{"id":96468,"date":"2022-10-21T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=96468"},"modified":"2022-10-27T14:45:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T13:45:10","slug":"album-review-ugly-kid-joe-rad-wings-of-destiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-ugly-kid-joe-rad-wings-of-destiny\/","title":{"rendered":"UGLY KID JOE – Rad Wings Of Destiny (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

UGLY KID JOE
Rad Wings Of Destiny<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMetalville (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sounding more like AC\/DC than AC\/DC, California rockers Ugly Kid Joe announce their return after a seven year gap with their fifth full-length album and the stomping opening track \u2018That Ain\u2019t Livin\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, the issue here is immediate \u2013 just who are Ugly Kid Joe? Missing out on the \u201calterno\u201d metal years, the band had their breakthrough in 1992 with their hit \u2018Everything About You\u2019, but it was one of those annoyingly tepid and pop-edged singalongs lacking any sort of seriousness, and in spite of sporadic releases ever since I\u2019ve always seen Ugly Kid Joe as the band I never really liked.<\/p>\n

Was it the humour? The album covers? Or just the music that flitted between styles but instead of boasting fluidity it just all seemed calculated and weak. And here we are again with another silly album title, more silly artwork and a mish-mash of tracks that just don\u2019t fit together.<\/p>\n

The glam plod of \u2018Not Like The Other\u2019 is okayish and frontman Whitfield Crane displays versatility, but it\u2019s the sort of croon that a thousand goofy, face-pulling singers tried at the tail-end of the Faith No More \u2018Epic\u2019 craze. \u2018Dead Friends Play\u2019 resurrects AC\/DC again as does \u2018Failure\u2019, while \u2018Everything\u2019s Changing\u2019 is evidence that the band can be serious. The latter is a breezy ballad of sorts that sways with the wind and plays nicely along with the opening nuances of \u2018Kill The Pain\u2019 which unravels as a grunge-soaked, expansive rocker.<\/p>\n

Suddenly I\u2019m interested, but it never lasts. The cover of The Kinks classic \u2018Lola\u2019 is pointless but does sort of back up the theory that the band works better as a covers act. Rad Wings Of Destiny<\/em> suggests a band that somehow hasn\u2019t moved on from that mid-90s sugary drift whereby tracks such as \u2018Up In The City\u2019 waft like dreamy Beatles \/ Oasis-styled vapours toying with syrupy American middle of the road college rock.<\/p>\n

\u2018Long Road\u2019 sees the band exploring the country rock theme again. It\u2019s tiresome, flaky and confused but it sums up Ugly Kid Joe, a band I may have appreciated more if they\u2019d hit me circa 1989 even though there were so many far more intelligent and evocative bands to treasure.<\/p>\n

This record feels dated already, never fully comfortable in its skin, but those fans who still slap on \u2018Everything About You\u2019 and bop along will no doubt line-up in their dozens to purchase this mediocre ball of pop rock.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UGLY KID JOERad Wings Of Destiny Metalville (2022)Rating: 6\/10 Sounding more like AC\/DC than AC\/DC, California rockers Ugly Kid Joe announce their return after a seven year gap with their fifth full-length album and the stomping opening track \u2018That Ain\u2019t Livin\u2019. However, the issue here is immediate \u2013 just who are Ugly Kid Joe? Missing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5076],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-ugly-kid-joe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96469,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96468\/revisions\/96469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}