Description
Rex Brown – Smoke On This… – Compact Disc
Smoke on This… is a hard rock / Southern rock–leaning solo album that marks a stylistic shift for Rex Brown away from the groove metal and heavy aggression of Pantera toward a more classic rock–influenced, song-oriented approach. It highlights his role not just as a bassist, but as a vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter.
The album is built around mid-tempo rock structures, blues-influenced riffs, and groove-based rhythms. Guitars are less distorted and more open, often drawing from ’70s rock and Southern rock traditions, with occasional heavier moments that hint at his background. Bass remains present but not dominant, functioning within the overall mix rather than driving it as a focal point.
Brown adopts a gritty, straightforward delivery, with a limited but functional range. His style is unpolished and natural, aligning with the album’s raw, rock-oriented feel rather than aiming for technical vocal performance.
The album centers on personal reflection, life experience, resilience, and independence, often framed through a road-worn, musician’s perspective. The writing is direct and conversational, without heavy metaphor or abstraction.
Production is organic and relatively stripped-down, emphasizing live-band feel, analog-style tones, and minimal studio effects. Compared to modern metal production, the sound is less compressed and more open, fitting the album’s classic rock influence.
Songs follow traditional rock formats, with clear riffs, verses, and choruses. There is limited experimentation, with a focus on consistency and groove across the tracklist.
Smoke on This… represents a reinvention of artistic identity, showing Brown operating outside the expectations of his metal background and aligning more with classic rock traditions.
Smoke on This… emphasizes mid-tempo riffs, straightforward songwriting, and a shift away from metal toward a more traditional rock sound.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Lone Rider
Crossing Lines
Buried Alive
Train Song
Get Yourself Alright
Fault Line
What Comes Around…
Grace
So Into You
Best Of Me
One Of These Days
