StonerRockChick.com by Kelly McAllister Sweden’s Blind Dog is back with a vengeance with Captain Dog Rides Again, one of my most highly-anticipated albums of the year. I’m not one bit disappointed, they’ve improved on their sound and song-writing (each song is as important as the next, it’s all killer) from their first release The Last Adventures of Captain Dog, if that’s at all possible. Anyone who digs Blind Dog’s first album will certainly not be let down with this smoking new effort. It has a similar sound, without rehashing the old album; they’re going into new frontiers, dropping most of their doom influences in favor of a more riffilicious blues-based classic rock sound from the late 60’s/early 70’s… As though Led Zepplin has taken the place of Black Sabbath as their major influence here (don’t worry, there is a bit of Sab-doom on a couple songs like “Would I Make You Believe.”) You'll also find nods to everything from early Kiss to prog-based early Rush to the desert rock of Kyuss and stoner-pop of Queens of the Stone. Joakim Thell throws out some huge friggin riffs on here (and lots of WAH) that will make you inadvertently start shouting out “Hell-fucking-Yeah!” and making your biggest, baddest metal face. His multitude of guitar changes and different parts throughout the songs keep your undivided attention tuned to the guitar from the first to the final note. Listen to “Unsellable,” which begins and ends with a bopping shuffle and goes somewhere else entirely during the remainder. Also check out his homage to Jimi in the midst of “There Must Be Better Ways of Losing Your Mind.” He is equally adept at huge, driving riffs, as he is at beautiful acoustic pieces like in the middle of “Follow the Fools.” Tobias Nilsson’s vocals are incredibly strong and gruff, seems as if he’s been drinking more whiskey since the 1st album. The starting song “Don’t Ask Me Where I Stand” keeps in line with Blind Dog’s heavy, dynamic, balls-out rock n roll sound from “The Last Adventures…” But then he uses his warmer, melodic vocals to get a more 70’s retro feel on songs like “Follow the Fools,” which sounds classic and unforced. I’d be remiss to ignore Thomas Elenvik’s strong sense of percussion as he plays many different instruments – among others piano, Hammond, synth, tambourine, and drums. “Fading Memories” has a memorable cowbell intro, with lots of groove. His beats are furious and fast, adding great depth to the rhythm and many time changes. Included in the whole package is their always outstanding, fact-filled liner notes – a “Captain’s Log” of the goings-on in the studio, what sort of style they were going for in the song, lyrics and song meanings, etc. One thing you can tell by the terrific production is that these guys loved playing around with all of the possibilities studio recording offers them, using it to their advantage to make the sound fuller, with overdubs in guitars (switching form acoustic to electric) and vocals and all sorts of crazy instruments, especially the last song “Be the Same,” which uses the grand piano and synthesizer, to enhance their studio recording. You’ll never hear this some of this stuff live, but it sounds great on the record. Meteorcity has released yet another ass-kicking gloriously heavy rock n roll album (if you’re keeping score, this is the third extraordinarily great record they’ve released this year - 3 for 3, those are the odds I like). My only complaint? I had to wait 3 years for this. Blind Dog is at the best of their game; they’re making the case as the tightest and best Swedish rawk band around. Get this! Now! << Back to reviews of Captain Dog Rides Again