Let's get this out of the way; credit has to go to Spinning Chain for attempting to create a contemporary sounding record even though the band members may be a little long of tooth. Former Cherry Street guitarist Todd 'Taz' Anthony is a co-founder of the band and co-produces 'My Insanity' with Bryan Scott, former vocalist with The Union Underground.

Scott appears to have been the perfect choice for this record as there is much on offer that tips its hat in the direction of his former band who, in all honesty, made one great rock record and disappeared way too quickly. Anthony Focx, famous several short years ago for being a member of Beautiful Creatures and for having a fog machine in his bedroom, is a knob twiddler himself now having worked with the likes of Ace Frehley and Buckcherry. He mastered this album and, kudos to Taz, Scott and Foggy, it sounds great. But there is an elephant in the room....or should that be park?

I have to be blunt - huge chunks of this record are Linkin Park rip-offs. Not similar, not familiar, but blatant pick-pocketing of choruses, melody lines, riffs - everything. It would be useless to attempt to ignore these instances of identity theft, or to pass them off as being merely 'influenced by' - you can sing Linkin Park songs over some Spinning Chain songs. Trying to make a modern-sounding record that will tread water with fashionable metal fans is hugely acceptable, but drowning it in someone else's ideas is not.

And it's a shame because, when they pull off the multi-platinum masks of their victims, there is a lot of great sounding material on offer that hints at a cool band clawing - should that be crawling? - to get out. The track 'Who I Am', for instance, is lobbed onto the tail end of the album and is one of the strongest songs. A heavy dose of The Union Underground in Alice In Chains mode is administered to the chorus but, I'm guessing, this might be what Spinning Chain would sound like if they didn't paint their songs using Linkin Park by numbers. In fact, the final three songs - throw the titles 'Let It Ride' and 'I Have Become' in with the previous song - offer a glimpse into the mind of the 'real' band at work here; no copycats, but a promising melodic hard rock outfit with a modern bent. Instrumental track (okay, it features some whispered words) 'Get Out' reminds me of the Everclear track 'El Distorto De Melodica' run through a legion of computers - it could be called 'Pro-Tool And Die' - and the album's title track is again channelling Scott's former band but, sadly, also channelling that Chester Bennington fella...again.

If Spinning Chain are looking to really rid themselves of their insanity then, in the interests of their collective health, they need look no further than the advice of the good doctor Gaz E - if you keep jumping on bandwagons then eventually you are gonna fall.....

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