Resurrection Band

Item: Ampendectomy
Author: Tony LaFianza

Ampendectomy

(1997)

Reviewed by Tony LaFianza

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Label Grrr RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1997

acoustic hard rock

Rez Band has joined the many bands with an unplugged review of their past great records. Glenn and Stu pick up the acoustic guitars first for "Lovespeak." The groove is there, and then Glenn and Wendi come in with a gravelly, pure rock duet. Glenn and Wendi still sound choice after twenty-five years and fifteen albums. The band has picked out some good songs for this effort, including "Rain Dance," "Colours," and "So In Love With You." Even with the years and the acoustic format to overcome, these guys can still play like they mean it! For me, the energy level rises when Wendi takes the mike--I wish there was more of her on this record. The record starts out well but loses me in the middle where the laidback tempos start to drag. I get back into it with "Irish Garden" and "Across These Fields Reprise" when the band finally tries something new with the arrangement and instrumentation, instead of just slowing down the tempo and playing acoustically. Wendi comes back into the mix with "Right On Time," then Glenn sings over an interesting string arrangement added to the song "2000." The record finishes effectively with "Can't Stop Loving You." Ampendectomy is a clever title and the packaging is very cute, but another unplugged retrospective by an electric rock band is not exactly jolting. The band claims that this record is for the more mature fan who is now listening to a less power-driven buzz, but I like the plugged in REZ better so I don't recommend this CD to anyone but the REZ collector.

2 tocks