Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Hoodoo Gurus, Big Time Records/EMI Australia 2022.
Chariot of The Gods is the first new music from the Hoodoo Gurus since 2010 and I believe it’s their best album since Mars Needs Guitars (2005).
Considering the classic status of the earlier album this may come across as a bold statement, but I’ve listened to Chariot of The Gods many times now and I am constantly drawn back to it because of its creativity and consistency.
There’s not a dud track amongst the 14 tracks on the CD (17 if you go for the vinyl which has three bonus tracks) and that’s not something that can be said for every Hoodoo Gurus album.
The journey to this new release started back in 2019 when the Gurus dropped the first new songs in nearly 10 years.
Answered Prayers, Hung Out To Dry, Get Out of Dodge, and World of Pain sounded so fresh and modern that there was an excited outpouring from Guru fans who started to dream of a new album.
All of them, plus many more appear on Chariot of The Gods.
For the Hoodoo Gurus the pandemic that brought a world of pain to most performers had a different effect on them.
It re-energised the bond between the band members and sparked an outpouring of new songs.
Being unable to tour meant that they suddenly had the time to explore new musical ideas.
As Dave Faulkner puts it; “forced to rely on ourselves instead of the outside world for validation, there has been a creative rebirth within the band that has resulted in a string of singles and a new album.”
So much material was recorded that the hard discussions were about which songs to leave off the finished product (which suggests there’s more good stuff to come).
With the new album in the bag and Australia starting to open up, everything look set for a triumphant Gurus return.
And then the pandemic finally bit them.
Omicron hit and band members started to go down with Covid; the tour was delayed, not once but multiple time.
They had a new product that was generating waves of excitement but couldn’t tour it.
Thankfully all that’s passed by (at least for the time being) and now they can do what they do best.
Chariots of The Gods is a wonderful album from one of our greatest bands.
