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Tracii Guns League of Gentlemen: The Second Record
Tracii Guns League of Gentlemen The Second Record CD Album Review

Tracii Guns League of Gentlemen: The Second Record

Classic Rock
4.5/5.0

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Shrapnel Records
Words: Craig Hartranft    Added: 07.08.2014

Guitarist Tracii Guns set himself on a new path last year when he pulled together his League of Gentlemen and revisited the roots of classic rock. The First Record delved deep into Sixties and Seventies blues and psychedelic rock for a surprisingly refreshing venture. Now, the LOG warp back to the past once more for The Second Record.

Tracii Guns League of Gentlemen The Second Record Photo

League of Gentlemen: psyched out.

Guns and friends appear to go a little deeper into the past, more towards the psychedelic Sixties for their sound. However, unlike the previous album, this album offer no original material from the band. It's entirely covers, including songs from The Beatles, John Lennon, Neil Young, Jefferson Airplane, The Kinks, Rolling Stones, and Mitch Davis to mention some of the more high profile artists. You might find, as I did (even though I grew up in that era), that you might not recognize some of the songs. But you will remember Cinnamon Girl, White Rabbit, Ride Captain Ride, Lennon's Gimme Some Truth or For What It's Worth. That latter song, made famous by Buffalo Springfield, is likely best known by it's refrain, 'I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down.'

Possibly the very best thing that can be said of this album, the songs and the League's treatment of them, is the genuine authenticiy and simplicity the give the songs. In those days there was no digital recording, Pro Tools, or auto-tuning. Recording was simple and direct, often bare bones, raw, and straight forward, with the musician and instrument seeming to have an almost organic bond. Guns and fellows get this, and while it may seem that these recordings sound more modern, the band strays little from the original vibe of a song. The aforementioned For What It's Worth is a good example when Guns expresses the psychedelic, sometime eerie, guitar line that both leads and provides the necessary atmosphere. Another is White Rabbit, where the drums offer this disturbing foreboding at the start and the guitar line, again, reveals psychedelic trippiness of the lyrical theme. Fundamentally, while wanting to render the songs faithfully, I think Guns's League wanted mostly to channel the musical style and spirit of the era to our century. That's no mean feat, and they sucseed substantially. It might even cause you to a little classic rock history yourself. However, I did miss League of Gentlemen pursuing some of their own inspiration with original recordings. Otherwise, easily recommended.




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In Short

With The Second Record, Tracii Guns League of Gentlemen successfully channel the musical style and spirit of the psychedelic Sixties with these 14 cover songs.

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