Westworld Merrill WI

Westworld

Westworld

Spitfire Records, 1999

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/15/2000

Even on paper, Westworld seems like it would be a riskyproposition. Take members from hard rock bands who one tastedgreatness and add a drummer who could well be one of the fastestrising stars on the scene, and make a new band.

Such a combination could have been as lethal as nitroglycerine.Instead, the self-titled release from Westworld takes the bestportions of each musician and creates a whole new sound that is ascatchy as it is pleasant. These four guys might not be willing toquit their day jobs, but they'd be fools if they wrote Westworld off as a one-shot deal.

The group - TNT vocalist Tony Harnell, Riot guitarist MarkReale, Danger Danger bassist Bruno Ravel and drummer John O'Reilly(presently with Blackmore's Night) - doesn't pretend to try to beanything like the groups each individual member comes from. Inretrospect, this works to their advantage; by carving out their ownsound and style, they force people to take this band at facevalue.

For the most part, this attack works well. Kicking things offwith a strong track in "Illusions" (and with the help of a fewother performers along the way), Westworld creates an enjoyablepop-rock mix that slices through all musical boundaries. Trackslike "Bring The Water To Me," "Suicide" and "I Belong" all help toadvance Westworld's case.