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Tim "Ripper" Owens - Play My Game review



Reviewer:
6.6

30 users:
6.77
Band: Tim "Ripper" Owens
Album: Play My Game
Release date: May 2009


01. Starting Over
02. Believe
03. The Cover Up
04. Pick Yourself Up
05. It Is Me
06. No Good Goodbyes
07. To Live Again
08. The World Is Blind
09. The Light
10. Play My Game
11. Death Race
12. The Shadows Are Alive
13. A Challenge [Exclusive iTunes bonus]

Take a well known (and good) singer, add a legion of famous guests, mix it all, shake it all and you get the first solo album of Mr Tim Owens, "Play My Game". No need to introduce the music featured on this release, this is Heavy Metal as you can guess but even if I like Owens in general, I don't know why, his first album didn't convince me? it's lack of variety and energy maybe? weird?

The more I listen to "Play My Game", the more I don't understand what's happening here. Maybe that Tim Owens was not really well inspired this time, I don't know. If his performance is good one more time, the songs features on the album clearly lack of something. They're melodic, heavy etc but even if the melodies can be ok, they're just too slow and not really entertaining. It's good Heavy (with some Hard Rock influences), the guitars soli, as you can imagine, are impressive but it's not catchy and really redundant in the end. Surprisingly "Play My Game" cannot be categorized as a bad album but this is not something that I will listen to again and again in reason of its big lack of hits!

Of course Tim Owens is a great singer and his performance on the album proves it one more time. No need to talk about the other guys (Jeff Loomis, Doug Aldrich, David Ellefson or Vinny Appice among many others) who are all solid as steel. The melodic and rhythmic parts of the album are perfect; we don't really have any problems with the musicians but with the songs which are just tedious and boring in the end. And no need to talk about the cover artwork which is one of the worst that I ever seen. This is not something which should convince the potential buyers when they will have to take the final decision? you see what I mean? Just have a look at it and you'll understand?

"Play My Game" is the living proof that the fact to put the best musicians together on an album will never means "perfection" if the songs are not good! Oki, "Play My Game" is not terrible but the writings are not amazing and unfortunately, 80% of the album is boring in the end. Too bad, I was expecting a lot more from Tim Owens, but on the other hand, a great artist like him should find a way to react positively in the future. Let's hope that it was just a mistake then...


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 6
Originality: 6
Production: 7

Written by Jeff | 20.07.2009




Comments

Comments: 11   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 191 users
20.07.2009 - 19:24
Rating: 6
Icedburden

You didn't really explain anything in the review besides that it's boring. I agree that some of the songs don't gel for whatever reason, but I still enjoyed the album, it just wasn't as great as it could've been.
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Born Out Of Hate, Descending Upon The Earth
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20.07.2009 - 19:46
Dane Train
Beers & Kilts
Well it is a boring album. It seems that I've hear it all before.
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(space for rent)
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21.07.2009 - 17:57
Galar
Wicked Mung
Lol go ripper!
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YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID, SUCK A DICK
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22.07.2009 - 04:01
LeChron James
Helvetesfossen
Written by Galar on 21.07.2009 at 17:57

Lol go ripper!

hell yeah! im still gonna get the album despite what the review said. ripper's the man.
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Kick Ass, Die Young

Less is More
Stay Pure
Stay Poor

Music was my life, music brought me to life and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz in my head that only I can hear.
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22.07.2009 - 05:55
Eddie Misery

Haven't listened to this yet. Maybe he should stick to making guest appearances himself rather then featuring guests? The artwork looks like something a highschool kid drew on a notebook or something....

Don't care much for the album title either.

I'd like to give it a listen, for curiousity if nothing else, but...I don't see myself being compelled to purchase it. Ever. Oh well.
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23.07.2009 - 07:17
Goat-Christ

The old brand of Heavy Metal gets even more boring by the day. Tim is a great vocalist but it won't help the fact that he's still continuing on with this stagnant genre of Metal. IMO.
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14.08.2009 - 07:53
DamianGrosse
Account deleted
This review sucks, dude, really bad... No explanation, no idea WHY it lacks something/it's too tedious or WHAT it actually lacks... Songs too slow? Too melodic? Is that a fault for a record?

Should I be more enlightened now whether to buy this record or not after your wise words?

Go find a different job/hobby, man...
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14.10.2009 - 11:12
Raiden
Down Under Staff
Written by Guest on 14.08.2009 at 07:53

This review sucks, dude, really bad... No explanation, no idea WHY it lacks something/it's too tedious or WHAT it actually lacks... Songs too slow? Too melodic? Is that a fault for a record?

Should I be more enlightened now whether to buy this record or not after your wise words?

Go find a different job/hobby, man...

Are you blind? He already said they're too slow. He also explained what's wrong with the solos, etc. Nothing wrong with the review IMO.
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"Scream for me Melbourne!!!!"
- Bruce Dickinson

"I don't see any god up here"
- Yuri Gagarin (while in orbit, 1961)
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16.02.2011 - 09:22
Valentin B
Iconoclast
Most of the songs are indeed too slow and "heavy as fuck" (when they aren't actually that aggressive) for their own good.

there are a couple of really damn good tracks here, like Starting Over, The World is Blind and Death Race, but the rest seems like filler and this could easily have been morphed into a much better EP, but i guess contractual obligations made him do a full-length album. i'm still scratching my head over why they chose to put Starting Over as the first track seeing as it's a total power ballad

Ripper's voice is, as always, magnificent and for one he doesn't resort to screaming all throughout the album.
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13.08.2013 - 09:32
master 666
King of Arizona
This is good album - 6.6 why ?
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31.10.2013 - 11:29
Rating: 6
Pierre Tombale

Imho this is album is full of standards,
nothing surprising (when you see that guest list of musicians you would probably expect something more),
but that "more" is not delivered. everyone is up to a standard performance.
yes you can call it rock-solid, even if you expect nothing new it still lacks originality a lot.
and that's what the review explains.
all filler no killer
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