To best describe his latest effort, Tom Morello himself says it best on his MySpace page: “You don’t gotta be loud, son to be heavy as shit.” The Fabled City is Morello’s sophomore solo effort, and the first to be billed as Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman (Morello released his debut, One Man Revolution, under the moniker The Nightwatchman). And with the album, he once again proves, despite the success of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, he doesn’t need effect pedals and blazing riffs to craft a great album.
On The Fabled City, the songwriting is more personal than One Man Revolution, and just feels closer to home. Many critics may be quick to reference Woody Guthrie and Johnny Cash as Morello’s primary reference points, but he actually draws a closer comparison to acoustic Bruce Springsteen (a la Devils and Dust and The Ghost of Tom Joad). It’s not a surprise, as Morello took the stage to perform “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with the Boss earlier this year, and RATM recorded a version for its last studio album, Renegades.
With a few exceptions, Morello slows this album down and focuses on the everyman, telling his stories intertwined with his now-familiar folk sound. But he’s not locked down to the hum-and-strum side of things. “Whatever It Takes,” the album’s first single, features an RATM-like opening guitar riff, electric and all.
Morello also drifts into an almost soul-like sound on “Saint Isabelle” and “Lazarus on Down.” For the latter, it’s almost jarring to hear Morello sing: “What Judas been doing/ There ain’t no knowing/ On the olive vine/ Something different is growing,” but religious references pop up throughout the record, most notably on “The King of Hell.” In the song, Morello has the most success mixing religious references and his strong leftist beliefs with the beautiful line, “Black was the mark/ Black was the mark laid on Kane/ Black was the list/ Black was the list/ Black was the list with our names.” The odd combination works, and it shines as one of the standouts.
“The Lights Are On In Spidertown” reminds us how Morello is one of the most accomplished guitarists of our time. The reason: the solo in the middle of “Spidertown.” Morello’s solo is so quick and clean it almost sounds like it’s a mandolin or classical Spanish guitar. After “Spidertown,” the album rolls on to “Midnight in the City of Destruction,” a slower track that wouldn’t stand out if not for the interesting word choices, such as “I pray that God Himself will come down and drown the president if the levees break again.” In case you were wondering, yes, years of being around Zach de la Rocha will influence your songwriting.
Morello also calls upon some of his famous friends for cameos in the later part of the album. Shooter Jennings comes aboard for the penultimate track, making “The Iron Wheel” an enjoyable folk-country mashup. We’re told System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian sings on “Lazarus On Down,” but good luck picking his vocals out.
Morello as The Nightwatchman doesn’t have the strongest voice or range, almost talk-singing on most tracks, but his world-class musicianship and surprisingly strong songwriting easily plaster over the holes in the wall his voice creates. The Fabled City is at times a slow, straight-up folk album, and those looking for a preview of future RATM should look elsewhere. But for now, it’s an enjoyable listen – perfectly timed for election season – and one even Guthrie would be proud of.
Klucas7@umd.edu
RATING: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
