Description

5.0 out of 5 stars There’s no such thing as a poor WS album…,
Crikey. While this is certainly as good as Last Decade Dead Century, Salutations from the Ghetto Nation or Space Age Playboys, its definitely worth 5/5 stars! If only for the tracks ‘Cargos of Doom’ and song in Your Mind’ – stone cold classics both. The rest of the album is – as the title might suggest – a little more toned down than typical WS fare, with a slightly psychedelic edge to it. Maybe Kory was on a bit of comedown when he wrote this… Whatever the case, he is a true original and to have Warrior Soul back is an honour indeed. If you’re a newcomer to the band, I suggest you get this!

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CHECK all the songs in the 10 song playlist below:

 

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Track listing
1. Mars
2. Cargos of Doom
3. Song in Your Mind
4. Shock Um Down
5. Let Me Go
6. Ha Ha Ha
7. Concrete Frontier
8. I Want Some
9. Soft
10. High Road

Warrior Soul: Kory Clarke (vocals); John Ricco (guitar); Michael Monroe (saxophone, harp); Andy Haas (didjeridu); Pete McClanahan (bass); Mark Evans (drums).

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Pete McClanahan of Warrior Soul R.I.P. You will be missed.

Recorded at Don Furys Studios, New York in 1993.
All songs written by Warrior Soul.

Warrior Souls fourth album Chill Pills best elements (strong vocals, technically ambitious guitar leads and topical lyrics) confirm that Warrior Soul is an individual band within their genre.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Given time, you will appreciate.,
the punk tracks on this album (“Shock Um Down”, “I Want Some”) impressive, lyrically and musically, and they can be compared to the raw brilliance and ferocity of “Wasteland” (Drugs, God and the New Republic) or Space Age Playboys, which is in my opinion perhaps one of the best postmodern punk albums of all time.
slower numbers like “Song In Your Mind”, “Concrete Frontier” and “Soft” — still appeal to me. Haunting vocals, hypnotic guitars and an intoxicating, rumbling bass combine with Korys soft spoke-word speech to cultivate a psychedelic ambience laced with melancholy.

Kory’s lyrics are chilling and predominantly sorrowful. The visionary optimism and revolutionary spirit that fuelled earlier classics like “We Cry Out” and “Hero” is hardly present on this album, replaced by a dominating mood of scepticism, loss and desperation. I can’t think of another song by Warrior Soul that is as achingly beautiful and saddening as “Let Me Go.” (In short, those looking to lift their spirits should be encouraged to look elsewhere).

I think that if given time, even those fans of Warrior Soul who were initially disappointed will come to appreciate this album. Even under the circumstances — major tensions between band members, a disintegrating relationship with the label — Chill Pill has a hell of a lot more passion and sincerity than the majority of what’s on the radio these days.

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5.0 out of 5 stars
Word on the street was that Kory Clarke & Co. were so fed-up with Geffen Records’ lacklustre $upport, that they decided to record two records at once…The “art/experimental” record would go to Geffen to satisfy contractual needs & the “commercial” record would go to any number of major record companies who desperately wanted to sign Warrior Soul. “Chill Pill” is that art/experimental record that was supposedly going to be a bad product and end their relationship with Geffen.

Well…despite a lot of peoples opinions that this was W. Souls worst disc, its actually very good. As is just about anything that K.C. puts out. The front & back cover feature only Kory Clarke, while the interior has a few shots of the other band members. Was this supposed to be a statement? A foreshadowing of the future? Not sure. But it is HIS band & the guy does what he wants.
This entire album IS a bit of an art record. And there are many experimental-type sounds running through at least a couple of songs. It gives the record a drugged-out, spacey feel. But that’s a good thing. Some of the other tracks are very-much punk in their attitude & feel. And a couple songs just pummel you with an all-out sonic assault.

Many W. Soul fans think that this was Mr. Clarkes weakest effort, but I disagree. Its not weak. Its experimental. Its not disappointing. Its art. And there’s a big difference. Whether the band turned in a “sub-par” record on purpose or not doesn’t really matter. Because there’s enough good material on here to make it a very good record.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth is simple and Soft,
First off, anyone who discards this should open their ears and their mind to the masterpiece that their holding in their lives. Thanks! When I first got this record 10 years ago it didn’t really seem like that much of a change for this band. A lot of people have complained that the optimism from previous records has been stripped away completely. Well when you try saving the world with 3 brilliant records and nothing happens, Kory gets mad. There is a despair on this record that we only caught glimpses of previously that make this one of the most important records in music history, period. Kory always had lyrics and vocal melodies that were sad but the music finally seems to match that fact and the realization that he couldn’t change the world from all the political turmoil. How can one listen to songs like Concrete Frontier , Soft or Song in your Mind and not wanna go and blow up the white house? These are some of the best songs this band has written. The musical abilities of each member truly shine here, especially Mark Evans, rest his soul, who had to have been one the best drummers in rock n roll history. Hail Warrior Soul. I wonder if Kory knows how many lives he changed with this record because he certainly changed mine. Buy this record!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Grossly underrated.,
I’ve read a number of reviews of this album, most of which give it a fair-to-middlin’ score/review, and I really cannot agree. When this mongrel rocks-out it really rocks-out (shock Um Down’ never fails to precipitate a dramatic rise in the volume of the car stereo) but its the ‘trippy’, more psychedelic numbers like ‘Let Me Go’ and soft’ which really draw me in (try driving down a lonely freeway late at night with those songs on and then tell me you weren’t affected). And if ‘Concrete Frontier’ is not along-side ‘Drugs, God and the New Republics’ title-track as the best song the band have ever done then I’ve missed something brilliant. In my humble opinion, its their best album (disagree, if you must).