Kidd Robin has a new cd out (the evitable inevitable return of the dinosaur monster)

The guys in the band Kidd Robin were nice enough to send me a copy of their self-titled cd, so I thought I'd put a write up here to let it be known that the album exists, cuz unless you did a 'where are they now?' search on the internet, you would have no idea they still make music.  They made one of my favorite pop-metal albums back in the 90's, (The Inevitable Return of the Dinosaur Monster), so I did commit to that search and after a few emails, attained a copy of the cd, which is not available in download format as of yet.

Production-wise this is a very professional sounding album and smooth tones abound all around.  All the instruments are distinct yet blend themselves into each other.  They did a great job on creating a very warm sound and avoided being digitized and processed.  I also like the packaging this came in.  Obviously this is an indi release but they were able to put it out in an interesting digipak format with very odd graphics for the songs which resemble Hebrew writing but really just are spelled out in English.  Thus when you take it out of the mail you are like "what the heck is this?."  The lyrics are printed on a take out insert. The artwork is somewhat bewildering.  You would have no idea metal is inside the pak. hah!

So here's the deal though: if you came in expecting more 80's Dokken gooiness on top of sweet cherries...  well, sorry. The Kidd has completely ditched that approach.  The album opener quickly disproves its pop-metal past right off the bat with the opener "My Life," which has a heavy Alice In Chains influence containing those contrasting vocals that Layne and Jerry became so famous for.  Yes, this album has much to owe to the Seattle scene, but, they add their own unique touch to it with dosses of progressive passages, some high pitched screams, and guitar solos w/ George Lynchian flare. This is kinda like when King James switched their sound in the mid-nineties or Lethal's 2nd album, Poison Seed, after their masterpiece, Programmed.  The next song "Myself"confirms the mid-to-late 90's metal approach with "Them Bones" style riffing and Godsmack vocal stylistics.  However, the next tune is an instrumental and follows more in the "Surfing with the Alien" side of things.

Then things really get interesting from there where another Seattle band makes an appearance.  No, not Soundgarden, but the mighty 'Ryche...  The fourth song "Isabel" is the most Queensrychian non-Queensryche song I've heard in quite some time even moreso than the  new era of Todd Latorre fronted Queensryche.  It starts out with the deep-throated Tate approach then kicks into the ear-satisfying higher ranges of Geoff.  It has that mind-staying power of a great song and is hard to get out of being stuck in your brain.  The lyrics are quite ingenious too as has a way of weaving the 'woman at the well' biblical story without it being too obvious.  If you are an Empire-era fan, then I beg you to find a way to get ahold of this song!

If I owned a metal label I would ask these guys to take "Isabel" and give me an entire album of songs like it! 

There's a couple more Seattle-type songs (one with lyrics by the Apostle Paul) that follow with more guitar jamming than you'd typically hear in the Northwest.  All have interesting arrangements and various vocal attacks from the impressive singer Robin (who I guess they call Kidd).  There's also another instrumental jam that's even more on the "Surfing With the Alien" vibe than the previously mentioned instrumental.

I'd also like to note that I'm quite impressed with the drumming.  It is very busy and is allowed to let loose most of the time, but it is extremely tight and the fills are quite creative. Much different than Dinosaur's more controlled approach to metal (this whole album is different than Dinosaur).  Also, as a brutal critic of most of the drums sounds that come out today as too mechanical, I appreciate this natural-sounding drum production.

If you liked The Fall-era King James or Lethal's sophomore album (and I like a lot of the songs on these albums), then this is for you.  Progressive-ness not gone terribly wild (since the songs aren't all that long), but done in the Alice n Chains spirit of things with Biblical-based lyrics.  Unfortunately I can no longer call them my go to replacement for Dokken.

This is a new album?   Isn't the Seattle grunge sound considered passé by now?   I wonder what they are thinking.  
I did not like King James "The Fall" at all so would probably not care for this aside from the Queensryche-y number.  
Unless the song-writing is stellar.

I bought the self-titled album and their "$3 Bin" CDs as a set from the band on eBay a couple of years ago.  I was hoping this was something new from them.

Anyone know if "The Inevitable Return Of The Dinosaur Monster" is available anywhere as a download?

I'd like a copy but don't want to pay $25+ for a used CD.

Weird band name.

I thought it’s a Kid Rock type of deal.