True geniuses in mainstream music are rare. There is little doubt in most minds that Snot frontman Lynn Strait was a genius. On Snot's sole effort, 1997's Get Some, Strait and his Snot cohorts successfully created what they called a "hardcore lounge act," a furious blend of melody and aggression, pensiveness and rage.
Various artists
Strait Up
Immortal Records
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On a personal note, I cried when Lynn died. Listening to Strait Up has been a healing process for me, and a very fulfilling one.
The music on the album is absolutely amazing. Originally recorded for the second Snot album (Lynn died just five days before vocal tracking was scheduled to begin), the Snot crew, especially guitarist Mikey Doling (now of Soulfly) and bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock (now of Amen), truly stepped up and created a wonderful memorial to Strait.
Unfortunately, many of the vocalists provide less than adequate tribute to Lynn's dynamic legacy. Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath and Coal Chamber's Dez Fafara all provide rather poor reflections of Lynn and their memory of him. While all were included because they were friends of Lynn, they do not do the rest of the album justice.
But the album is not a waste. Lajon Witherspoon and fellow Sevendust associates shine on "Angel's Son," a beautiful acoustic-based ballad. Jason Sears of Rich Kids on LSD pulls through with an eerie Strait-esque style on "Until Next Time." Incubus' Brandon Boyd, (hed)pe's M.C.U.D. and Korn's Jonathan Davis all also contribute significant tracks.
But the star of the disc is Lynn -- both in spirit and in music. The album includes "Absent," from the Strangeland soundtrack and the only recorded Snot song not featured on Get Some. It also features "Sad Air," a spoken word and acoustic guitar track in which Lynn talks about the emptiness of drug addiction (he died in a drug-related auto accident).
With any luck, the solid performances and star power of Strait Up will bring new listeners to the wonderful world of Snot. Better late than never.
