Shots and Dollars is the second full-length release by Ice of Neptune, an independent alternative/progressive rock band formed between Italy and Greece.
Shots and Dollars is a concept album set in Chicago in 1929 and the years immediately following the Great Depression. The story opens with a boy shaped by poverty, defined by hunger, silence, and the cold that hardens his earliest ambitions. Over time, that ambition intensifies: first into determination, then into fixation.
The album comprises 9 songs for 43 minutes of music. A dark and cinematic start (and fantastic drumming) with the opener Interrogation, a very versatile track in between many genres and perfect for a Broadway musical thanks to a great arrangement and versatile vocals. 1929, the following track, slows down the pace a bit with wind instruments in evidence but without losing the cinematic experience, with super catchy vocal lines. Another change in scenario for New Bright Star (almost a dance, I love the bass lines), and at this point in the album it's very clear that the performance/arrangement follows the mood of the story and we are going to be surprised song after song.
Electro pop vibes for The Script and Run (great backing vocals and arrangement on the first one). Despite not being my genre, I find them extremely interesting for the different solutions used. Another pleasant change of scenario with the title track, Shots and Dollars (almost western and with fantastic prog bits), probably my favourite song on the full-length, if I have to choose one. Dramatic and cinematic is Sins of Vanity, (fantastic vocals and drumming), while Fading light is a pure symphonic metal song (great riffs, solo and vocal "exchange"), while the last The curtain falls is melodic and with a captivating piano track, evolving in a uplifting tune full of lots of tasty details, change of atmospheres and the usual great vocal lines and quality arrangement. A fantastic closure for a quality album.
Shots and Dollars is a super eclectic album, amazingly written, performed and produced. It's not easy to switch between many genres while keeping the same identity. A quality work from every point of view, everything is in the right place.Youtube