Dr. Grind Speechless

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by trevor Portz
Staff Writer

The last few years have seen a boom in the reissue market. New labels seem to constantly pop-up, re-releasing what they consider to be “classic” metal albums that have often been out of print and hard to find for years. Sometimes this is a justifiable and welcomed act—Rock Candy Records, for instance, has done fantastic pressings of albums—from Armored Saint to Montrose—replete with bonus tracks and detailed liner notes. But for each worthwhile release, many classic albums remain in availability limbo (Sweet Pain’s 1985 LP for instance), and many more are released for seemingly no reason at all. Dr. Grind’s Speechless happens to fall in the latter category, not because it is inherently bad, but because it seems to be aimed at a very tiny segment of the rock underground, that being the one that appreciates dated-even-at-the-time-it-was-recorded hair metal from a long-forgotten band.

The 17 tracks that comprise Speechless span several sessions recorded in Seattle during the early nineties. What instantly jumps out about the songs is the retro sound they carry; not just retro by today’s standards, but even in their own time. By 1992, hair metal had gone the way of leg warmers and tight-rolled jeans, giving way to the radio-dominating grunge movement. Though considered a great tragedy to those loyal to the hair genre, this also put an end to the ever-growing pool of label-created, second-rate, pseudo-metal bands that seemed to be doing little more than damning the style to a state of societal mockery. Dr. Grind’s music exemplifies the need for the change that came, as it comes off as barely heavy music written expressly to appeal to the homogenized metal-buying culture of the day. Sure, the playing is fine and the songs are reasonably solid, though each song appears to be little more than a poor clone of something previously successful, but already long past its due date.

Opening track “Call of the Wild” (bearing no relation to Circus of Power’s excellent song of the same name) is hair metal paint-by-numbers, and with its way-too-buried background vocals and oddly out-of-time tambourine, the only redeeming quality is the groove swiped almost directly from “Dr. Feelgood.” “Livin’ a Lie” and “Gone” are reasonable attempts at writing Queensryche songs, but both lack the progressive brilliance of Geoff Tate and the gang. Insipidly “inspiring and sentimental” tracks “Follow Your Own Road” and “Faces” are halfway-decent poppy rock songs, but even with their similarities to the vastly superior, yet little-known Skid Row track “Forever,” they just don’t pack the necessary punch to be truly memorable.

A very strange trend that dominates many of the lyrics on the album is the attempt at dealing with “serious,” or perhaps “universal” issues. Unfortunately, though, most of them are so strange and unrelatable that they come off rather silly and awkward. Title track “Speechless” details drummer Dave McCabe’s regretful encounter with a little deaf girl, but the message is diminished by obvious lyrics and the realization that the worst thing he did was refuse to buy candy from her. The way the track is discussed in the liner notes would lead you to believe he had thrown her down the stairs or stolen her toys. Not so much. Following track “Janie” follows a similar pattern and talks about a man with a disabled child, and his difficulty coming to terms with her disability. Though obviously a tragically feasible scenario, it is such bizarre lyrical fodder that little can be internalized by the listener.

Towards the end of the album things do pick up a bit, with the Judas Priest-lite “Here and Gone,” the actual heaviness of “Can’t Get Enough,” and the entertaining “Whiskey Lover” giving a hint that perhaps Dr. Grind could have grown into a respectable band if they had been able to break through the commercial ceiling. But alas, these moments of promise come too little to late and are unable to save the album from its overall “powerless metal” vibe.

Whether Dr. Grind would ever have achieved any commercial success will forever remain a mystery. Had they been around 7 or 8 years earlier they may have stood a chance, but by the time they entered the scene, things had changed too drastically, and their brand of castrated metal had gone out of fashion. This reissue stands as a testament to why hair metal fell to the filthy hand of grunge, and though a nice treat for friends and fans of the band, Speechless will likely fall into obscurity as fast as slap wraps and bug shields.

Label: Eonian Records
Web: www.myspace.com/officialdrgrindpage

Band Lineup:
Rick Allen (vocals)
Tom Moore (guitars)
John Tippins (guitars)
Danny Dally (bass)
Dave McCabe (drums)

Tracks:
1. Call Of The Wild
2. Calamity
3. Livin’ A Lie
4. Shotgun
5. Speechless
6. Speechless
7. Follow Your Own Road
8. Faces
9. Tears
10. Love Will Find A Way
11. Gone
12. Here And Gone
13. Something To Come
14. Time Will Tell
15. Can’t Get Enough
16. Huge Wad
17. Whiskey Lover

Hardrock Haven rating: 3.8/10