Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – The Lion, The Beast, The Beat

I stumbled across Grace Potter & The Nocturnals a few years ago before anyone in Canada had heard of them and before they had received widespread attention in the US.  When asked what comes to mind when the name of this band comes up, most people will mention Grace Potter the leggy blonde with a powerful voice.  What I think of, is a great rock band from Vermont who are playing the kind of music that has been sadly missing from the airwaves for twenty years.  I could ramble on at length about why I think bands like this is what is need to save music from the plethora of shit that labels try to force on us these days….but I won’t.  Just go pick up any one (or all) of their first three albums; Nothing But The Water (2005), This Is Somewhere (2007) or Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (2010).

Needless to say, I was very excited to learn about this release earlier this year.  Then I listened to it.  I differ from the “professional” reviewers greatly in my opinion of this album.  Who’s right?  Both of us.  Neither.  It doesn’t matter.  Music is intensely personal.  I listen to music and buy music and go to concerts and play guitar so my opinion is just as relevant as theirs.  But I digress.  While I do not dislike this album completely, it certainly did not live up to my expectations.  GPN for me has always been this great vibey blues infused rock band.  The last album had a very 70’s rock feel to it especially the lead single “Paris (Oh La La)”.  Lion/Beast/Beat is much more experimental.  Critics have heralded this as a step forward for the band.  They claimed the last album played it too safe.  Lyrically, maybe.  With this album I think the band has really lost their way.  I get that bands evolve and that’s cool.  Without evolution The Beatles would never have made Sgt. Pepper or the White Album.  This album seemed to be an aimless wander rather than a musical evolution.

The lead title track and the closing “The Divide” are absolutely stellar experimental rock songs.  Both have this building wave of sound quality and is just…holy shit!  “The Lion The Beast The Beat” has this great thunderous drum beat like a pulse and the raunchy guitars that Mr. Scott Tournet does oh so well.  Both tracks are epic rock songs and Grace’s wailing sexy voice just brings them together.

“Turntable” and “Timekeeper” are to other highlights for me.  They have that classic rock feel and all the elements that make GPN a great rock band; Scott & Benny’s raunchy guitar work, Matt Burr being the coolest drummer ever and of course Grace’s pipes that are very reminiscent of Grace Slick or Janis Jopin.  Catherine Popper’s departure on the bass is missed.  I’m not sure how well new bassist Michael Libramento fits in live.  Scott & Benny recorded much of the bass work.

What I do not really like about the album is that in its entirety it feels very much over-produced.  Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys co-wrote and co-produced portions of this album.  While I like The Black Keys I do not like his contributions to this album.  Those tracks (Never Go Back, Loneliest Sole, Runaway) are the least GPN.  It feels like he was trying to coax them down his path and not theirs.

The current radio hit “Stars” is the biggest snoozefest on the album.  It is an okay song and I think I would have liked it better if it were recorded by someone else.  It seems too much reminiscent of Grace’s country duet with Kenny Chesney (which they duet “Stars” on the deluxe CD version of the album as a bonus track).  GPN are a rock band (despite what some critics say) and this is a country ballad.

With all that said, I am not disappointed that I bought the album because there are enough tunes here to keep me interested but in comparison to their earlier efforts I think this albums falls short.  There was too much experimentation and not enough attention paid to crafting a cohesive sound.

Check out this live video for the title track below.  Then go get their earlier albums.  They are awesome, I promise.