Disco de Corrosion Of Conformity: “America's Volume Dealer”

Corrosion of Conformity have always been at the forefront of the changing tide of heavy music, without selling out or losing any of their fire. "America's Volume Dealer," the third offering from the current lineup as it now stands, is no different. Keeping in mind that no two COC albums since "Blind" have sounded quite the same, this latest should be no shock to the loyal fans of these Sabbath sons. Track to track brings boundless energy and drive, while giving nod to everything from their southern heritage with "Stare Too Long," [Warren Haynes is AMAZING], to the party hard nature of the guys in the band, with the up tempo rocker, "Gittin It On." The diehard fans that still see "Deliverance" as the ultimate COC, will love "13 Angels," which, at around 6 1/2 minutes delves deep into the soul, and just may be, lyrically, one of the most moving songs of their career. Hats off to Pepper Keenan, who's scruffy appearance hides the mind and spirit of a true genius. Just as Black Sabbath before them, COC have yet to be fully recognized for their limitless talent and greatness in an otherwise, stale and sometimes, uninspired music industry. Yet, just as has happened with Sabbath, while grossly underrated now, some 20-30 years in the future, some aspiring young musician, will pick up a COC album, just by chance, listen to it, and be blown away by it's timeless perfection and raw energy. It is then, that COC will be appreciated for the masters they are.

It starts with a monster guitar hook and pummels away your senses. The cover art is from a sticker on Black Sabbath's Volume 4 vinyl release, side A. Imagine that spinning at 33rpm.

I can understand a bit why some people are calling C.O.C. sell outs, but then again sometimes I think those people saying that are insane. Corrosion of Conformity have and never will sell out for any reason, and while "America's Volume Dealer" isn't C.O.C.'s best work by any means, it is also not a bad album by any means either. They still have they're southern fried groove on "Zippo", "Doublewide", "Diablo Blvd.", and "Congratulations Song", but other tracks like "Gittin' It On" and "Take What You Want" sound a bit like filler material. "Stare Too Long" is the album highlight here, which guest stars Warren Haynes from Gov't Mule. The bottom line here is that C.O.C. still rocks and still kicks it, it is a shame however that they hardly get the recognition they deserve. If you just started getting into C.O.C. or want to, start with "Deliverance" and "Wiseblood" if you like groove oriented heavy music, or you can go with they're older "Blind" for a much more heavier experience, then you can make your own decision with "America's Volume Dealer".

I remember when this came out in recent Corrosion of Conformity history. I first saw this at Manifest Discs and Tapes in West Ashley, S.C. Which is a huge awesome record store that carries every album by a band and not just the most recent or popular. Anyway that day in October 2000 I happened to look at new releases and was happy to see COC had a new album out. It happened to be four years since Wiseblood had come out in '96 and I had not heard anything about COC in that time period ('96-'00). I also saw that they were no longer on Columbia/Sony and now on Sanctuary Records. Anyway so I bought this album and at first listen was a little surprised about the direction that they had took. America's Volume Dealer is more polished,less aggressive,slower songs,and sort of a sound of maturity....even though that is odd to say since they have been around since '83! Well I must say that I personally like the direction the band went on here. I gave it five stars,because of course its COC and the album itself. Though my favorite album is Blind (have the original copy of Blind's '91 on Relativity & love it!). Deliverance,Wiseblood,and In The Arms Of God are awesome too. Anyway America's Volume Dealer was the last album to feature drummer Reed Mullin. All songs are really good on here. My favorites are Over Me,Congratulations Song,Diablo Blvd.,Who's Got The Fire,and Zippo. The rest are great as well. Pick it up and add this to your Corrosion of Conformity collection.

America's Volume Dealer was released in 2000 and was Corrosion Of Conformity's third full-length studio album since radically altering their sound in the 1990s from Hardcore Punk style Crossover-Thrash to straight up metal with Southern and Stoner elements, as well as using their guitarist Pepper Keenan for the vocalist.

This was the third and to date final album to be recorded by what has become regarded as the classic line-up of Pepper Keenan on vocals and guitar, Woody Weatherman on lead guitar, Mike Dean on bass and founding member Reed Mullin on the drums, as Reed would depart from the band for almost a decade.

The album is much more mellow, restrained and laid back than the albums which preceded it, and lacks part of their pure metallic aggression. In part this is largely understandable when you consider just how dramatically the musical landscape had changed since the band started down their current direction.

Do not fear any sort of radical alteration of sound or any extreme comercialisation or sell out however, this restraint only makes itself known in things like Pepper Keenan using more of the melodic vocals he already sometimes used, and the producer taking some of the hard edge out of the guitar sound.

There are some softer moments, such as the Country and Western tinged ballad `Stare Too Long,' and the half loud, half quiet `Sleeping Martyr,' and `Thirteen Angels,' which all adds a little variety to the listening experience, but overall America's Volume Dealer is still at heart a big Sabbath Inspired, Southern tinged Stoner Rock/Heavy Metal album, suitable for fans of Down, Clutch, Kyuss etc.

Highlights include `Zippo,' `Who's Got The Fire' and the more famous `Diablo BLV' all of which contain the same sort of excellent riffs and solos that have become synonymous with Corrosion Of Conformity and are sure to delight fans of the previous two records.

Overall, America's Volume Dealer is a very good album and while it cannot live up to the amazing standards of their previous two records, it is still a damn fine addition to any fan's collection that contains enough well written and interesting songs, impressive musicianship and strong vocals to keep your attention for multiple listens.