Published on May 14, 2004
In all respects,
No Guts… No Glory, the fifth release from Jacksonville,
Florida-based boogie boys Molly Hatchet should have been a fan’s
dream come true. This disc marked the return of lead singer Danny
Joe Brown after a two-album absence, and introduced new member John
Galvin (who was a member of Brown’s solo band) on keyboards.
And, in some respects, this disc does show a return to form – at
least, the first half of it does. Like its brother albums,
No Guts… No Glory has some extremely strong moments, as
well as some very weak tracks. The only difference between this
disc and the previous effort
Take No Prisoners is that it’s a little harder for this one
to regain its equilibrium after hitting a lemon of a song.
First, the strengths – and, make no mistake, there are enough
highlights on this album to make me recommend you checking it out.
Brown’s return to the fold shows that his vocals, in many ways, had
matured since his last time fronting Hatchet on
Flirtin’ With Disaster. Listen to his style of singing on
tracks like “Fall Of The Peacemakers” or “Under The Gun,” and you
can hear a marked inprovement. (Not that Brown’s vocals were bad on
the first two Molly Hatchet discs; if anything, his efforts here
make it sound like Brown had finally found his comfort zone.)
Likewise, the addition of Galvin to the band is a welcome one,
adding to the solid musicianship already present among the members.
You need proof? Check out the instrumental “Both Sides” and listen
to the solid interplay. While this track brings to mind some of the
work of The Allman Brothers Band, the jams never stretch too long,
and the group seems to know to end the song with the listener
wanting a whole lot more instead of risking overstaying its
welcome. Dare I also mention the inclusion of some acoustic and
12-string guitar work within the songs? I dare, I dare.
And, in terms of the first half of the disc (at least in terms
of the original track order – for reasons I don’t know, this record
was pulled off the shelves and re-released with new artwork and a
new track order. Pity, ’cause the way it was, the first five songs
were absolutely killer. Hearing tracks like “Both Sides,” “On The
Prowl” and “Fall Of The Peacemakers” would leave you thinking
without a doubt that Molly Hatchet was most definitely back.
Then again, maybe the tracks were shuffled because, the way
things were, the second half of the disc threatened to capsize the
whole ship. I’ll leave “Sweet Dixie” out of the critical drubbing,
though it hardly seemed necessary at this stage in the game for
Brown and company to wave the Confederate flag to their heritage.
The three tracks in question – “What Does It Matter,” “What’s It
Gonna Take” and “Kinda Like Love” – make one wonder just what the
hell the boys were thinking. Both “What Does It Matter” and “What’s
It Gonna Take” sound like tired old re-treads, while “Kinda Like
Love” is a truck-stop lovefest gone terribly wrong. There’s a word
for songs like these: buzzkill.
To be fair, though, Molly Hatchet was again undergoing a
regrouping with Brown rejoining, so I guess some leniance should be
granted. Likewise, the strong moments on this album do show the
power that the band had, even after five albums. Yet
No Guts… No Glory is a disc which could have been an
absolute barnburner, yet falls flat a few too many times for my
level of comfort.