking over the band to the point that there was only original member - bassist Mike Roche - left on their abysmal last album from 1990, Strange Love.

This excellent CD, the second studio effort for the reformed original band (not counting the excellent Live 1991 reunion disc) kicks off with the fast-paced "Sedatives" then the more melodic "Serious." Things really kick in by the third song, "Fuck You Tough Guy," with some nice keyboard embellishment from Kuehn and great lyrics. "See You Tomorrow" features cool one-note piano and a swinging beat. The anti-patriotism "American" is cool and shows that singer Jack Grisham still has his lyrical chops. Grisham ran for Governer of California, but was beat out by that no-neck action hero schmuck. Like many of the songs on this, it harkens back to TSOL's earliest material, and yet combines the more gothic sound of the Beneath The Shadows album at the same time. I think it's the combination of Ron Emory's great guitar sound here, which is full of color and combines the crunchiness of the early EPs and Dance With Me album and the more effect-laden psychedelic sound he mined on Beneath The Shadows. Take, for instance, the song "Loaded," which features acoustic guitar, piano and synths for a sound that is equal parts eerie and glorious.

Dark subject matter is no stranger to TSOL, and songs like "Again" with its "And I will never be in love again" chorus that features choral backings, "Happy" and "Being In Love" all show this off extremely well. The fast-paced "Electric" sounds like their earliest material like "Property Is Theft" and "Abolish Government-Silent Majority." They even manage to end the album off on a positive note with the song "Shine," in which the light breaks through the bleakness.

© 2004 - Alan Wright