Trouble Goes Retro – 95%*
Trouble’s 4th album (and second self-titled, for some bizarre reason) is in many ways Trouble moving forward and backward. This album is their most 70s sounding album up to this point, as they take their already noticeable Sabbathian influences a few steps further and push their 70s doom and rock inspiration to the forefront of their sound. There is a noticeable shift from their occasional thrashy outbursts found on the previous three albums, as this album settles in to a mid-paced groove for the most part. The only notable exception to this is parts of “The Wolf” and “R.I.P.”
Luckily, Trouble nails the 70s sound in 1990 better than anyone else I can think of. This album has no shortage of brilliant tunes, and most of the songs are kept on the shorter side at around 3-4 minutes.
The guitar leads, once again, are a highlight on “Trouble.” The closer, “All Is Forgiven” is my favourite song on this album, partially due to Eric Wagner’s soul-shredding vocal performance, and partially due to the extended guitar lead section in the last 3 minutes. It’s a brilliant way to end an album, and end an era, as Trouble would shift gears further into a 70s rock sound after this album. It’s reminiscent of some of Tony Iommi’s best guitar outros on songs like “Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener,” “Under the Sun,” “Hot Line,” “Dirty Women,” and “Born Again.” “All Is Forgiven” is not only the best song on this album, but also one of the greatest songs in Trouble’s discography.
While “All Is Forgiven” is the biggest standout, It’s far from the only fantastic song on this album. “At the End of My Daze”, “Black Shapes of Doom,” “Heaven On My Mind,” and “R.I.P.” are all masterful. Some of them are doomier, others are hooky stomps, and they manage to nail all these different sounds in a way that prevents this album from getting stuck in a sonic rut.
The one weak point of this album is the ballad, “The Misery Shows (Act II).” It’s not horrid by any stretch, but just feels like a bit of a dud when put up against any of the other songs on this album. It also doesn’t really go progress in a satisfying way. Not a bad tune, but if all the songs on the album were of this quality, the rating I’m giving it would be quite a bit different. Eric Wagner does get to show off a different range than he normally sings in on this song, and that makes it worthwhile to listen to.
The production on “Trouble” is excellent and suits these songs perfectly. The guitar tone is heavy, but fairly low on reverb. It’s fairly trebly, but not to the point of being shrill. This may be in part due to Trouble having more than one guitarist, which fattens up the sound of the guitars (just listen to 3:11 onward on “All is Forgiven” when the guitarists harmonize to see the effect dual guitars have on the thickness of guitar tone). This guitar tone really makes the lead guitar sections stand out, and it just works fantastically. The drums sound great on here, with a great, punchy snare sound. They are played well, but aren’t the standout here. The bass also helps fill out the sound well, but isn’t particularly active, as it mostly follows the rhythm guitar line.
Eric Wagner’s voice slots right in, and he seems to take a semi-similar vocal approach to Ozzy, as he typically sings along the guitar’s riffing. Tonally, they both take on a semi-shrill yelp. However, he wasn’t afraid to deviate from the riffing, which is something Ozzy rarely ever does. This makes his vocal lines more interesting to listen to, as they’re a bit less predictable.
“Trouble” (the 1990 one, not the album since retitled “Psalm 9”) is either my favourite or second favourite album by Trouble ever since I first heard it about 7 years ago. It was also the first Trouble album I ever got a physical copy of. My particular copy is a remastered version that comes in a nice glossy slipcase. There are no bonus tracks or anything like that, but it’s a nice package altogether. I wouldn’t say this is the best album to get into Trouble with, in part due to how it’s a bit of an outlier in Trouble’s broader discography (their preceding three albums are all a bit more heavy, doomy, and thrashy), and the next album went a bit more psychedelic. However, it’s in my top two alongside its namesake counterpart. The Skull and Run to the Light are not far off by any stretch though, and the first 4 Trouble albums are all must-listens for any doom metal acolytes.
Ignore the fact that the album cover on this album is way worse than the previous three albums, which all had super neat, ethereal-looking art. Having a band photo as an album cover isn’t a searing indictment of the album’s quality necessarily, but is not particularly creative. I would say this album cover works, as this album takes a very blue collar approach to doom metal, but for anyone in a band reading this, please don’t make a band photo your album cover. Get an artist!
To close, “Trouble” isn’t some transcendental experience. It’s doom metal done well by dudes who know how to write doom metal well. It’s a great album, and I would love to see other bands use the blueprint from this album and run with it.
*Originally posted on the Metal Archives as “Celestialemissary”
