Manages to combine all the previous elements of the band’s sound.

You’ve got to love Tyler Connolly and his band; they just keep on doing what they do despite the criticism that they’re nothing more than a misogynistic scaled down Nickelback. In this context, Nickelback seem to be held up as some kind of moral innocent in the evolution of crass sexist lyrics. Connolly does indeed sound like Chad Kroeger and yet TOAD remain a different beast entirely. 2011’s ‘The Truth Is’ was a bouncy, tongue in cheek album with elements of Rockabilly and accessible Hard Rock. It is perhaps Connolly’s famed humour that critics neither understand, nor particularly like, that sees the misogyny moniker applied to the band as well as the fierce criticism. Q Magazine, that bastion of mainstream American Rock, said of the album – “There are no highlights. Appalling.” Yet to anyone who “gets” TOAD, its all part of the fun, the attraction and the charm. ‘Lowlife’ was a big Rock hit in the States and their star is on the rise in the U.K. and Europe right now, so they’re obviously doing something right. Where they win hands down is that in Connolly they have a front-man with undoubted star quality and enough charisma to sink a battleship.

‘Savages’ steps away somewhat from the sound of the last album, save for ‘Blow’ (a humorous ode to the insanity of life in 2014), and instead delves into the past with an eclectic sound that manages to combine ‘Scars And Souvenirs’ era TOAD with the heavy element of their early work. The album bookends, ‘Drown’ and ‘The Sun Has Set On Me’ are two of the Grungiest songs that TOAD has ever written; both exhibiting huge Alice In Chains influences. Mid-paced mayhem comes in the form of the title track, featuring a Vincent Price style performance from Alice Cooper, the Skillet-like ‘Salt In The Wound’ or the angst ridden ‘World War Me’. The pacey ‘Panic Room’ and ‘Heavy’, a song exposing behavior of people when they listen to Heavy Rock, seem comfortable alongside the sharply written Pop of ‘Angel’ and ‘In Ruins’. Only TOAD would get away with including the country music song ‘Living My Life Like A Country Song’ featuring Joe Don Rooney (Rascal Flatts) without breaking sweat.

‘Savages’ manages to combine all the previous elements of the band’s sound and whilst it remains refreshingly eclectic, it still manages to sound like the band that fans have come to know and love. With Connolly as the face of the band and with songs readymade for Active Rock and mainstream formats, Theory Of A Deadman have found a formula that works  and they’re not about to change it, even if Q magazine don’t like them. That’s the “Theory” anyway.

Mike Newdeck