In light of their breakup, do our blurbs take on a wistful tone?
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Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: White Wizzard split up yesterday. For a group that have undergone a series of constant line-up shifts, interpersonal fallouts and even allegations of stealing from fans, a messy end seemed inevitable for the Eighties bullet-belt revivalists. Guitarist Will Wallner posted a farewell message on the band’s website — pointedly rather than band founder Jon Leon — with subliminal insults about being inspired to return to “making real music.” It’s sort of a shame, because White Wizzard’s chug’n’squeal power metal strokes every nostalgic burst I have towards balls-out power metal. (I could go into one of many anecdotes about how a bar in Glasgow used to always have Manowar’s “Kings of Metal” on deck whenever I visited, but I will spare thee.) However, there is something stagnant about acts like White Wizzard, dependent on the music of the past to feel cool about the present. “Kings of the Highway” is a distinct cultural approximation at best, terribly derivative squealing at worst. I wish that there was more of a legacy than the band’s news tag on Metal Sucks (sample byline: “White Wizzard Drama Alert!”), but worry that it will be the most modern aspect of their very existence.
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Anthony Easton: I turned off Decline of Western Civilization Part Two last week because they were all terrible people and I didn’t want to waste my life with them.
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Iain Mew: So many great guitar sounds and a handful of vocal bits to match, but singing about the kings of the highway “running free until they die” and then hitting that awful fade-out is SUCH a buzzkill.
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Josh Langhoff: As a child I found truth and beauty in two places: pop chord changes played by heavy guitars and the splendor of Brad Delp’s vowel sounds. It took me a while to recognize the Delp of daily life; the first time “More Than a Feeling” gave me shivers, I thought it was Warrant. Delp taught Jani Lane’s generation to inject vulnerability into their vowels, so even a line like “She’s my cherry pie” trembles with unrequited need. You’re already snickering, so I won’t even begin discussing Christian hair metal, but the point is: Wizzard is apparently indebted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. I’ll vouch for Grim Reaper’s gorgeous “Dead On Arrival,” but by and large the NWOBHM means nothing to me. But whenever the recently fired Joseph Michael sings the word “free” in “Kings of the Highway,” I know I’m home. Which is weird for a song about octane gypsies riding the wind, right?
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Will Adams: “Octane gypsies ride the wind!” Okay, sure. I think I’ll take the train instead.
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Mallory O’Donnell: Most thorough approximation of NWOBHM I think I’ve ever heard from an American band, especially novel coming from Cali where they have such a long and storied metal tradition of their own. A pretty fine solo and some typically American lyrical content distinguish this from being merely Maiden Lite, but this could still stand to be kicked up several notches.
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Crystal Leww: These guitar riffs seem to continue onto eternity and just echo, “Guitar Hero achievement unlocked!”
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Brad Shoup: Have these guys heard of sustain? They’re so busy needlepointing these riffs, no one thinks about the big picture. So we end up with verses and pre-choruses clogged with castoff rococo roadisms. Hell, for all I know the first verse could’ve been intended for a Conoco sync. I’m not going to fault Joseph Michael for going back to Bach; when he sings of mystic nights I can almost picture them. It’s deadly hard to both strip the paint and project the image, but that’s why we have bands, not random wheedle generators.
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Jonathan Bradley: Maybe if that damn guitar would settle down, the kings of the highway actually would have a moment to do their freedom-without-a-cause thing.
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Scott Mildenhall: First things first, you don’t get to spell Wizzard with two Zs unless you have something up to the standard of “Angel Fingers”, “See My Baby Jive” or “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” (it is doable, they are each practically the same song after all). Unfortunately Joseph Michael is no Roy Wood, instead a far from ingratiating vocal presence, akin to an aging rocker stereotype X Factor auditionee who wouldn’t even be deemed funny enough a joke for the live shows. The song suits.
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Jonathan Bogart: If you’re going to be this corny, the least you could do is try to save my soul.
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Patrick St. Michel: I respect this White Wizzard song because it really doesn’t matter if I’m being trolled or if these dudes really do believe this is so powerful to warrant putting the chorus in ALL CAPS in the YouTube description. This is a fucking ridiculous song, with its “leather angels rocking hard” and “dreamers jet fueled flight.” It is also an unabashed heavy metal song, wherein mind-bending adjective use is the norm and the guitar solo has to be at least level-five Guitar Hero difficulty. I will never listen to this song again once I hit “submit,” but a wailed “THE KINGS OF THE HIGHWAY FLY” is making me grin in the present, so good on you White Wizzard.
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