Back to Reality

Back to Reality is the fifth album, on which Slaughter kept its catchy melody and smooth choruses while stepping into a calmer rock texture. Released on CMC International in 1999, it is also the first album to feature new guitarist Jeff Blando (ex-Left for Dead), who replaced Tim Kelly after Kelly died in a car accident in 1998. With a new guitar joining Mark Slaughter (vocals, guitar), Dana Strum (bass) and Blas Elias (drums), the whole album is written by the band. Bright hooks remain, yet the playing gains a late-1990s hardness and shadow. From the racing “Killin' Time” and the driving “All Fired Up” to the earthy “Trailer Park Boogie,” the emotion of the six-minute “Love Is Forever,” and the closer “Nothin' Left to Loose,” it often lets songs speak through the interplay of voice and guitar rather than sheer flash. A work made across the major turning point of a core lineup change, it puts maturity forward over unease — the band’s cultivated melodic sense crystallized in a settled form.