Review: Rusty Shipp – Capsized Empire
Rusty Shipp’s latest album has dropped and it’s pretty spectacular. The new album, Capsized Empire, is a musical journey heavy on moral philosophy and deep-rooted spirituality delivered with guitar driven passion and authority. Obviously, it wouldn’t be Rusty Shipp if nautical themes (and sounds) were not present, but it’s metaphorically applied to forward an even greater and profound existential message. The spiritual crisis abounding in our day is very real and Rusty Shipp is sending a message of hope to a weary and traumatized people. To add to the musical mystique, the whole album actually is a continuation of a story-based concept depicting a type of warrior sea angel intruded upon by the souls of men. It’s all pretty cool!
The album starts out red hot with a really cool intro titled, What The Tide Washed In (8).
The musical onslaught rolls on with a couple of very stellar rockers, All Aboard! (8) and Espionage (8). There are also a few neat spoken-word entries, notably, Black Market Jam (8), which has some nice Johnny Cash vibes.
On The Docks (8.5) is a breezy, surf rock jam featuring some very heavy spiritual sentiments. The lyrics are very strong throughout the album.
Neck Breaker (8) is another guitar laden scorcher and one of my favorites. Tough Guys (7) almost sounds like a Judas Priest tune ripe with biting satire and inconvenient truth. Nefarious (8.5) is another epic tune that builds and groans with sobering sentiments and timely laments. The album ends on a soaring note with the neo-Edwards anthem, Sinners In The Hands (8.5), except the script gets flipped.
There are a few songs that kind of drag the album down to my ears, specifically on the second half of the album, but there is enough not so hidden treasure here for me to boldly declare that Rusty Shipp has fully arrived! All Aboard!!!
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