A Drug for All Seasons

After he left Megadeth, David Ellefson traveled along a slew of different musical avenues before he found himself back in his original band last year. Many of these acts were simply session appearances, but a few were full fledged bands formed by the man such as Avian and Temple of Brutality, among others. Perhaps the most prominent and most developed of these projects that Ellefson created was F5. The band was formed in Phoenix Arizona by Ellefson, vocalist Dale Steele, guitarists Steve Connelly and John Davis, and drummer Dave Small in 2003. Their first album, A Drug For All Seasons, out in 2005.

Let me just warn you now, A Drug For All Seasons is hardly a metal album. It's really more of a hard alternative rock album then anything else, and it shows. A Drug For All Seasons contains material that best be described as this: A god in the pantheon of rock music sets up a methamphetamine lab in his basement. His drug's ingredients include Alice in Chains, Pantera, 90s Metallica, Chevelle, and some Guns N' Roses thrown in. Mix it all together, and you get a drug for all seasons (pun intended). However, while this drug isn't going to put you on any major high, it certainly is reasonably entertaining and is a lot better of your run of the mill "heavy" music that you hear on the radio most of the time.

The problem with this album really begins with Ellefson. He's clearly the leader of the band, and he really wanted to show himself off. Okay, that's no big deal. Bands like Iron Maiden and Sadus are led by their bass players, and you can clearly hear it in the music. Unfortuantely, Ellefson fails pitifully at this. The bass lines are so rudimentary that they aren't worthy of the mix emphasis placed on the low end so you can hear them. With music and rhythms this simple, Ellefson should have made himself pretty much absent when this album was mixed. It would've sounded a lot better.

This really reflects on the other musicians to a huge degree. Guitarists Steve Connelly and John Davis are limited to mostly playing bass heavy riffs that are exactly in line with Ellefson, or clean parts that allow you to hear Ellefson better then normal. Most of these riffs are stuff a little kid could play, and don't provide anything that really grabs your attention. Connelly's solos are ridiculously weak. They're pretty much entirely pinch harmonics, and are the kind of guitar solos that someone who hasn't heard a real guitar solo before will say is amazing because they involve the upper frets. Dave Small's beats are pretty pathetic most of the time. There is barely any double bass on the tracks present here, and what little of it there is nothing anything special. No great rhythms, no awesome fills, no solos, he's just a time piece and nothing special.

The whole album though is saved by vocalist Dale Steele. This guy actually sounds really good. His voice is very clear and very audible, and he knows how to use pitch just perfectly. His harmonies are done really well, and while he does wail a bit too much, he clearly shows that he is the highlight of A Drug For All Seasons. The vocal patterns are ridiculously catchy. These songs all contain really great sing along choruses and many of the verses are worth singing along to as well. However, the lyrics are so lame. They're generally about introspective life related themes, and are just plain boring. Nothing you can't find off of a modern alternative rock or post grunge album.

The mix is pretty good for the most part. I feel like the drums are too loud for their own good, as if they needed to be hit extremely hard to sound louder then the bass in the mix. You can hear Ellefson's weak bass lines all throughout the album prominently, and the guitars are put on top decently enough. Dale's vocals sound pretty good, and it's not a bad mix all in all. Clearly, they paid a lot of money for it, and got what they paid for.

A Drug For All Seasons isn't a terrible album, but it's nothing special. If you want some radio friendly heavy alternative, this album is for you. But if you're looking for anything remotely similar to Dave's work in Megadeth, I suggest you look to some of his post Megadeth projects. It's best to just face the facts, F5's debut album is one drug that is not worth abusing.

This is an amazing debut album from F5, which is a heavy metal band that doesn't rely on screaming. Of course, the songwriting and music sound almost nothing like Megadeth, where F5 bassist David Ellefson was the former bassist for. However, F5 is amazing in its own way, and this album shows.

The songwriting is absolutely great. Most of the songs have strong lyrics that leave you thinking about them. The vocals are unique (in a good way), catchy, and the singer's voice is melodic throughout the entire album, which is great, since most bands rely on screaming.

The guitars are also amazing. Not only do F5 incorporate solos into their music (Which most bands today don't use), but the solos themselves are amazing. I have never heard anything sound like the solo in the track titled "Dying on the Vine."

Most bands are somewhat unoriginal, and if you listen to about five of their tracks on an album, they start to sound the same. That isn't the case with F5. With the exception of three songs (Which is why I couldn't give the album a perfect score), every track is significantly unique, and very catchy. I recommend the songs "Dying on the Vine," "A Drug for All Seasons," "Defacing," and "Faded." They don't sound much like each other (Which is good), but they are all extremely catchy and will get stuck in your head.

F5 is an amazing band, and this is one of my favorite debut albums by a band. They're catchy, heavy, and lyrically and instrumentally powerful. If you're a Megadeth fan who came because of former band members from them being in F5 and expects F5 to be a thrash metal band, then you will be disappointed. If you're looking for a unique, catchy, and heavy band of it's own, then you should check these guys out.

Being the big Megadeth fan that I am I decided to pick up this album because it features David Ellefson on bass. Thinking there would be some decent tunes on here and seeing as I picked it up for $5 I thought what did I have to lose? $5 and about a half hour of my time. Don’t waste the same things I did!
This album is boring as hell there is no other way to put it. There are no riffs that stand out and they really aren’t that heavy either, the lyrics are nothing special, and the guitar solos are bland. This album seems to be more of a demo to me, with most of the songs being short and seem to be missing something, be it a longer guitar solo, a thrashy breakdown, or just better lyrics. The songs on this leave you wanting more. I found myself asking where the rest of the song was.
Not all the songs are awful though. A Drug for All Seasons, and Dissidence save this from getting a 0. These are the best two tracks on the album, though they would both still be filler on a good album. They both have what the rest of the album lacks, a nice groove. F5 seemed to be going for more groove then heavy metal on this album and more times then not they missed.
With all that said this album is not worth buying. The entire album is boring and there are far better things to spend your money on. But if you’re a hardcore Megadeth and must know what Jr. has been up to like I have I guess I can’t stop you.