ROLLINS BAND: Weight

Produced by Theo Van Rock

Released: 1994

Weight made Rollins Band nudge the mainstream, while actually being far from it. With a delightfully satirical single becoming a minor hit and laden with lots of other great songs, Weight was the album Rollins had been working towards for almost a decade. The End of Silence had helped to gather a wider audience with its metallic leanings and more focused songwriting, but this follow-up went further still.

While ostensibly a punk band, Rollins Band also blended the aesthetics of both metal and jazz that was reinforced here by the addition of bassist Melvin Gibbs who gave the already searing rhythm section a swing-like vibe. Nothing that Henry Rollins does vocally could ever be described as actual singing, but his hard bellowing style does come close to carrying a tune here and there. Rollins' real skill lies with the urgency of his delivery, the sheer power of his voice and the enviable control he has over it. Whether a bark or a roar, you get the feeling that Henry Rollins could make himself heard and understood above the volume of his band even without any amplification. This would be no mean feat, because Rollins Band is a loud and very powerful unit, and on Weight they made the album of their career.

Weight capitalised on the success of the previous album and improved on its formula with even tighter songs and, as mentioned, a more jazz-inflected sound. Gibbs and drummer Sim Cain lay down a ridiculously swinging foundation for Chris Haskett's metal guitar lines as Rollins himself unleashes his vocal tirades. The man's lyrical scope widened here from the seemingly endless self-analysic of previous efforts to encompass broader issues, and throws in some self-effacing humour that, typically, went right over many heads. On the oft-misunderstood "Liar" he writes from another's perspective, and in "Icon" with lines like "lyrical visionary, caught in the spotlight" and "there'll be another Messiah right here, next week" he seems to be taking aim as much at himself as at other artists. "Disconnect" opens the album with a slow-burning menace, "Volume 4" and "Step Back" are brutal rockers that slam like a huge truck destroying everything in its path, then on "Fool" the band gets funky even behind Henry's angry bark. There really isn't a bad song on here although "Divine" really sticks out as somewhat weaker than the other. Certainly the clear highlight however is "Shine", an inspiring and uplifting song about self-empowerment and perfectly placed at the end of the album to balance out the stark anger and humbling despair of many of the other tracks.

Weight is the pinnacle of Henry Rollins' musical career, where he got everything just right. Other versions of Rollins Band made some good albums after this, but they have yet to match it.

1. Disconnect
2. Fool
3. Icon
4. Civilized
5. Divine
6. Liar
7. Step Back
8. Wrong Man
9. Volume 4
10. Tired
11. Alien Blueprint
12. Shine

Rating: 98%