Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2011

The world is much better disposed towards Duff McKagan than it is to his old, megalomaniac GN’R bandmate Axl Rose. For this reason we tend to be a bit more indulgent towards his post GN’R output. But the truth is that the rough n’ ready rock/metal/punk hybrid the bassist is interested in exploring through his band Loaded promises diminishing returns. At times sounding like the Ramones or Black Sabbath’s younger, sloppier brother, and with plenty of punk touches – possibly to cover up technical deficiencies as much as to express anarchic rage – The Taking offers a dark, dense, aural texture and a swaggering vibe that leads to solipsistic self-satisfaction. With the riffs hammered out on the band’s last big tour and then rushed into the studio, the songs have a splurging urgency, but their refreshing energy clearly needs to be harnessed and shaped more. When it is – as with the snarling menace of “Executioner’s Song” and the effervescent “Dead Skin” – greatness almost beckons.