CoC : James Murphy - Convergence : Review

James Murphy - _Convergence_
(Shrapnel Records, 1996)
by: Drew Snow (6 out of 10)

After listening to James Murphy's new solo effort for the first time, I wondered if it was appropriate for review in COC; it can hardly be labeled "extreme music." Although not an entirely bad album, do not buy this in hopes of hearing "solos from Spiritual Healing - Part II." The music here is definitely NOT death metal, but leans much more to the side of hard rock/metal and maybe (gasp) a little... alternative. A lot of the tracks have vocals, and these too are your basic heavy metal/alternative vocals (performed by various well-known vocalists). Probably the only saving grace of this CD are the awesome solos sprinkled liberally throughout, which just ooze James Murphy all over them. Everyone who's heard his amazing leads knows this sound. Other than that, the extremely boring riffs, below average vocals, and overall lack of direction lead to an album with questionable merit and no intensity at all. If more of the tracks had been like "Convergence", or "Vision", the solo-fests that they are, this album would've been much better off. Bottom line: If you don't mind sitting through 3 minutes of crap to hear an amazing one minute solo, or don't mind only three or four listenable songs, don't buy it.

(article published 11/10/1996)

ALBUMS
2/13/1999	P Schwarz	8	James Murphy - Feeding the Machine