Review: The Wildhearts Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts
A guest album review by Monty Colvin of Galactic Cowboys
I promise not to make this all about myself, but I find it difficult to talk about The Wildhearts without telling the story of how I found out about them years ago. It was 1993, and I remember because my band, Galactic Cowboys, was about to release our 2nd album, Space In Your Face, and I watched Headbangers Ball on MTV every week in hopes they would play one of our videos.
After sitting through 2 hours of metal videos, host Riki Rachtman announced that the last video of the night would be a new one from The Wildhearts. In typical Rachtman fashion, he tossed in “I think one of these guys used to be in The Choirboys.” I’d never heard of The Wildhearts or The Choirboys, but I was always ready to hear something new. So I started watching, and it was the song “Suckerpunch.” I was instantly drawn in, and at that moment I knew I had to hear the entire album. The next day I went to a record store and found a copy of Earth Vs The Wildhearts in the bin. I’ll never forget looking at the cover, which had a sticker on the package that read, “Jan and Dean meets Motorhead.” I said to myself, “That’s me!” and I headed to the check out and bought it.
After hearing the entire album, I found out The Wildhearts were everything I wanted in a band. They were Rock mixed with Metal, mixed with Punk, mixed with melodic choruses and harmony vocals. In some ways they reminded me of my own band. They were something that was hard to describe … and something that was truly great.
I soon learned the driving force of The Wildhearts was their singer and main songwriter, Ginger Wildheart. It wouldn’t take me long to proclaim that Ginger was a musical genius and over the years I would collect everything he would put out. Every Wildhearts album, and every solo release. I couldn’t touch his musical brilliance, but I could relate to his influences … like, Cheap Trick, The Ramones, The Replacements, The Beatles, and even Trash Metal. He put them all in a blinder and served up melodic masterpieces.
Another thing I could relate to with Ginger and The Wildhearts, was their lack of wide world success. Like my band, they never got huge. It would always be puzzling to me, that bands who couldn’t hold a candle to them would become massively popular, while the WH’s just continued to struggle for recognition. But that’s the music biz. While Dave Matthews sits in his mansion, Ginger will have 3 hooks in one song that are better than anything Dave has written in his entire Rock n Roll Hall of Fame career. There is no justice.
And that would finally bring me to the new album by The Wildhearts, Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts. While I’m still not sure what the meaning of the album title is all about, by the second listening, I was in love all over again with this music. Ginger continues to prolifically churn out a batch of tunes that combine aggression, complexity, and melody. It’s the kind of album that might have to grow on you, because unlike most music these days, it’s not the usual tripe that is produced for the masses to be easily digested. The songs on the album will challenge your brain. From track to track, you will encounter twists and turns that you will not expect. And how refreshing is that?! Music that takes you on a journey through songwriting surprises, rather than the instantly predicable formats that flood the radio.
Standouts and favorites for me on this release include, “Fire In The Cheap Seats,” “Maintain Radio Silence,” and one of the best ballads I have ever heard, called “Hurt People Hurt People.” Its melody is intoxicating and its message of hope might just touch your heart.
But for me, the magnum opus of this album is “Failure Is The Mother Of Success,” which takes the listener on a ride through Metal, Punk, Prog, and Pop all in one song … and it all works perfectly. It never feels forced. And lyrically, Ginger seems to be expressing his growth as a person, and is now sharing encouragement to all of us who have dealt with the frustrations of life. The song and the album end with the haunting lines, “You took a lot of knocks to get where you are today.” And I for one, can totally relate to that!
In a word, Ginger, The Wildhearts, and this album are all BRILLIANT. They remain my favorite band of all-time, and if you have not heard them yet, go forth now and discover what you have been missing all these years!
—Monty Colvin
We hope you enjoyed this departure from our usual coverage. With the odd title and Monty’s love for this band, we thought it’d be a fun read. if you have any questions, please comment below.
It goes without saying that this is not a Christian rock album. Just a celebrity believer reviewing an album for fun. Hope you enjoy the read.
Check out Monty’s art at montycolvinart.com and his fun podcast at Monty’s Rockcast.
—Editor
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