Review by Rachel Jablonski
Surrounded by controversy over their placement on Ozzfest 2005, Wicked Wisdom struggled to win over audiences on the summer long tour. This in the past, yesterday don’t mean shit front woman Jada Pinkett Smith will attest over and over along with crunchy guitar in her band’s debut album. A mix of melody, rhythmic vocals, and heavy riffs, the self-titled Wicked Wisdom disc is a rather generic musical display leaning on the heavy side of the rock spectrum.
More notable than the rest are three tracks that seem to flaunt the best of Wicked Wisdom. The first single, “Something Inside of Me,” is one of these with sharp, jagged guitars and rhythmic vocals rising in pitch and volume causing energy build during the verse. There is a slight letdown, however, at the chorus which is melodic, but not an effective transition. The emotion of the song is enhanced at an instrumental break down with a weird tempo crunch in the middle of the song. Here the guitar riff gets faster, the drums stay steady but skip a few beats briefly, and a background growl accommodates the chaotic mix.
The next track, "One," contributes a strong pull with a crazy visual. The chorus, ONE chance to live chance to give chance to love ONE chance to see chance to stand chance to fight..., with great emphasis on the word “one” gives off the feeling of pulling back. Visualize ancient Egypt or something. Maybe there’s a rope tied around a rock, you know a really long rope, and there are like 80 people along the rope. At ONE all of the people pull in unison and then let up again until the next ONE when again they pull hard on the rope to move the rock. The rhythmic, rapped vocals and rock guitars translate this notion well. The third track to note, “Forgiven,” is perhaps the most unique track on the album with more melodic and less crunchy guitar riffs. The vocals here are completely sung overtop good musical tone.
Whether or not Ozzfest induced or controversy fueled, Wicked Wisdom have been established and are charging ahead from yesterday with their self-titled release.