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Mind Control

Tantric - Mind Control Audio CD

A fair review of the Tantric "Mind Control" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Tantric reviews here, or go back to the Tantric tabs.

Band: Tantric
Title: Mind Control
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-08-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mind Control 2: Fall To The Ground 3: Coming Undone 4: Desert Me 5: The Past Is The Past 6: Kick Back 7: Intermerzzo 8: Run Out 9: Walk Away 10: What Are You Waiting For 11: Let's Start 12: Guiding Me

Not thier best effort

The second album "after we go" was pretty good. I love band "Days of the new" and really liked Tantrics 1st self tittled album. The third "The end begins" surprised me with a violinist. I actually liked the changed sound unlike most fans and reviews. This 4th album "Mind control "is lacking something and I just am not into it. One or two songs are ok, but even those are not as good as any song on previous albums.
Member changes are making this band suffer a slow death. Album sales went from
1 milllion to 200,000 to 70,000 on the decline. Not sure how well this album sales are doing as the info is unavailable. I like what lead singer Hugo is trying to do here by sticking it out through all the problems/member changes, but I can only hope the next album is an improvement. Hey very few bands can generate great album after album. I hope this is just a slip up and Tantric gets back on track if and when they produce album #5. I have not given up on them and do look forward to what comes next.

NEVER BE THE SAME.
The End Begins and Mind Control are just not up to par. The first 2 Tantric cds were the best and they will never top those two. When bands start changing all the members in and out alot it's pretty much gonna be over for the band not too long after that. I wouldnt look for tantric to make many more cds if any. . Wait and see if i'm right.

It's all good....
Real fans of Tantric know their music and the progressions that it has made since their self-titled debut. The Lance review is pretty lame. Mind Control is a link in the Tantric musical chain that is pretty heavy, melodic, all around rock. Stop the labeling, Post Grunge? What? This dude keeps dropping that stupid, cliched label on a band that has been making solid rock for years. He seems (from reading his review) to know nothing of Tantric before The End Begins. I'm a huge fan of Hugo and (both) lineup versions of the band and this is a rock solid slab of ROCK. Not post grunge, grunge, pre grunge, latter-day grunge, or any other lame-brained labeling. I'm listening to Mind Control for only the 3rd time since buying it and that's already 2 more listens than I gave to The End Begins. I just thought that T E B was just to mellow, but this is the real Tantric. We're all entitled to our opinions though.

Solid Post-Grunge Rock release, but not generic
So this will be first impressions about them as a band and this CD in particular, and not so much in relation to their other work. This is my first Tantric CD, and I bought it today, so I'm listening to it as I write.

First, the songs are SHORT! The longest is 3:24, and most are almost exactly 3:00 long. On a 12 track CD (with an interlude of one minute for one of those tracks) it makes for a mighty short CD. I generally prefer longer songs, but I've found myself really enjoying the pacing of this album.

As to the music, let's talk for a second about post-grunge. Generally what you get are some dirty guitars and some scratchy or throaty vocals and call it good. It's the trap that a thousand Pearl Jam and Sound Garden clones have fallen into.

Tantric avoids this by providing a lot of variety, while still maintaining a cohesive theme for the whole album. Basically they have some acoustic guitars (strumming and some pretty intricate picking that is awesome), some dirty electric guitars (lots of power chords, not many solos), some strings spread liberally throughout the album which, thankfully, act as a garnish and not a novelty item, and some pretty great vocals, with great harmonies and strong, growly choruses. Take those ingredients, mix them up, and start making songs out of them.

So if you like the post grunge rock with some variety, I say go for it. They remind me a lot of Shinedown (one of my favorite bands) and there's the constant comparison to Alice and Chains (because of the vocals), but Tantric does a great job of, if not making something epic and life-changing, making something different and entirely enjoyable to listen to. Definitely worse ways you could spend your money.

Tantric's Latest Takes You Back

A different album altogether than The End Begins, there isn't quite the variety song-wise (many of these tracks sounds similar to each other), but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. There aren't many current, mainstream rock groups that retain the same post-grunge characteristics as efforts from the late '90s and early 2000s, but this latest version of Tantric attempts to keep the genre alive on Mind Control, the second album with the re-tooled band of frontman Hugo Ferreira (minus the services of ex-Fuel drummer Kevin Miller). It all depends on if you like the basic format of these tunes (think late '90s post-grunge). Hugo's voice could be considered an acquired taste, and his performance and tone are more on the rough-around-the-edges side as opposed to the smoother vocals displayed on The End Begins. Most of the songs do have melodic, somewhat hooky choruses. . . otherwise, this is pretty much straightforward rock without a lot of embellishments. "Fall To The Ground" and "What Are You Waiting For" are good examples of songs with pop rock-type choruses (however, one song, "Coming Undone", has more of a harder, screaming chorus).

Former Creed member Brett Hestla produced the record, and the production quality is a highlight here. . . great guitar sounds, fantastic drums. . . it all sounds super. New drummer Richie Monica does a more-than-average job of replacing Miller.

Overall, this album may not win any awards in the originality department, but if you're a fan of post-grunge rock the old Tantric way, this album may suit you well. For me, the best song on the album is "The Past Is The Past", and while it's not a hard rock song, it's well-written and shows a good deal of passion. And the verse of "Let's Start", with a great rock groove and delayed guitars, is one of the album's highlights from a musical standpoint. Grade: B-.

You can see a complete list of all Tantric discography, or go back to the Tantric tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.