ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE – GET IT OUT (2019)

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If you’ve not heard of Altitudes And Attitude before, then don’t make the mistake of thinking that “Get It Out” is your normal full-length debut record by a new band.

Clue number one: Producer is Jay Ruston, who works with Stone Sour and Steel Panther (but don’t hold the second one against him….).

Clue number two: Here’s some of the musicians on the record. Christian Martucci (Stone Sour and Black Star Riders), Jon Donais (Anthrax), Gus G, Nita Strauss, and just for good measure, Ace Frehley turns up too.

That’s because Altitudes And Attitude is the hard rock project of Frank Bello and Dave Ellefson, and when you’ve been in bands like Anthrax and Megadeth for as long as those two, then you are entitled to call in some mates to help.

Don’t make the mistake, either of expecting anything remotely thrash on here – this has more to do with stadium ready rock from the likes of Foo Fighters than anything of the Big 4. That’s to their credit, though, as even if you could argue that neither Anthrax or Megadeth makes thrash records anymore, then this still comes from an entirely different place.

The title track swaggers in. Bello who handles vocals roars the verse, but goodness, the choruses slam and soar. It’s modernity sets the tone for the whole thing too Nothing dated here, instead something akin to Life Of Agony jamming on some Stone Sour songs is essentially the order of the day here.

“Late” is the sort of thing that will cheerfully send 80,000 mad in some festival field, while you’d be turning to your mate and going “these are ace, can’t believe we didn’t know these before…..!” Anthemic? You betcha.

“Out Here” is darker than the others, but there’s a real melody here too. “Part Of Me”, in honesty, does have the same chug as modern Anthrax, you would have worshipped this on “Worship Music” say, while “Slip” pulses, chugs and is charged up with electricity, “Talk To Me” on the other hand, shows all the other US arena rock bands how to be interesting.

“Leviathan” isn’t quite as gargantuan as you think, but does allow Bello to take the bass, for a metal instrumental piece, “Cold” is tinged with acoustics but superbly done. You can imagine “Another Day” on one of Slash’s albums with Myles Kennedy, and if “All There is” is something you might not expect, there is something a little unsettling about its grooves, as it takes a dark turn.

However, if you’re looking for the catchiest thing here, then let’s not look further than “Booze And Cigarettes”. Dave Grohl and his boys are looking enviously on, believe me, and if it’s an unlikely singalong then it should come with a health warning (for all kinds of reasons…..).

“Tell The World” is a simple plea for peace and harmony, “tell the world what I need is, all the world to forget” sings Bello, and its not a bad sentiment, really, is it? And power balladry is seldom done this well, or unapologetically, these days.

“Get It Out” gets the hell out of here with possibly its best thing. “Here Again” gets bonus points for starting with a guitar solo. Anything that is this keen to rock simply has to rule. And this does.

It is symptomatic of a record that seems to have been thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved and as for Bello and Ellefson they’ve both stretched themselves to make something genuinely superb. Altitudes And Attitude really hits the highs.

Rating 9/10

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