Which looks rather silly without the proper cover art for context. The alternate cover was plain white with just the new Bonham logo. The majority of copies have the surreal Dali-esque landscape that you see here. This album was available with two covers. Definitely Zeppelin vibes come solo time. MacMaster really lets it blast on the chorus too. It has a heavy bass groove that isn’t like the other tracks on the album. Lo and behold, that is not all! The Japanese fans got a little bonus on their CDs called “Waste No Time”. Although it’s probably sheer coincidence, it sounds a bit like Marillion circa the same period. It’s up to “Chimera” to take you out, and it does with a shiny upbeat vibe. Perfect track for this spot, setting up for the closer. That would be bassist John Smithson handling those wicked violin licks and a lot of the keyboards. This is a tender blues guitar/violin instrumental with dark piano accents. Moving on to the end, it’s “Los Locos” in second to last position. Things drag a bit on “Secrets”, which tries to marry the funky side with a “Kashmir”-scale chorus but doesn’t really follow through. Another cool tune with a different vibe from the others. Next, we go to a bluesy, funky blast of Zeppelin-flavoured ale on “Backdoor”. It doesn’t remain in ballad territory forever, going to the swamps of Florida where Savatage reside halfway through. That would be “Good With the Bad”, a jazzy piano ballad and the longest song on the album. This plutonium-fuelled track would give anyone a run for their money.īut after all that drama, you need something a little more laid back. Perhaps a band like the Scorpions could do “Ride on a Dream”, but even Klaus would be challenged by the outstanding MacMaster lead vocal. A breaknace pace and metallic riff make it unlike anything else on the album.
This is followed by another song with epic overtones, “The Storm”, a six minute track that takes the Zeppelin influences to the craggy progressive peaks of another land.Īlthough there’s no side break on a CD, there are a natural place for it as you can pause for a breath before plunging into “Ride on a Dream”. Funk, soul, progressive, blues, and even bluegrass. It sounds less like Zeppelin and perhaps more like something from David Coverdale’s Reptile Emporium.Īnother cool direction is explored on “Hold On”, a unique song with elements from multiple genres. It’s the backing strings (synth) and epic chorus that make this song.
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The gothic tone of the video was cool, but the video got zip for airplay. The melancholy ballad was simply the wrong temperature for 1992. Ian Hatton on guitar proves himself to be diverse talent with licks-o-plenty.Īnother direction is explored on “Change of a Season”, the shoulda-woulda-coulda single that would have been huge a year or two prior. It would be lazy to compare “Mad Hatter” to “Get the Funk Out” from a couple years past, as it has its own vibe. This would be the Tower of Power horn section. Opening with a blast of horns, “Mad Hatter” goes one of the few places Zeppelin never went: full-on funk with horns. Yet it’s the title track that really shocks the system. The sonics are clearer and sharper than the debut. But then it goes to a completely different place on the chorus. At first, it has a very old school Zeppelin groove, akin to “Candy Store Rock” meets “Black Dog”. What an opener “Bing” is, a word that doesn’t seem to be in any of the lyrics. Despite the strong single “Change of a Season”, the album tanked. Unfortunately, the album arrived in 1992, amidst the Pearl Jams, Soundgardens, Nirvanas and the rising tide of grunge. It was a more diverse and challenging platter. The band grew from the debut, establishing more of their own groove. But every band has to grow, and where would Bonham take it? Further down the Zeppelin road, or try and find their own identity?īob Ezrin did not return, and most of the followup album Mad Hatter was produced by Tony Platt, with the rest produced by Ron Saint Germain. It was easy to imagine that “Wait For You” was a new Zeppelin single built for that year. Those who thirsted for the rarified air of Led Zeppelin got some of that with Jason on drums and the incredible Canadian Daniel MacMaster on lead vocals. For the year 1989, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard tracks dominating the airwaves. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it sold well enough and made plenty of year-end lists. The first Bonham album in 1989 was a critic’s darling.
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