Karma

I was so disappointed in the first two songs on this album that I had this cd for over a month before I heard the end of it. I read a lot of Winger interviews where they acknowledged their fans disappointment in their self-indulgent effort, IV and how this was the response that their fans wanted. Track one, Deal with the Devil is an insultingly juvenile cliche. Just an awful song. It's followed up with the equally immature Stone Cold Killer. This song sounds like a high school garage band and Winger has never recorded a worse chorus. It was too much for me. Ejected. BUT ... many Weeks later, I put it back in and lo and behold, there is a really good cd behind that crap. If this album started on track three (Which it always does when I play it now) I would have been writing about this months ago. The rest of the album is fantastic. It's heavy, but thoughtful. It's well written and well played. Kip is in great voice and Reb does some truly great soloing. It's very much an extension of their critically acclaimed third cd, Pull, but more modern and maybe a little darker. Those first two songs don't fit. They don't belong and I don't know why they are consistently showing up online and on samplers, but they are doing a terrible injustice to the rest of this album. Trust me. Despite those first two tracks, this one is a keeper. --Scott