Right!

Now that pre-ordered copies of EVIL TWIN are dropping through letter boxes around the country and being played loudly.

GMT are keen to hear your reviews of the album, so lets hear them. The best review judged by Bernie, John and Robin will be posted on the main website. So come on all you budding Geoff Bartons, get listening and typing.

No reviews yet?
S'pose it must be my fault............

you can't rush genius you know!!!
hahahaha

seriously though the album is awesome and I'll do a full review REAL soon.

Right.Rather than starting a new thread i'll stick my review in here...
i've posted it on my blog on myspace.
Here you go....

GMT -Evil Twin Full review.



In 2006 the world was introduced to GMT. This band although new at the time had members that were very well known and respected within the industry.

Bernie Torme ex-Gillan, Ozzy, Desperado and solo artist with a guitar talent so mind blowing had got back together with ex-Gillan bassist and mainstay John McCoy and they had recruited Robin Guy a wild drummer who had the capability to play better with one hand than most drummers can with two hands.

After releasing their debut album that year 'Bitter and Twisted' which is hailed by many as the 'saviour' album of Rock music due to it's no holds barred dirty rock'n' roll style the band toured hard on it and then returned to the studio to release the follow up.

Well now I have that follow up album in my hands 'Evil Twin' and if you've heard 'Bitter and Twisted' and appreciate just how good it is then you better take cover because this album 'Destroys' it.

It really is the 'Evil Twin' of its predecessor. Whilst the band have kept to the exact formula of the first album in the way the song writing has been done, the production (or lack thereof), and the ways the tracks almost replicate themselves from album to album...two things manifest themselves immediately.



The song writing has improved beyond measure with so many great chorus' throughout but not only that the musicianship has also moved to an even higher level. That is in itself quite a shock. Whilst I always felt that these three guys are to be fair in the premier league of musicians alive today this album has actually made me believe the impossible in that I'm now going to be struggling to name names that can now even come close to their brilliance.



Things start with the single 'Punko Rocco which features some great backing tracks from none other than 'Twisted sister' frontman Dee Snider. Dee as many will already know was in 'Desperado' with Bernie. The ill fated band who never got a chance thanks to the industry and it's politics. The song itself is a happy introduction to what is going to follow. With a driving bass and drum beat, Bernie soon starts a 'fiddily' lick as the main riff (I'd like to see this on Guitar hero!!) and the song takes off nicely. Quite a simplistic song very similar to GMT favourite 'Cannonball' but with Dee's vocals and such a strong chorus you just know this is going to be a real 'Live' favourite.

'Bullet in the Brain' is next with it's riff which is rather similar to 'King Contrary man' by the Cult except this song is far superior. Again a driving track which the band have already included in previous live sets where it simply took the roof off any venue it was played in.

The title track with it's slightly weird intro which obviously came straight from jamming in the studio is up next. And if I'm still to compare to 'Bitter and Twisted' I'm thankful that this is a much stronger title track.A huge chorus that is just begging for you to singalong too. I do hear touches of Iron Maiden on this one but that just may be me!

'You can't hold me' is next and is another typical GMT track in its execution and style.Yet again another huge chorus. And this really is where the band have matured further. The chorus' are so much better than previous and I would expect many shows to have legions of fans singing every word back to the band. The huge surprise on this one is that out of nowhere comes a John McCoy with a bass solo right in the middle of it. And what a solo! At last the man's speed and creative sounds on this instrument are finally captured in a studio. Amazing.

All of a sudden John now seems a focal point on the album as the next track 'One of these days' starts with a dark powerful bass riff which the band follow up to perfection. The whole song seems very dark and evil. The song slows right down before Bernie picks things up with a guitar solo that is so good it beggars belief.

The Sitar is an instrument rarely used in rock. But this is even aired on the eastern feel of 'Jonny Sitar'. This song now highlights that this album is simply showcasing how talented these guys are.

'Holy roller' is up next. A fast paced rocker which is dedicated to TV evangelists around the world. Another strong chorus is auditioned to the listener with an even better guitar solo from Bernie that makes you want to rewind it constantly and listen again in awe.

Then we get the crushingly heavy 'Wheel of fortune' which its stable riffing. Another solid track which gives you a slight and I mean slight breather before the 'highlight' of the album is unleashed.

'Perfumed Garden' is a slow blues track in the vein of 'Down to Here' and 'Summerland' from 'Bitter and twisted'. If you're not familiar with that imagine Hendrix playing 'Redhouse' and you're on the way to understanding this track. It is 9 minutes of sheer brilliance and features the fastest most complex guitar work that anyone can produce. The speed Bernie Torme can shred is mind blowing. The track is littered throughout with solo after solo and is quite simply exhausting to listen too. Anyone who loves the sound of a guitar just has to hear this. Words cannot describe this song. If you are thinking of buying this album this track alone makes the purchase worthwhile. In fact if they'd have released this as a one track album it would still have been worth it. It is STUNNING.

The album closes with 'The Humours of McCoy' where the band quite obviously appreciate the bassist. This album does celebrate John much more than 'Bitter and Twisted' and that is a good thing. The riff itself is not dissimilar to 'Captain Nemo' by Michael Schenker the difference being to that track, that there are the trademark Torme vocals on this and the track has quite possibly the stand out chorus of the album. Another track which will work so well live.

So there you have it. The 'Evil Twin' experience is now over and I can pick myself off the floor and set the machine back to track one to go through it all again.

A peach of an album, with some great artwork, full lyrics and the best musicianship to be found anywhere.

What more could you want?



Simply put….

Nothing.

Album of the year- Nuff said.

Great review!
I'd better get typing one as well.......when I finish playing the CD

Great review Big Daddy, who's gonna post the next one? Come on don't be shy!!
And for all of you who are still waiting for the postman to arrive, some EVIL TWIN tracks are up on http://www.myspace.com/gmtrocks

I'm useless at doing anything that requires thinking, so please excuse the rambling and slightly cliched comments, but here goes...

EVIL TWIN (are we always going to have to shout it?!) is a great statement of intent from three musicians who are more talented than most of the others you'll come across in this or many other genres put together. More menacing and more instantly memorable than it's predecessor (which in itself was a fantastic album), what EVIL TWIN actually seems to be saying is "we are GMT, we are here to stay whether you like it or not, and we're going to rock your brains out". It's good honest rock played by people who enjoy what they do, who aren't playing something because it's supposed to be 'cool' or fashionable, but because it sounds good. And it does. The minute that you've finished listening to it you're going to start playing it again - it's just one of those albums...definitely an instant 'classic'.

My personal favourite is (currently) Holy Roller, so having stated that I fully expect that I'll never actually get to hear it played live

Thanks Taz, great review, and fear not, I am sure they will play Holy Roller live. But I also bet you when you have listened to the album a few times, there might be other faves....
Sorry we keep shouting EVIL TWIN, but we just have to, SO EVERYBODY HEARS US!!

Great review Taz.

I think Holy Roller would be great live.

I'm sure we'll all get to debating the live set list-what should be played and what should be dropped etc further down the track.

check out Dave Ling's diary ..."Most of yesterday afternoon was spent spinning ‘Evil Twin’, the superb second album from Robin Guy and the ex-Gillan pair of John McCoy and Bernie Tormé – better and more succinctly known as GMT. Complete with a guest appearance from Dee fuckin’ Snider of Twisted Sister, it’s the most incendiary, squalling and filthy slab of garage rock I’ve heard since… ooh, since the trio’s debut album, ‘Bitter And Twisted’. Nice work, fellas. Now drop ‘Smoke On The bleeding Water’ from the set and I’ll be completely content."