DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED – Sick

Duff McKagan’s Loaded has re-released their second effort dubbed Sick in response to the buzz created by their latest release The Taking (from April 2011). The CD/DVD offers a lot to the Loaded fan: thirteen tracks, plus two bonus tracks, one being an acoustic version of “Wasted Heart”, which is a nice finishing touch. The DVD is partly the men playing The Garage in Glasgow, Scotland, and contains five webisodes. One of the webisodes is of their 2008 tour in the UK and the other four are the making of Sick. The DVD also has the “No More” music video on it, so you get a lot for their money here.

The album starts out with “Sick”, which speaks of being “Sick, sick of you. You’re like typhoid Mary mixed with Asian flu.” Man, this guy (Duff) has a way with words. It’s a comical start to the album … an album which clearly resonates Punk as does its close cousin, “The Taking. “Flatline”, a notable one about another beat relationship, lends itself to the angrier side versus the sad side of ‘the end’. The drums in “The Slide” make this song stand out; not complex, just hard and fast. “Mother’s Day”, again following that Punk feel, is just sad in its message of losing someone.

Are “I See Through You” and “Translucent” the same song? Nope! The first is heavier than much of the album and the second highly rhythmic; don’t need to be a Punk fan to like either of these. “No Shame” loses some of that significant Classic Punk vibe, which is an indication that this band can do much more than what they are probably best known for doing. “Wasted Heart”, ‘the ballad’ on the album, is lukewarm, but the acoustic version has more appeal. “Roll Away” has a Zeppelin kind of chord progression thing happening in the beginning; and is one of the great ones on Sick.

The DVD portion of this release is going to provide happiness to those who like live performances in candid, informal settings. The only thing on the DVD that is preconceived is the video for “No More”. If you like The Taking then certainly getting Sick at your first opportunity will round out your Duff McKagan prescription.