Drinking beers paid by no one less than Brian Johnson (leadsinger of AC/DC) sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, the good man discovered Neurotica during a hometown show in Florida and beside the collective beer drinking he also produced Neurotica’s debut album Seed.

Neurotica is the band’s third album since they formed in 1995 and it’s also the first record released on WWF’s (World Wrestling Federation) own music label, Smackdown! Records. It’s produced by Doug Kaye and mixed by Kevin Shirley of Black Crowes and Aerosmith fame. The music sounds like mainstream hardrock with a little touch of grunge. Other bands that come to mind are Stereomud, Creed and Soil.

The singer, Kelly Shaefer (not a woman), seems to be heavily influenced by Layne Staley.

Kelly tries to use his voice in the same way as Layne did: full of hope and despair yet still melodic. The songs sound very powerful, but it’s too much of the same. The diversity is hard to find, because every track is like 3 to 4 minutes long and starts where the last song ends. Because of this the album sounds like one big trip through an endless, sometimes slightly boring landscape. The only songs that rise above the rest are “Said She” and “A Lot Of The Same”.

The band seems to have a lot of potential, however this album never fulfills these expectations. It all sounds too predictable, without any musical surprises.