Lillian Axe: A sound firmly established

Recently, Lillian Axe's February 2012 release, "The Days Before Tomorrow", arrived in KGLT's new loud rock bin. The front cover art immediately got my attention, although I reserved judgment until I previewed some songs. Often, the higher the ratio of skulls to surface area, the more likely the album is hardcore death metal, and therefore falls outside my melodic needs. As always, though, I gave the album a chance, and was immediately rewarded. I've been playing songs from the disc ("The Great Divide", "Lava On My Tongue", "Death Comes Tomorrow") ever since and it just keeps growing on me.

Through the Lillian Axe wikipedia entry and iTunes, I've gleaned quite a bit about the band. Unusual for a metal band in their New Orleans roots, I immediately got the sense there was something different about them. Sure, they gained early notoriety because the late Robbin Crosby (Ratt) produced their 1988 debut and some of their earlier material definitely has a hair metal bent. But this didn't read like the classic relocate-to-Hollywood-rags-to-riches story. And that's a good thing because their uniqueness is not just their history, it's their sound.

Having listened to "The Days Before Tomorrow" beginning to end a few times now, I knew the album is consistently strong, with soaring vocal melodies. But it's more timeless, not just the simple meat and potatoes hair or power metal melodies. I wondered whether that was a new development for the band or whether it's always been there. I went back and listened to earlier albums, trying to get a sense for how those albums relate to the latest album. Absolutely, their late 80s and early 90s material has a big dose of hair metal, but there's something more. Harmonically, these guys aren't afraid of motion, both in terms of the rhythm guitar and their layered vocals. There's an artistry to their songwriting that's less about riffs and more about form, structure and progression. There's no fear of major keys or repeat cycles longer than 4 bars. They give the feeling that their focus is on the songs and delivering a cohesive story.

At this point, it's hard to put my mindset back where it was in the late 80s or early 90s, but I still remember vividly enough. As I listen to "The Days Before Tomorrow", I hear a band that has honed its sound over decades and fed all of their experiences and energy into a truly great album. It is both soothing and stretching, it comforts and demands more of you. Perhaps Steve Blaze, the sole founding member, holds the key. Perhaps the band assembled for this album combined to generate the magic. And maybe the real truth can be found in Steve Blaze's own words, "This is the best record I have ever written for Lillian Axe". Whatever the secret, this album belongs in your collection and once you are familiar with it, feel free to work backwards in time to learn more.