Well Informed Citizens: Leaders of the Revolution Review

Well Informed Citizens returns with their sophomore album Leaders of the Revolution.  They moved a little ways apart from the ’70s influenced rock of their first album. This time Daniel Nathan, Brian Nolan and Zach Steiner are clearly more on the modern rock side. However, along with producer Jack LeTourneau, they don’t stray from the formula that comprised their first release with another  guitar riff driven album.

How far is it in the modern rock camp? The title track “Leaders of the Revolution “was written with rapper/MC Blax and channels a definite Rage Against the Machine vibe with its powerful guitar and rap lyrics combination. It was actually written as the theme song for a local MMA sports show and it fits that perfectly. That’s followed by “Homework” featuring guest vocals provided by Ben Hal, which is the first single off the album and the only real blues song on this release. It is an Otis Rush cover and they do it justice by not straying too far from the original and simply beefing up the intensity of the instrumentation with a fuller more aggressive tone.

After that “Sweet Maria” is about mellow as the rest of the album gets. It starts out with a funky drum rhythm and layers on an acoustic guitar jam that gradually builds in intensity as the song progresses as more layers are added, including a stellar organ solo and some wonderfully soulful background vocals. Ben Hall returns on vocals for “American Girl” and his authoritative voice along with the dynamic cadence of the drums are the driving force behind this one with some plaintive infill provided the guitar. The harder rock returns in force with “God of War” and continues with “Angela.” The album closes with the instrumental “Triclops” featuring Bobby Messano (Steve Winwood) on guitar trading licks with the band.

If you’re looking for blues other than the one track you’re looking in the wrong place on this one; but don’t let that you scare you away from Leaders of the Revolution. They have clearly taken what was most successful from their first album and continued to build on that foundation to give us another fine release.

The Review: 8/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Leaders of The Revolution
– Homework
– American Girl
– Triclops

The Big Hit

– Homework

[audio:https://bluesrockreview.com/audio/homework.mp3]

Review by Kevin O’Rourke

Buy the album: Amazon | iTunes