Album Review — DramaGods

Dramagods — Love

No new albums this week (hopefully next week) so I decided to review an album that didn’t get a lot of attention when it first came out. Nuno Bettencourt is one of my favorite musicians. He’s released quite a bit of music outside of Extreme. He released a solo record, then a couple of records with Mourning Widows, then an EP and full length with Population 1 and then the band changed their name to DramaGods and released “Love” in 2005.

Bettencourt is known for his guitar playing, but he can really sing as well and he wrote or co-wrote every track on “Love”. As expected, you can hear a lot of Extreme on “Love”, but we also get a distinct 70s rock sound at times. And no matter where the song goes or how crazy it gets, there’s always a big hook that draws you in.

With 14 songs clocking in at 71 minutes, this would be a long review if I went track by track, so I’ll try and stick to the highlights.

“Megaton” starts off the record and sounds like something off his first solo album. I would call it more groovy than heavy. It’s a great way to start the record.

“Pilots” starts off with a minute long organ intro which probably could have been its own track. Then it’s guitar riff and straight into the very catchy chorus. The verses remind me a bit of the style of “King of the Ladies” off of Saudades de Rock. This is a great song.

Next up is “Interface” that Extreme re-recorded for Saudades de Rock. It’s basically the same track but with Nuno singing. You know it’s a great track if Extreme did it.

“Something About You” is a sweet song that reminds me of “Fine By Me” from Schizophonic. Nuno is such a great guitar player that he could just jam on every song and it would be great. But the song takes center stage and he lays back here.

“So’k” is Nuno at his best. A funky beat, an extremely catchy chorus and a unique guitar solo. Nuno has it all and it’s all here in one track.

The album ends with the slower piano-driven “Sky”. The guy just knows how to write songs.

Those are just the highlights for me. Every track is high quality and none sound the same. If you are a fan of Nuno you probably already have this record. But if not, this is a must have.

95 out of 100

Track Listing

1. Megaton *
2. Lockdown
3. Bury You
4. Broken
5. Pilots *
6. Interface *
7. Heavy
8. Something About You *
9. Fearless Leader
10. Sometimes
11. So’k *
12. Replay
13. Nice To Meet You
14. Sky

*Best Songs