I remember in 1990 hearing a song on a compilation. The song was "Stardog Champion" by a Seattle (not that the place name meant much then) band Mother Love Bone and it was equal parts old Aerosmith swagger and Led Zeppelin bluster with a child-like "Na Na Na" looping end which built until it was all that was in your head for a week. The album, Apple, was bought and its mixture of pimp swagger and golden optimism blew me away. I was hooked but found out that apart from another mini-album there was to be no more. Singer, Andrew Wood, had died of a drug O.D. before the album's release. Of course, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament went on to form Pearl Jam and get together with bits of Soundgarden for the one-off band inspired by Andrew, Temple of the Dog. But you all knew that anyway.
So, one perfect album and gone. Except, I read Andrew Wood was in a pre-MLB band called Malfunkshun. I spent ages looking for something by them, not knowing that there had been next to nothing released by the trio. But now this unrelease debut arrives on Stone Gossard's Loosegroove label. Was it worth the wait ?
Yes and no. The seeds of what was to come are undoubtedly there but it's the big rockisms that stopped me from embracing the mini-album Shine extrapolated even further back, which rule the show. Anyone expecting a 'grunge' (God, that word sticks in the throat with retrospect) album be warned - this is an early 80's metal band heavily influenced by Kiss and Led Zeppelin who wore make-up and Spandex. Sort of mystic cock rock if you will. They have a song called "Jezebel Woman"...
The other problem is brother Kevin Wood's guitar playing. Songs are marred by 100mph guitar-wank solos involving seemingly indiscriminate notes played at the speed of light in the hope that someone might mistake it for talent. In particular, "Mr. Liberty (With Morals)" is a fine song ruined by little Kevin (I understand he may be a *fine* guitar player these days) soloing wildly throughout the *entire* song. I'd have given him a clip round the ear and sent him out to play in the traffic.
But what still remains clear was that Andrew Wood was something a little bit special. Here he's still finding his voice, but the rolling groove of "My Only Fan", the gentle piano ballad "Until the Ocean", the restrained rock of "Winter Bites" and the busy Led Zep funk of of "Luxury Bed" prove that Wood was a far bigger part of the Mother Love Bone sound than Gossard and Ament's fame would suggest.
Fans of Andrew Wood should get a listen to this as an interesting curio whose biggest problem really is just that it has become dated. Played loud though, there's an endearing energy and rawness to the whole thing and a distinct reminder of unfulfilled potential, with the untitled live 'hidden' track 33 showing a marked similarity to early Soundgarden (a fine thing). Cringe-inducing and sparkling in equal measures, it's one for the fans' collections.
