In Review: Taproot: Our Long Road Home

In 1998 a new hard rock foursome called Taproot from Ann Harbor Michigan was trying to cut a record deal and was in negotiation with a few big names in the record industry. One of those names was a Mr. Fred Durst. He offered them a contract with Interscope Records, but the band held out and signed with Atlantic Records. Durst, being the child that he is, cursed out vocalist Stephen Richards on his home answering machine. It was rumored that Durst told Richards that his band would go nowhere and they would never make it in the music industry. He could not have been more wrong.During the time between 1998 and 2000, before the release of their Atlantic Records debut, Taproot released 3 independent records. In 2000, Gift was presented and landed on the Billboard Heatseaker charts at number 6. They landed a spot on the second stage of Ozzfest in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 they released their second mainstream release called Welcome, which was also a hit that landed them on the Billboard 200, debuting at #17, selling over 51,000 copies in it’s first week. About this time, Fred Durst was struggling to remove his foot from mouth.After extensive touring, Taproot took a well deserved break until 2005. In August of ‘05 they released Blue Sky Research which also debuted on the Billboard 2000 at #33 and sold 28,000 in it’s first week. Unfortunately the times of physical record sales has dropped due to illegal downloads and Atlantic Records, disappointed with unit sales, dropped the band from their label in 2006.Two years later, Taproot has returned with their upcoming September 16th release of Our Long Road Home to be released on the Velvet Hammer label with a distribution partnership with Red Music.

Their first released single You’re Not Home Tonight was released for streaming on their Myspace site back in March and has since been played extensively on XM Radio.Now that I have given you a history of the band, let me get to the review. In all honesty this is the first Taproot record I have heard. I have heard of the band over the years, but being that I’m more into metal, and that of the heavier variety, I have only dipped back in to the world of modern rock in the past few months. There has been no real desire to check out modern rock acts such as Taproot because to me a lot of modern rock/hard rock acts these days have been stale and more of a pop/rock direction and it has hurt the modern rock genre for bands like Taproot.Now let me tell you that it takes quite a bit to impress me when it comes to rock now.

So when I received the review copy of Our Long Road Home, my expectations were not very high in the least bit. It got set aside for a day until I got time to pop it into my notebook and give it a listen. Seeing that this is my first Taproot, I have nothing to compare it to as far as older albums go and that’s a good thing sometimes. Far too many times, bands get compared to their past work. Sometimes this is necessary and sometimes not. “Jesus Christ, get to the review already!”, your saying. So here we go…The disc starts off with a heavy riff on Path Less Taken, but slows down a bit when you get into the first verse. However as this songs start out heavy and slows with the verse, the chorus kicks in and brings the heavy back again. I talk time and time again about the importance of good song writing and having a good hook and catch. Path Less Taken gives the records a good start with both. But it doesn’t stop there. Wherever I Stand, slows things down a bit and immediately goes into a chorus that will have you singing along in no time. You can download Wherever I stand on iTunes. Trust me, it’s every bit worth the $.99! Be The 1 is a solid slow moving tune that grows on to you quickly and fluctuates from slow to semi-heavy in and out that keeps your interest. Hand That Holds True, another great hard rock track and Take it quickly picks things up for a fast almost metal feel to it. It’s Natural slows things down a bit again and reminds us that the times change in relationships and the fear of growing older is natural. Forgive me for skipping ahead, but the rest of the songs are just as good as the first 6. with As one, You’re Not Home Tonight, Stethoscope, Run To, Karmaway, and Footprints. This is a great solid modern hard rock album that doesn’t give you just a few songs and a bunch of filler like most rock acts these days. If you want a album with hooks, great song writing, not too much emphasis on one particular instrument and is a well rounded album, this is it.It’s obvious that Taproot was out to write a great solid rock album without cutting corners and fillers. Our Long Road Home is Taproot’s proof that they are in this for the long run.For more on Taproot check out Taproot’s Myspace or Taproot’s Official Web PageImage Source: Taproot Merch