New York's ATELLO doesn't care if their brand of guitar-driven, crunchy, melodic hard rock isn't selling like crazy in this country...they're going to do whatever the hell they feel, and what they feel like doing is releasing Welcome to the Wrecking Ball; twelve tracks of anthemic, fist-pumping songs that a relatively small amount of people are going to buy.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not knocking the guys in ATELLO; not at all. I like the guys, and I've been drinking with them a few times. The fact is that this kind of hard rock sells well overseas, but not domestically.
That being said, I'll say that Welcome to the Wrecking Ball displays how the guys have grown musically since their last disc, The Big Payoff. The songwriting is more layered, more dynamic, and far more developed than anything that Larry Atello & co. have done previously. "Wish I could Love Her" features a very hummable chorus, and some really tasteful guitar work by new (or new since their last disc) axeman Paul Danni.
ATELLO gigs around the New York area a great deal, and I'm sure their loyal fans will buy up a many copies of Welcome To The Wrecking Ball as they can fit in their pockets. However, I think these guys will be most effective if they focus their efforts overseas, which they seem to be doing (as indicated by the amount of European websites popping up fr them).
Finally, I'd like to comment on the actual album cover. The disc is called Welcome to the Wrecking Ball, right? So what the fuck is going on with all the wedding shit on the cover art? I mean, if the bride was getting creamed by a huge steel wrecking ball, then I'd see a connection. I think I might need to call Larry on this one.
