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If my calculations are correct, "Lightyears Ahead" is the seventh full album from Norwegian Space Rockers WE. I haven't really listened to the band since 1997's "Wooferwheels", and find their music a mixture of pleasure and pain. The case with "Wooferwheels" was that some of the spacey parts was a bit far out to my taste, even if it also had a lot of interesting parts on it. This is to some extent also true for "Lightyears Ahead".
If you take a song like "Kickin'" for instance. The song has a great chorus even if it's more Stoner than Metal, but the lyrics are totally misplaced. You wouldn't believe for one minute that this band was capable of kickin' your teeth in, as the lyrics go. If you'd make Glen Benton sing these lyrics, then they would mean something.
Anyway…this is only the most extreme example. "Lightyears Ahead" is actually an ok piece of plastic. The band still is a bit too spacey from time to time, but if HAWKWIND are allowed, then I suppose WE are allowed also.
The already mentioned song "Kickin'" is quite good. The same goes for the bluesy "R'N'R (I Put My Life…)" and "Lost Crossroads Found". Then again the extremely looong "Freak Capital Of The Universe" is a bit too much.
I can't really see how this is as original as some of my fellow critics claim though. In my ears this is plain and simple slow, stony Blues/Space Rock…pretty ok, but not really original at all. (Online September 21, 2003)
Guest review by Thomas Hansen
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