ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA – Rock Star Supernova

Last summer it was the USA television event that filled the gap between seasons of the popular musical reality show American Idol. Rockstar: Supernova, the second season in the Rockstar TV series, is the Rock version of American Idol. The premise here is a band (season one was INXS) is auditioning lead vocalists and viewers are supposed to help sway the decision by casting ballots on-line and via text messaging on cell phones. For those left out in the cold this summer, the “Super” in the band Supernova, and the auditioning band this season, were drummer Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), guitarist Gilby Clarke (ex-MC5, ex-Guns N’ Roses) and bassist Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica). After eleven weeks of intense competition, Canadian singer Lukas Rossi was crowned the winner. Rockstar Supernova, the album, is the resulting product with Rossi adding the vocal tracks, a song of his own, and adding his credit to collaboration on the writing of two other tracks. Additionally, Rossi is crowned with fronting the band on their USA/Canadian tour currently in progress.

Before reading any further … remove all pre-conceptions from your mind that this CD sounds anything even vaguely like Mötley Crüe, Guns ‘N’ Roses or Metallica … because it flat out doesn’t! That will probably dishevel most fans of the founding power trio as what is presented here is straight-ahead Rock with melody, radio-playability and a slightly modern edge.

Call it nerves, the miracle of a studio setting, or the guidance of his fellow hardened band mates and producer, Pop icon Butch Walker, but Rossi actually sounds smoother on the album when contrasted against some of his performances on the live TV show.

There are eleven tracks in all with a few tracks that should sound familiar to viewers of the show’s second season. The “familiars” are “It’s On,” which opens this disc and is a strong start and has plenty of radio potential, and “Be Yourself (And 5 Other Cliches),” which Rossi did on the show with the band after he was announced winner. The song sounds much better in the studio and is catchy and infectious as hell. This track is a true stadium Rock song making it easily a live show closer or encore as it has the utmost potential to get the crowd involved with plenty of fist pumping. Of course, there is the original tune that Rossi penned, “Headspin,” which is a solid piece and has radio hit potential all over it as well. The other flashback is the opening on “Underdog,” which was used as the TV show’s “fade from/to commercial” music. Unfortunately, that’s all that is familiar about it … the song then evolves into a Beatle-esque vocal tune and guitar strum with the typically annoying hand or wood-clapping accompaniment.

“Leave The Lights On” can easily be danced to … what, dancing to a Tommy Lee song?? Heaven forbid! The track “Make No Mistake … This Is The Take” starts out sounding almost mildly Ramones-like, with distortion and a solid, heavy bass line, and ends up not being too bad. “Social Disgrace” is more in line with MER listeners’ tastes, as the bass and drums are heavy with plenty of buzzsaw Clarke guitar, in a Rock sort of way. This is actually one of the few times Gilby unleashes a guitar solo replete with ample “wah.”

Bottom line, this won’t be a release easily digested by fans of Clarke, Lee, and Newsted. These boys do deserve credit for reaching outside their individual “music zones.” The music on this release is probably closest to Clarke’s past musical endeavors versus Lee’s or Newsted’s. It’s best described as very listenable, but with a lot of radio potential and it certainly includes some catchy, infectious moments. Tommy Lee does sound great considering the musical style; you can just envision him beating the hell out of his skins with the utmost force. Newsted also has moments of grandeur with some occasionally heavy bass lines. Sure, this isn’t what fans, especially the male ones, would have expected or asked for, but put yourself into the right mindset and a give this one a few spins. It’ll grow on you and you’ll realize it really isn’t as bad as the Internet might otherwise lead you to believe!

Lineup

Lukas Rossi – Vocals
Gilby Clarke – Guitars
Jason Newsted – Bass
Tommy Lee – Drums