Title: For Madmen Only Artist: Atomic Opera Label: Giant Records Release Date: 1994 Rating: 4 Skulls
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Reviewed by Solomon:
The meld of melody and chunk pioneered by King's X has always generated plenty of respect in the rock community, but a lot of the Texan trio's material doesn't fit well into the metal mold. Atomic Opera's debut provides an alternative if Doug, Ty, and Jerry don't rate high enough on your metal-o-rama meter. For Madmen Only features great "la-la" gang-vocals and melodies while providing a hard, to-the-point instrumental attack that is more at home with the Black Album than Sgt. Pepper.

These guys are smart musicians: the tracks are built upon some fairly simple song structures and guitar riffs to grip you, but there's enough multi-textured layering, rhythmic hooks, and moderate "progressiveness" to keep things interesting. Check out the acoustic guitar/organ solo duet (!) on the beautiful "December," the odd chord voicings of "I Know Better," and the punchiness of "Justice" and "Blackness" to see what I mean. Atomic Opera is a Christian band, but the lyrics here are personal and poetic, not preachy and pre-fabricated. The lyrics are perceptive and intelligent, and I like the way the band expresses particular ideas. For example, "Blackness" points a finger at human hypocrisy: "We all want to change the world, but we don't want to change our mind." "Justice" proclaims "When I pray have mercy, I pray that I will never ask for justice," which I take is a different way of saying "judge not lest ye be judged yourself." For Madmen Only? I doubt it. If you're looking for brainy metal that doesn't skimp on the meat and potatoes, this record is a full-course meal.

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