Choice Cuts Off The Chopping Block

This was one of the very first ever Roxx Records releases!
Ron Rinehart and Blake Nelson are quite the showmen and always tear it up on stage, as do the rest of the band. Fortunately they captured that raw, live energy on this limited edition CD. Included here are several new songs, which show off Oil's new direction. While there is some old school heavy metal attitude, it is clear that Oil are going for a more modern sound. The three new tracks, "Drown", "Walls" and "After" are all similar in style to what bands like Static-X and Disturbed are doing. Fortunately, unlike most modern bands Oil are not afraid to play a guitar solo, and Blake plays plenty of them. Most of the rest of the material included here is from "Refine". I was hoping that Oil would have included a couple more songs from their first EP. Unfortunately only one song ("When No One Cares") was included. This is actually one of my favorite songs on this disc. One negative about this live recording is hearing the rhythm guitar dropping out under the guitar solos. That is one nice thing about having two guitar players in a band. However, bassist Matt Joy is a strong bassist and fills in the gaps nicely. This will be Matt's last Oil album as he was replaced not long after this disc was recorded. (Oil actually disbanded not long after this album was released.)
"Choice Cuts" also features two bonus acoustic songs ("This Is My Prayer" & "Medicine Man"). These two tracks are outstanding. While they are not heavy in the slightest, I wouldn't mind hearing an entire album of this type of stuff. Even better, I wouldn't mind hearing some of this type of stuff mixed in with the band's heavier material.
"Choice Cuts from the Chopping Block" is limited to 1,000 CD copies and is hand signed and numbered.
Oil are also featured on Dwell's "2000-A Second Coming" compilation and Temporary Insanity - A Deliverance Tribute.

Lineup

Ron Rinehart - Vocals
Blake Nelson - Guitars
Matthew Joy - Bass
Jason Vander Pal - Drums