Artist: Stuck Mojo 
   Title: The Great Revival
   Label: Napalm Records

When most people think of the rap/rock crossover known as ‘nu-metal’ that dominated the rock world in the 1990’s, Stuck Mojo isn’t necessarily a name that springs to everyone’s mind.  Despite the fact that they debuted around the same time as Coal Chamber and Korn and by nu-metal’s end had released six albums in almost as many years, Stuck Mojo never really propelled to the same heights as the genre’s big names.  Make no mistake however, this wasn’t due to some kind of never - in - the - right - place - at - the  - right - time, Anvil-type scenario, this is, and always was, due to the fact that Stuck Mojo are pretty rubbish.

In the 90’s, they just weren’t up to the standard of the bigger nu-metal bands and now that the genre has firmly being established as buried and gone for good, they seem even less relevant and more mediocre than ever before.  Ironic then (though I’m sure not intentionally so) that the album is called ‘The Great Revival’ when it revives absolutely nothing except maybe memories of how bad some ‘nu-metal’ bands really were.

Much in the same way that people wonder why (hed)PE are still bothering to release albums to a consistently indifferent (at best) response, there is a similar wonder about Stuck Mojo. This album continues in the same rap/southern rock vein as their previous efforts and certainly doesn’t break any new ground and will doubtfully win them any new converts. New vocalist Lord Nelson doesn’t really bring anything new to the Stuck Mojo table, except maybe even more of the sort of sub-par rap that would get him laughed out of the room at any respectable hip-hop label’s head office, whereas the addition of female guest vocalist Christie Cook, who appears on several of the album’s tracks, at least adds something a bit different to the mix but even this cannot save Stuck Mojo.  She is a good vocalist and would no doubt fit in well on other albums by other bands who have good songs, but here her talents go somewhat to waste.

Opening track “Fifteen Minutes Of Fame” kicks off ‘The Great Revival’ in a rap-metal style that continues pretty much all the way through the album, aside from a few partially-inspired departures that serve solely to only just keep the listener from turning off the stereo half-way through out of sheer boredom.  One of which is “The Flood” where the band have a go at cranking up the heaviness level to little success and just end up sounding like a band confused as to how to actually play heavy without just sounding like a mess of noise.

“Country Road” is a country rock ballad that would actually be alright if it wasn’t for another ill-advised and unnecessary bout of Lord Nelson’s verbal diarrhea half-way through.  Not since MC Hammer has a ‘rapper’ so frequently misplaced mentions of ‘the hood’ and ‘suckas’ and all the other ‘cool’ buzz-words that you’ve just got to mention if you want to appear ‘gangsta’ with such reckless abandonment.  At best, he simply comes off foolish but at worst he, like many others before him, risks cheapening the contributions of genuinely talented rappers who have actually had something of worth to say.

So the listener is left wondering, are Stuck Mojo rap, metal, country or a poorly thought-out combination of all three and more importantly do most people even care? The answer is probably not.  This album is yet another nail in nu-metal’s coffin (if there was any room left) and should be thrown onto the genre’s scrapheap along with Clawfinger, P.O.D., Dry Kill Logic, (hed)PE and many others who should have given up the ghost in 2001.

Review by Adam G.

Tracklisting:

1. Worshipping A False God
2. 15 Minutes of Fame
3. Friends
4. The Flood
5. Now That You're All Alone
6. There's A Doctor In Town
7. The Fear
8. There's A Miracle Comin'
9. Country Road
10. Invincible
11.Superstar pt 1 ( The Journeys Begins)
12 Superstar pt2 ( The World Of Ego's And Thieves)

                  

 

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