“But I like it. Well, I like most of it. To be honest, there are some songs that I like. Now, where did I put that colossal self-titled debut of theirs, that album’s way better?” That would be the possible train of thought of a Wolfmother fan who encountered Victorious, listened to it a couple of times, and then realized that, although it has quality songs on it, Victorious can’t match the awesomeness of the first two Wolfmother records. It is still better than New Crown, the unwanted child of Andrew Stockdale that saw the light of day in 2013 and was quickly forgotten, buried in the dark corners of rock failures cemetery.
Constant lineup changes, with Stockdale switching between his solo career and work with Wolfmother, has left serious marks on the band’s quality, with Victorious being the latest proof that they’ve passed their peak and become just another run-of-the-mill rock band, able to shine from time to time but unable to blind you with their music. Despite the fact that a couple of songs sound nice, you can’t escape from the feel of yearning for the first two albums when listening to Victorious.
During the first couple of listens, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the sound. Loud guitars, amazing choruses, ear-catching melodies and a bigger-than-life way of songwriting. You’ll wake up in the morning, drinking your first coffee while listening to Victorious and all of a sudden start shouting “”She will be victooooriouuuus, …”, Followed by “Tonight, tonight, toniiiight, gonna leave it all behiiind,” a fantastic chorus found in the Baroness. Choruses are the strongest part of Victorious; they’ll get you hooked, wanting to listen to the songs just one more time.
After you fulfill your desire and give the album a couple of more spins, the other side of the record will show up. The cheesiness of Pretty Peggy, a realization that Gypsy Caravan is just a poor man’s Apple Tree, or that The Simple Life and Happy Face are made up of parts taken from old Wolfmother songs.
Two things are standing out, Andrew Stockdale’s marvelous voice that is strong as ever, and glorious choruses of Victorious and Baroness. In the end, choruses will be remembered and loved, but all other feelings toward the record will be replaced with a craving to revisit Wolfmother or Cosmic Egg. It seems that Wolfmother is one of those bands that made a global explosion with their debut and after that slowly started to fade away until they became a white dwarf of the rock scene, their light lost in that first couple years of existence.
