Gavin Rossdale: Wanderlust Review
Gavin Rossdale, married to the beautiful Gwen Steffani, and former lead singer of the 90s grunge band Bush. Believe it or not, until I reached High School, Bush actually stood as my favorite band (right now they would be lucky to rank among my top 30.) Many nailed Bush for being a Nirvana knock off, which I suppose is a fair critique, one that I personally disagree with, but understandable. Gavin Rossdale’s first solo album WANDERlust is more deserving of negative critiques for being too safe and generic than Bush ever was. From start to end this album never gets going, it’s dull and uninspiring and far too safe of an album to actually enjoy. Admittedly, the first half of the album is listenable with some hooks here and there and a modestly upbeat sound, but the second half is a complete bore. The music is just sappy and never relays any ounce of emotion. It’s an album that is so stagnant and unemotional that you will actually feel emotionally drained after listening to it. Even the lyrics are completely bland, who wants to hear about family life? Hell, if I’m going to hear about family life from a celebrity I’ll go look towards the elder Bill Cosby, the “American Dad” before I listen to Gavin Rossdale. Cosby is more relatable being born before World War II than Gavin Rossdale is having played with the bands of my youth.
It was painful getting through this album in its entirety once, and the second time around was like entering a battle I knew I was going to lose. Come on Gavin! You’re married to one of the most beautiful women in the world, and you were the lead singer of a grunge band (grunge bands are heavy, right?) If getting married means that your life will be as dull as his music, then there is a good chance I might die single.Grade: D
posted by Jeff at 9:44 PM
7 Comments:
It ain't marriage, man. It's money. You get too much of it and you lose your edge. It's only when you don't have any or you fear losing what you do have that you can stay sharp. He's got a posh life and it probably shows on this album.
I agree with Hatter.
I don't think Bush was ever a great band, but they were good. Not everyone is going to change the world and Bush was one of those bands that did something common, but did it very well. I will say that the two times I saw them (both festivals), they were very good live. That being said, it still comes as no surprise to me that Rossdale's solo album sucks.
Mad Hatter - That's true. I wasn't thinking marriage specifically but the things that come along with marriage, like family life, but a posh life is probably even more of the reason. I focused on marriage and family because those were the central themes of the album.
Bob - When I look back at Bush's music now they don't resonate with me like they used to, but I still enjoy them a lot. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I really connected with them when I was younger, maybe because Sixteen Stone was one of the first CD's I bought when I was younger.
I was surprised to hear the first single, which was more like a Lifehouse song thana Bush song. At least Bush had some edge.
I think even Lifehouse has more edge than this album had. I was actually a little excited to hear this album thinking I would get to hear some modern grunge music, but it was like hearing, as you said, a Lifehouse album.
My mom listens to Lifehouse. 'Nuff said.
Mad Hatter - I'm assuming that would be insulting Lifehouse...
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