Caught in the Middle
Built-In Forgetter
Love and Devotion
A Deeper Cut
Backwater Zoo
Another Spiral
Beast Nation
The Way It Was and the Way It Is Now
Higher Than the Sun
Children
There's Still Time
The Wonders We've Seen
For a band whose original mission statement was to be the new Black Crowes, The Temperance Movement did a good job of not sticking to their own plan. Their second album, 2016’s stellar White Bear, gave their revivalist rock’n’soul a glinting contemporary edge. It was hardly the sound of a band going glitch techno, granted, but still a bold move from five men who looked like refugees from Ronnie Wood’s wardrobe.
A Deeper Cut, released two years later, proved that The Temperance Movement knew the value of a good tune. Built-In Forgetter might have had the worst title in recent memory, but it salvaged itself from titular ignominy by erupting into a chorus of truly joyous proportions. Conversely, Another Spiral was a slow-burner that perfectly balanced poise and emotional charge (the band definitely gave good ballad – Children is the kind of weepie that Ryan Adams would have given Gram Parsons’s right arm to write).
What helped even more was singer Phil Campbell. Campbell is alternately sandpaper-rough and honey-smooth, slipping effortlessly from the lung-busting testifyin’ of Love And Devotion to the restrained emoting of the plaintive title track. It’s an approach that Paul Rodgers perfected 50 years ago and few people have managed to pull off since. Campbell is a notable exception.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in February 2018
- Awolnation - Here Come the Runts
- Don Broco - Technology
- Saxon - Thunderbolt
- Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending
- Band-Maid - World Domination
- Ought - Room Inside the World
- Pop Evil - Pop Evil
What they said...
"A Deeper Cut proves how consistent The Temperance Movement have been with their albums. Managing to reshape their sound to make it feel fresh yet unmistakably them, they’ve made their best album to date. Bending sounds of the past to make it feel modern to make some incredibly upbeat and honest songs, it’s the most real album I’ve heard in years." (Moshville)
"The classic rock parameters don’t adjust for much wiggle room, and with the limited resources they have, A Deeper Cut is about as good as The Temperance Movement are likely to deliver. There are far, far better albums out there, make no mistake, but this is enjoyable enough, and hardly ever sinks to the level of total dirge that so many of their ilk are all too familiar with." (The Soundboard)
"Maintaining musical integrity in today’s market is a challenge for any musician and this feat is even harder with genres like rock’n’roll. It is thus only fair to compliment the courage and boldness of The Temperance Movement in sticking to their musical identity in an environment where other bands may have faltered in such a resolve." (My Global Mind)
What you said...
Gary Claydon: I've always had a lot of time for bands like The Temperance Movement. A bunch of 'journeymen' musicians who honed their skills through hard work and came together to take a well-deserved turn in the limelight. Like a lot of these bands, they weren't trying to re-invent rock'n'roll. Their roots and influences are plain to hear. The result is foot-stomping blues-rock and r'n'b with a southern-boogie groove and enough of a 'contemporary', edge to keep them fresh and relevant. The sort of band that makes it impossible to sit/stand still and absolutely dynamite live.
If you like early '70s rock, it's likely you'll enjoy The Temps. The nods to the likes of Small Faces, Jeff Beck Group, Free plus the inevitable (slight) shades of Zeppelin are easily discernable.
The Deeper Cut is the band's most successful album to date. Classy and assured from the get-go, The Deeper Cut kicks off with a raucous one-two of Caught In The Middle and Built-In Forgetter. Bluesy, with some downright dirty guitar and powerhouse Phil Campbell vocals, if these don't get you moving then you need to consider the possibility that you're actually dead from the floor-up.
Campbell is the star show, stretching out from raunchy and rocky, through raw emotion and smooth as honey. If I have a criticism of A Deeper Cut it's that, overall, it slows things down a little too much. Not to the point of being hard work but I prefer The Temps when they step on the gas a bit, as with the aforementioned opening salvoes or Beast Nation and the album just seems to run out of energy. It may be one or even two tracks too long as well and the excellent Higher Than The Sun would have been my personal choice of album closer.
It'll be great to see The Temperance Movement return to gigging in 2025. They really are a fantastic live band. Hopefully, they will also be enticed back into the studio as well. I'm not sure they have a truly 'killer' album in them but cherry-pick their three very good studio albums and you've got one heck of a 'best-of' on your hands.
Greg Schwepe: So, sometimes it’s that initial musical hit that keeps you engaged. And after 30 seconds into Caught In The Middle, I’m going “What is kind of familiar about this, even though I’ve never heard The Temperance Movement before?” And then it dawned on me, it’s Steven Tyler’s vocal mannerisms with a totally different accent. OK, close enough, but you get the idea.
And then as I listened to the rest of A Deeper Cut, I ran into more stuff that kept me hanging around. A little southern rock, a little boogie, a little blues, and as I got deeper the vocalist shook off the “Tylerisms” I was hearing and standing on his own. And one track kept me going to the next. “Velcro” as I say. Kept me sticking around.
This was a nice find to end the year. And as I finished the album I had yet another “well, here’s another band where I’ll have to check out more of their catalogue” moment. Overall, they had this “clean feel that rocks” that I can’t totally describe. 8 out 10 for me on this one. Raise a glass to The Temperance Movement.
Steve Ballinger: Have been a big fan of TTM since the band's early days. A great group of musicians with a proven track record coming together to produce the music they love. They’ve always worn their influences on their sleeves but that’s not such a bad thing. This album was a really solid production, slightly more mellow than the one before but a hugely enjoyable listen. Check out their self-titled debut, it’s a cracker. For me A Deeper Cut is a good solid 8/10… and looking forward to seeing them live again. Always a treat.
John Davidson: I like this sort of thing. Straight-up rock with a southern blues twang. Despite being from Scotland they pull it off and play with plenty of character. The southern-ness is not overdone.
Less southern than Blackberry Smoke, (coming from Bishopriggs in the north of Glasgow will do that to you no matter how many line dances your parents dragged you to). Less alt-rock psycho/frantic than Biffy Clyro (not being from Kilmarnock helps). Less Glasgow University than Twin Atlantic. And more popular than Tax The Heat
Anyway, with my not-so-subtle name checks for bands you might also like over for now, what do I think of A Deeper Cut?
It's good. Indeed it's very good.
Is it the most original music I've ever heard, no, but is it well-executed classic blues rock, oh yes it is. Either a 7 or an 8 from me. I'll see how I feel after a few listens.
I'd like to see them live and I'll definitely be adding them to my watch-out list - sadly both of their planned visits to Glasgow (Garage first, then Barrowlands) are sold out.
Mike Canoe: I have read about The Temperance Movement in our host's primary publication and listened to the occasional recommended song but I never listened to a full album until this week.
At first, I was put off by the number of ballads, which equals the number of faster songs but, with each successive listen, I started gravitating towards the ballads more, especially the title track, Another Spiral, and There's Still Time. It doesn't hurt that they usually build up to big rousing climaxes chockablock full of vocal harmonies. Among the faster numbers, Beast Nation, Built-In Forgetter, and opener Caught in the Middle stick with me the most.
Based on this album, The Temperance Movement offer strong evidence that classic rock as an ongoing and healthy genre is worth checking out.
Final score: 7.81 (27 votes cast, total score 211)
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