Published on Jul 25, 2000
I realize that sometimes it’s hard for readers to get excited
about a record I may choose to review here that is over 20 years
old. I can hear the comments now: “What, is this guy living in the
past? Get with the times, Mister Critic!”
I come to this realization after receiving in the mail
Lotus from the Swedish power metal/stoner rock trio Mrs.
Hippie. Apparently their label wants me to get excited about a
compilation disc from a band who has been broken up (for the most
part) since 1996. But before I could say anything more, the disc
started to play – and while this band isn’t anything worth lighting
up the sky about, they did have the potential to be something more
than just common.
The trio – vocalist Joacim Cans, guitarist Christian
Smedström and drummer Mike Vai – have some leanings toward the
stoner rock genre, though they hardly begin to dip into the musical
excesses that some bands tend to fall into. They’re more than just
that, just as they’re more than just a typical power metal band.
The chords have some crunch to them, but they don’t try to cause
the fretboards to smoke or the drums to start coming apart at the
seams. This is a mixture, pure and simple – and it works.
Granted, it takes a little time for everything to really come
together. Tracks like “Someone Else There” and “Lies” aren’t the
strongest material that the band has to offer. But as the band
kicks into songs like “Going Home” and “Mother Nature Bleeds,” the
interaction between the musicians begins to really pay off.
There are the occasional moments of excess – most of which come
in the 11-minute opus “Lost My Way”. And count their cover of
Kiss’s “I Want You” as a guilty pleasure for both listener and band
alike. It’s decent enough, but it doesn’t really capture the sonic
grit that the original had.
Besides having more than adequate musical skills, Cans’s vocals
are crystal clear, and the listener could easily be fooled into
thinking they were listening to an American group. But most of all,
what is striking about Mrs. Hippie (besides the scantily-clad model
on the back of the case) is that they were really just starting to
warm up when they decided to part ways.
Lotus is a sign that this band was beginning to realize
their potential. Why they chose not to continue I don’t know, and
it truly is the scene’s loss.
Lotus is a disc that suggests that Mrs. Hippie was a band
capable of much greatness, even in their weaker moments.
Regrettably, we’re left to guess at what else they would have come
up with. Can I get excited about a disc from a band who haven’t
been together for four years? For the most part, yes.