Sam Taylor was a busy man in the 90's. Not content with just being the guiding hand in King's X's first steps out of obscurity he was also lending his producer talents to another Texan hard rock group by the name of Galactic Cowboys, made up of (at the time) bassist Monty Colvin, drummer Alan Doss, guitarist Dane Sonnier and singer Ben Huggins. While the early 90's tag team of producer Taylor and engineer Steve Ames helped refine the Cowboy's sound in a similar fashion to those familiar with King's X, this group showcased an altogether different set of influences and tastes with an emphasis on more aggressive, thrash-tinged compositions and an overall less progressive bent. The result was an interesting combination of multi-part harmonies like The Beatles, Anthrax-esque balls n' crunch, and a spacey, almost psychedelic vibe that gave them a sonic signature distinct from their brothers in arms from Houston.
Lead-in track "I'm Not Amused" gives you a good indication of the band's off-kilter sense of humor as samples of broken glass, mooing cows, and gang vocal arribas decorate Antrax-tinged riffing underneath Taylor's trademark multi-part vocal harmonies as a harmonica-drenched breakdown brings everything home. If that sounds like a lot of moving parts for one song, it is; luckily the band dials it back with the excellent follow-up "My School", a chugging train of giant chords and layered vocals laying on top of everything like a tapestry as heavier pieces like "Kaptain Krude" and "Kill Floor" alternate with quieter compositions "Someone For Everyone" and "Speak to Me". The production work in terms of sound quality is great across the board as no one instrument seems to be overpowering the others or fighting for space - if anyone knows how to amp a bass properly, it's Taylor and Ames, so no complaints there. The second half of the disc see the Cowboys get a bit more progressive with the sudden starts and stops of "Sea of Tranquility" and the Dream Theater-esque 10+ minute final track "Speak to Me" coupled with some excellent deep cuts in "Ranch on Mars Reprise" and "Pump Up the Space Suit" to wrap things up with more huge gang harmonies and propulsive guitar work.
In the end, the biggest hangup I have with Galactic Cowboys rests with length, not content. Of the 10 tracks on the album only 3 run less than 6 minutes and a total runtime of 60 minutes you've got a lot of album here, and with nearly every track built on a similar foundation of big harmonies and chug-chug guitar lines you have a recipe for listening fatigue. Less is more, and shaving off 10 minutes of the fat here would dramatically increase my desire to revisit this record (a common theme with the Cowboys).
B-
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