Killer Dwarfs, 'Start @ One' -- Album Review
Friday, September 27, 2013 at 12:02AM
Start @ One, the newly released album by Canada's own Killer Dwarfs is amazing. The story behind the album is that the nine tracks were recorded back in 1993 as a follow-up to the Method to the Madness album. Unfortunately, due to changes in the music landscape that took place around that period of time, the album was shelved and never saw the light of day. I have read of bootleg copies that were circulated, but I never came across one. Fast forward to 2013, and Russ Dwarf and his bandmates, after remixing and remastering, decide to give the album a proper release.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of the prior Killer Dwarfs releases, Dirty Weapons and Method to the Madness. (Stand Tall was never one of my favorites). Start @ One picks up EXACTLY where these other albums left off. The songwriting, the singing, the whole feel of the album, is classic Dwarfs. I have always considered this band to be one of the most critically underrated from back in the day. In my opinion, they were standout performers who delivered a couple of incredibly solid albums. They were still following that trend when Start @ One was recorded, and this album exemplifies everything that was great about the circa 1993 Dwarfs. I only wish there were more than nine tracks on the album.
I think what also makes Start @ One an instant top release of 2013 to me is that the album just feels like a classic album from back in the period of time that we are all guilty of being stuck in. Because this album was actually recorded back then, and this is not simply an attempt by a band to record a new album that has that 1993 sound (such as Ratt's Infestation, which is close, but still falls a little short), the resulting difference is apparent. If you are at all a fan of the Dwarfs, you owe it to yourself to order or (legally) download a copy. I can't say enough good things about this album to drive the point home... so just trust me! Get yourself a copy and then thank me later.
Reader Comments (16)
Live at the Lost Horizon, Four Large Men & The Killer Dwarfs.!!! LOL!!
I especially loved that they had a sense of humour. My recollection from seeing them a couple of times in some local T.O. clubs was that they were all actually pretty small guys. To name the band Killer Dwarfs is just awesome.
Go dunk.
lov ya's live
ducky
I wasn't blown away by the samples either, but took the chance on the whole album. My favorites are sky is falling an lonely road. For lonely road, I just love the tone of Russ' voice and how he delivers the "yeahs" throughout. Plus, I personally always like when bands mix some half-time measures into a song. Sky is falling is just a rocker that sounds great played loudly in the car.
There is no one song that makes this album. But put together, the guitar time, the voice, and the straight-forward rock feel of this disc just make it badass....at least to me (hell, I played it again today on my ride down to the NY/NJ Kiss Expo).
And you are right, too, about the sound of that era being tricky to replicate, but some of the kids are doing it.
Though I absolutely hear your point about the sound of an era, I absolutely love "Infestation", yet I agree the sound isn't as clean and fat as their old stuff and this Dwarfs album. It will be interesting to see how RATT sounds on their upcoming new one.
1993 marks where I pretty much draw the line when it comes to collecting our favorite genre, particularly the bands most of you have never heard of who's CD's trade for hundreds, if not thousands. I will occasionally make an exception for something exceptional (CRUSH, "Appetizer" from 1997, for example), so it's not a totally hard "cut-off", but, yeah, 1993 was when the last of the good stuff out the door, some of THE best, as a matter of fact.
It was pretty much a dead zone until 1999, when Buckcherry saved Rock And Roll with "Lit Up"!
p.s. Absolutely, Rita, their sense of humor, as with 99.999% of our music, is what totally puts it over the top. That's why Queensryche, with the exception of their signature, "Queen Of The Reich", never really did it for me. They just take themselves too seriously, just like Tesla (though I like Tesla's singer and a handful of their songs).
QR sucks any which way you look at it. As metalboy exclaims and I back up: WAY TOO seriously.
private note to MB (then again, not so private if I'm posting it here): are you sure you're not a jukebox hero?
oh, and personal message to HIM: thank you.