Search - Annihilator :: Never Neverland

"Welcome to the fun palace"

mwreview | Northern California, USA | 01/29/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Annihilator was a metal band lead by guitar virtuoso Jeff Waters. He wrote or co-wrote every track on this album and proves a very creative, intelligent lyricist. Waters took a lot of care in these songs and even includes the stories behind the songs. Some examples: the title track is about a girl confined to a room by a fanatically overprotective grandmother after the girl looked at a boy in a grocery store; "Sixes and Sevens" comes from the British phrase for disorder; "Road to Ruin" is about a drunk driver ("impaired security at ninety miles an hour"); "Kraf Dinner" is about just what the title states without risking copyright infringes ("a cheddar cheese heart attack"); "Stonewall" was written after Waters moved to Vancouver and discovered the depressing reality of chemical damage to a river. The music is also very creative. The guitar in "Never, Neverland" (not affiliated with Michael Jackson's estate) is beautiful (not unlike "Crystal Ann" from their debut album) and it incorporates a story-telling vocal. Things get silly, though, when they get to the defensive part: "Get back, back! Just leave us all alone! Take that and that! I'll break your every bone!" (can you imagine a little girl yelling this?). Some of the songs are preachy, especially "Stonewall" ("the power of corporations, spewing chemicals into the air. Fines are imposed to discourage, but what's a dime to a millionaire.") Still, the album rocks with, of course, excellent guitar. The music gets more thrash in the last tracks, although I find the first half of the album to be more interesting. It is also more solid than their previous album Alice in Hell."

Not Alice in Hell

Rigor Mortis | 11/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you expect every Annihilator album to be like Alice in Hell, you'll be disappointed early. Never Neverland would better with the vocal talents of Randy Rampage instead of Coburn Pharr, but it has its appeal yet.



Firstly, I'm always impressed with the instrumentation on these albums. All of the riffs are brilliant, and the solos masterful. Songs like The Fun Palace, Phantasmagoria, and I Am In Command are among Annihilator's classics even to this day. The Never Neverland title track 'ballad' is wicked as well. All the guitarwork on this CD is incredibly well done. As for lyrics, they tend to be more moralistic, advocating against drunk driving, pollution, gambling, nuclear warfare, and corrupt religious leaders. The only out of place song was the goofy Kraf Dinner, clearly about macaroni and cheese. On a whole, I liked this album, especially compared to some of the albums to come."

Simply Amazing !!!

Luis A. Rivera Rios | MEXICO CITY, D.F. Mexico | 08/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On a personal level, Never Neverland is a very special album to me, by the fact that thanks to it I discovered one of the most fantastic and overlooked guitar heroes on the face of the planet: Mr. Jeff Watters.

The dynamics of the songs, the great execution and the incredible amount of technical resources shown by the musicians on this recording makes of Never Neverland an overwhelming and bombastic sonic experience.

The chemistry between Watters and the killer rhythm section (Ray Hartman on drums and Wayne Darley on bass) is simply out of this world.

My actual rating is 4.5 stars. Never Neverland falls short from perfection due to vocalist Coburn Pharr's performance, which I found somewhat stiff and unexpressive, excepting the aforementioned complain everything else is state of the art.

Favorite songs: "The Fun Palace", "Sixes and Sevens", "Never Neverland","Road To Ruin", "Reduced To Ash"."