August 19, 1997 - Transmission

Three weeks after my last release and two and a half years since "The Edges Of Twilight", The Tea Party released their fourth album "Transmission" on August 19, 1997. The Canadian rockers still play the same blues-y and Eastern-inspired music that they always have, but on this album Stuart Chatwood uses samples and other electronic keyboards that give some songs a bit of an industrial-rock feel. Let's check out the latest from The Tea Party!

The album kicks off with it's lead single "Temptation" and after a pretty cool acoustic guitar opening by Jeff Martin the mood switches as Jeff Burrows plays a nice heavy drum beat and Martin switches to a cool main guitar riff. Martin's voice sounds just as epic as ever as he leads a cool verse and yells the name of the song nicely in the chorus. He sounds great when he reaches the "I can't feel it!" part also and even though this is a fairly short song, it packs a powerful punch the whole way through. A great way to kick off the album! Up next is "Army Ants" and Martin leads the way with an interesting and pretty cool main guitar riff while Burrows plays some great drums and percussion throughout the song. Jeff sings in a nice low voice in the verse and does some more great-sounding yells in the chorus. There's a fun little midsection with more cool guitar and this was another very upbeat and pretty cool tune. Track 3 is "Psychopomp" and Martin plays acoustic guitar and sings softly to match and Chatwood comes in with some catchy and cool piano. Chatwood plays some synths in the next verse and goes back to the piano for the chorus as things are slowly, but nicely jamming. Eventually the guitar changes to electric and this riff sounds pretty good in a louder, more rockin' sense as well. It's a little repetitive, but I think it's a cool song for sure. The next track is "Gyroscope" and after a trippy opening it snaps into a pretty cool main riff with lots of interesting noises. The guitar and keyboards are both making some cool noises and Martin's vocals sound good in another upbeat song. Words can't properly describe this unique song, but it's very cool! Track 5 is called "Alarum" and it has a really cool main riff that has some great contributions from everyone in different ways. Great drums, great bass, great guitar and Martin's excellent mix of soft and loud vocals all make for a wonderfully slow and strange song that just sounds unique and pretty sweet the whole way through. Nothing even resembling a weak song so far! Up next is "Release" and Chatwood leads the way with some slow and epic synths while Burrows plays a nice catchy drum beat. Martin sings in a great soft voice and only adds these little bits of guitar and let's the rhythm section take the spotlight. It's not your typical Tea Party, and it's probably the weakest song yet (jinxed it!), but it's still a solid light jam. Track 7 is the title track "Transmission" and they slowly ease into another interesting main riff with some cool percussion by Burrows and some cool guitar by Martin. Chatwood plays lots of haunting and interesting synths in this one and the heavier chorus sounds pretty cool. Martin sounds great yelling "I'm sending trans-mis-ion!" and this is yet another unique and pretty cool song from The Tea Party. The next track is "Babylon" and it has an industrial and upbeat main riff led by Chatwood as Martin plays some cool guitar overtop while singing well as usual. All three members are rockin' out pretty hard and this is a pretty sweet main riff that goes on for almost three minutes. The mood then shifts to slow and dark as Chatwood plays some cool piano for the final two minutes of this song. It's an interesting contrast and I loved the faster part! Track 9 is "Pulse" and it's got a slow but heavy main riff with some cool guitar by Martin leading the way. Chatwood plays lots more synths and they continue to create these interesting and unique riffs. The fact that this is probably one of the lesser songs on the album just shows the high bar of this album. Up next is "Emerald" and Martin leads us in with some cool acoustic guitar and Burrows and then Chatqood lightly fall in line until things snap into the chorus which is much louder led by some cool guitar. It's a great segue and so is the return to another slow verse. I'm surprised this one wasn't a single, it flows like one and it's also pretty solid. The final track on the album is "Aftermath" and it has a psychedelic opening that leads into a trippy and cool main riff that Martin sings over perfectly. Burrows adds some great drums and percussion, Chatwood plays lots of weird samples, and this really slow burn is done quite nicely. There's even a false ending and brief return in the trippy finish.

That is the end of "Transmission" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album that sounds very unique with a lot of cool songs. Chatwood is on keyboards more than he is bass on this album, but it provides a unique backdrop to Burrows great drumming and Jeff Martin is one great frontman. Even the slower and less exciting parts of this album were still solid, and most of it was pretty cool! I think it's easily better than "Splendor Solis" but "The Edges Of Twilight" was also a great album. I think it's really close between these two, but I give the nod to this newest effort as my favourite Tea Party album! (So far.) Keep up the great work guys!