Customer Reviews

Nola

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hands down one of the best ever. Even today years after it's release I still sit down and listen to this album end to end. This is an absolute must for any metal fan's album collection. Buy it.

Perfect album. About an hour of complete bliss. Does not get any better than this. SUPERGROUP from New Orleans. Pepper Keenan of COC, Bower of EHG and Clearlight, Kirk and Strange of Crowbar, and of course, Anselmo. Kick ass album. Some mellow stuff and its heavy too, Pick it up, man. This CD rocks.

Being a HUGE Corrosion of Conformity and Pantera fan, this band was like A FANTASY. At first, I felt betrayed by Phil and Pepper, leaving their respective seats of glory for another band... but now that I have heard this, I AM AWESTRUCK. I think this may be the best METAL SUPERGROUP to emerge. Hard driving and deep in the groove, this music will have you banging your head and shaking your ass. It's hard to stop. Phil Anselmo sings like the gutteral metal monster he is, but with more soul than you'll ever hear on a Pantera CD. Pepper and Kirk kick ass with the guitar grooves and Jimmy Bower, who I have come to consider the best drummer in Rock, kicks butt and keeps the groove coming. This is hard core but it also kicks ass. You won't stay in your seat... I promise you! Best metal CD so far this year or last or next!!!!!

Although my personal preference lies with Down II, NOLA(an acronymfor New Orleans, Louisiana) is still a force to be reckoned with. Members of Pantera, COC, Eyehategod, and Crowbar coming together to record a Southern-fried slab of 70's style heavy metal? Are you kidding? Gimme!

NOLA has some clear differences from Down II. It's consistently heavier, Phil resorts to screaming his way through much of it, and there is less diversity between tracks. That being said, this manages to be one of the greatest metal albums ever. Every song has at least one classic or memorable riff within--the best tracks 4 or 5. Occasionally, an unorthodox instrument will show up: a water pipe on "Hail The Leaf," bongos in "Jail," plenty of cowbell, an acoustic guitar, etc.

"Temptation's Wings" gives the album a good head start, and is followed by "Lifer," which has a drop-dead gorgeous crunchy riff that shows up about two minutes into it. "Pillars of Eternity" has a pounding/tribal nature about it, and "Hail The Leaf" sets a dichotomy to it by being much slower and moodier. "Rehab" is my personal favorite song off the album due to its unbelievable melodies in guitar and vocals(he sings!). Excellent harmonization on Pepper's part as well. "Stone The Crow" was a minor radio hit back in 1995, and it's easy to see why with its beautiful bluesy guitar lead and melodic chorus. "Pray For The Locust" is a mystical acoustic ditty, and "Jail" is a spooky swampsong--all acoustic, very "Planet Caravan"-esque. Down would perfect this style of moody softer bit with their next record. "Swan Song" has a delicate main riff that kicks it off, and "Underneath Everything" shares a similar style of crunchy quasi-thrash riff with the closer, "Bury Me In Smoke."

To summarize, Down crafted a fine album with NOLA. The album is a time capsule of sorts, because it captures the essence of the South in 1995. The artwork, the band members, the filler paper, the numerous references to a certain leafy substance/smoke/its effects, the CD with a bird's-eye-view of NOLA itself, the Superdome and all...it's the South incarnate. Fans and B.R.O.E.S. alike had seven years to digest the album until its radically developed followup came along the damp and dusty bayou path in 2002, so most listeners' favor falls with this release. In reality, it's a toss-up. Both albums are worth owning.

Be a Lifer. Ride Temptation's Wings. Listen to Down.

What can I say? In my opinion Down is the best band on the planet. I bought this album years ago because I was a fan of Pantera and knew that Phil fronted Down. Down does not sound like Pantera but they do rock out hard! Nola is my favorite CD in my collection. #10-Stone the Crow is my all time favorite song. If you don't own this album then something is seriously wrong with you!

In my opinion one of the greatest metal albums to ever come out.
I can listen to it over and over again and it would still stay at the front of my cd case. A MUST have for all Pantera and COC fans.

I don't like to use hyperbole and gushing praise when I describe the bands I like. I want people to trust my opinion, and the opinions of fawning fanboys are some of the least trustworthy out there. All of that in mind, I fully stand by what I said in my review title. This album is truly legendary in the heavy music genre, and Philip Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Kirk Windstein, Todd Strange, and Jimmy Bower deserve every word of praise they've gotten for it.
The guitar work is amazing-- one catchy but crushing riff after another, all the way through. You can almost laugh as you feel the brotherly jamming that must have gone on to create this stuff-- these guys play so well togetehr you can tell they've been friends for years. Jimmy Bower's drums aren't technically remarkable, but accompany the music perfectly. The bass keeps pace, which is fine, the guitars and drums deserve the limelight they have-- this record is about head-bobbing beats and great riffs. Lastly, Phil Anselmo's vocals are superb-- he sings where it's needed, screams or yells on key when it's demanded, and maintains his tradmark powerful presence without forcing a Pantera-style sound on the music. To top it all off, producer and longtime Crowbar member Matt Thomas keeps the sound raw and uncompromising without letting it get too ugly: a perfect job for this album.
Perhaps the greatest thing about "Nola" is how the whole album bleeds with soul and feeling. It's serious without being melodramatic, fun without being careless, crushing without being overbearing-- everything clicks. A fan of heavy music would be very hard-put to find this record disappointing. Ten years after it was made, it still stands tall.

This CD NEVER gets old. It is unbelievable! This album, along with a few Sabbath releases, Hendrix: Axis Bold As Love, a couple Zeppelin CD's, and Pink Floyd's middle of their career efforts all round out my top 10. BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!!! IT KICKS A@#, enough said.

Let me start by saying I was never and will never be a Pantera fan. Don't know why but they just never clicked with me. I'm not much of a fan of Mr. Anselmo's either. He's quite the arrogant rockstar and I don't expect him to live another 10 years(not to be a jerk, just being honest. You could probably smoke the guy's clotted blood and get high). However, I'm a big fan of Corrosion of Conformity, and recently I've gotten into Eyehategod. Louisiana to me has always been a breeding ground for some of the finest music in America, from the New Orleans jazz of Satchmo and the foot-tapping funk of the Meters, to the heavier-than-hell Bayou dwellers such as Soilent Green and Acid Bath. Down, an underground supergroup, is a testament to a fine tradition.

NOLA is full of top-notch southern fried musicianship. Kicking back and listening to Stone the Crow, I can just imagine sitting on a porch, beer in hand and watching a sunset over a alligator-ruled swamp, mosquitos and reefer smoke lingering in the air. Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein(of Crowbar) provide great thick slabs of metal guitar which are as heavy as they are not foreign to the concept of melody either. In my mind, they are the real highlights of this band. The rhythm section is also formidable. Jimmy Bowers delivers some great beats. His real talent comes through on the second album, Bustle in Your Hedgegrow, which is not nearly as good as NOLA but still excellent in it's own right.

If you're tired of Three Doors Down and the Darkness being the only options for "straight ahead rock n' roll" in these rap metal and screamo-infested days, then please pick up this immensely satisfying and honest metal album.

Simply Stated: This is required listening. It captures the feeling of Black Sabbath like no other band ever has. This album is for any fan of metal, period. End of story.