Millennium - Supply and Demand (Reissue)

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Metal was going through a major transition in the early 90's. Thrash was starting to stomp on Glam/Hair metal, Prog was rising once again and grunge was just on the verge of breaking. MILLIENNIUM's Supply & Demand perfectly captures the confusion most bands at the time were going through (in all honesty, my band at the time, TRYST was caught in that trap)

The first song, "Final Destination" is re-recorded and placed number 6. I'm pointing this out now because it illustrates perfectly the lack of coordinated vision this album seemed to have. The guitar mix on track one was awful, almost painful. Reverb was used as an instrument rather than a subtle enhancer and the thing that ruined the entire experience was Stephen Orr's voice. The only saving grace was Randall Rhodes brilliant and in your face bass, which was ruined in the re-recording by simplifying it.

About that voice, it sounded like Rob Halford was trying to impersonate Eddie Vedder, and that ain't a good thing. It's also a good analogy for this band. All the pieces are there, good quality, enjoyable when separate, but the mixture is off. Bill Bishop is a talented guitarist, but never seemed to settle on a singular sound. From effect heavy "Nothing to Gain" to the almost reasonably mixed "Voice of the Valkyrie" I felt like he got ahold of the effect rack and started experimenting, forgetting to turn off each effect after playing with it. The end result is an unintelligible mish mosh of sound where his talent is squandered. If I had the chance, a stack of 2 4x12 with a JCM 800 Marshall head mic'ed straight would have improved things.

The rhythm section, to be fair, were desperately trying to hold the mix above water, and Phillip Brannan provided a great foundation, but the beautiful structure being built on it lacked any kind of strength. That sums it up. How can something so right be so wrong? If the music was transcribed it would look great, good cord structure, smooth transitions, nice timing change-ups, but this is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of the need for a good engineer/producer to properly produce, mix and slap hands when reaching for effects/ EQ, and maybe send Stephen to a vocal coach.

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Memorability: 6
Production: 5