From Amazon.ca
For a band whose individual members each captured the spotlight in the ’80s and ’90s, it should come as no surprise that the music of Rock Star: Supernova (a quartet comprised of Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, Jason Newsted of Metallica, Gilby Clarke of Guns ‘N’ Roses, and 2006 reality-show winner Lukas Rossi) strongly hearkens back the sound of that era. Their chosen frontman Rossi, a Toronto-based singer/songwriter, has some impressive pipes, moving effortlessly from [Read More...]
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Unlike most who are buying this album, I never even watched “Rock Star” on TV. I had no idea who Lukas Rossi is until I picked this album up. I’m just a fan of Metallica, Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses and wanted to see what this “super-group” had to offer, as a band with Tommy Lee, (drums) Jason Newsted (bass) and Gilby Clarke (guitar) looks good on paper.
It should be noted that none of the celebrity musicians on season two of “rock star” were the principal songwriters in the bands that made them famous. Newsted and Clarke were basically just fill-ins for Metallica and Guns N’ Roses, respectively, when Cliff Burton died and Izzy quit. In Motley Crue it was bassist Nikki Sixx that wrote most of the songs.
Still, I was exited when it was announced that Clarke would be the lead guitarist for such a high profile project, as I have followed his solo career throughout the 90s/00s and have always regarded him as an underrated talent and underappreciated songwriter. With an awesome drummer like Tommy Lee and a stellar bassist like Jason Newsted supporting Clarke, Rock Star Supernova’s self-titled debut should be great, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The songs themselves aren’t actually that bad. The music on “Rock Star: Supernova” sounds pretty retro, like T-Rex meets Sweet–in other words, the music has a real classic 70s sound, but with a modern production. The problem is the songs just aren’t that memorable. Gilby Clarke has made some awesome solo albums in a similar vein, most notably “Pawnshop Guitars” (1994) and “The Hangover” (1997). Unfortunately, most of Clarke’s contributions to “Rock Star: Supernova” sound like warmed-over out-takes that weren’t good enough for his solo albums. The songs written by Lee, Scott Humphrey and producer Butch Walker with or without Clarke are just totally bland, middle-of-the-road commercial drivel. Butch Walker’s ultra-slick production takes away any balls that this music could have had.
Singer Lukas Rossi isn’t all that bad–he’s actually a competent singer, but there isn’t anything special about him either. He’s totally faceless. It’s as though anyone could have sang on this album. Clarke, Lee and Newsted have shared the stage with the likes of Axl Rose, Vince Neil and James Hetfield…Rossi is no Axl Rose…
There are some good songs on here, like the infectious “Headspin,” “Leave the Lights on” and the dark closing track “The Dead Parade.” But most of the songs, however, are just “ehh.” This is just middle-of-the-road, commercial pap. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine the songs on this album as the sound-track to a WB coming-of-age show. This is mall-rat, teen music and not something that GN’R, Motley or Metallica fans want to hear
I’ve read many reviews on this band and disagree with most of them! First of all, let me say, although I watched Rock Star; Supernova, I thought most of the so called rockers were really nerds who turned to the dark side, including some of the professionals! Still, there was an obvious standout from day 1, Lucas! Although it took me a while to warm up to his cockyness, ultimately, his pipes and edgyness won me over! After he was chosen and I heard Supernova’s songs on TV, I thought they lacked edge. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when the CD was released that the edge was added. Rossi’s voice not only sounds “stellar”, but it is remanicently as unique as when I first head Bon Scott back in the 70’s! Unlike American Idol and others, where you can tell that although there is some talent, mostly it just makes you appriciate the true professionals, Lucas slipped through producers fingers! This guy is the real deal! Supernova was lucky somebody hadn’t signed him earlier. The only negative about this CD is that I had to listen to it several times before most of the songs caught my attention, except for the obvious standouts, like, “Lite the Fuse” and “Headspin”. But once I listened enough, I now like almost all of them. I actually really like “The Dead Parade” except for the chorus, which is terrible! The rest of the song rocks! This CD had to be rushed into stores, so they weren’t given a lot of time to come up with these songs, so I can only imagine how good they are gonna be! Unfortunately, because of the reviews I have read, I don’t think this CD will sell enough to keep them together long enough for us to see them grow! I’ve leaned that most reviewer don’t agree with what I personally like anyway, they seemed to dysect the music instead of just trying to see if they like it! Your loss, along with ours!