This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Everybody slows down a bit as they get older. Even punk and metal bands.
Dallas dirtbags Speedealer — formerly REO Speedealer until the humourless old coots called in the lawyers — are the latest bunch of punks to realize they can say just as much (if not more) by cranking it down a peg. So their third album Second Sight has a few less blistering barnburners and a few more walloping, syncopated bruisers a la Metallica. What a coincidence; this 40-minute smackdown was produced by former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. And capably produced at that. Newsted coaxes a few new tricks out of these old devil dogs on intricately hi-falutin’ instrumentals like Infinitesimal, while pig-smokers like Days of Red, Blinded and the title track should have no trouble satisfying the faithful back home in the trailer park. All of which make this the ’Dealer’s most varied and complex album so far. And a darn sight better than the competition.
