Dropbox CD

Dropbox: John Kosco (vocals); Lee Richards (guitar, background vocals); Joe Wilkinson (guitar); Jimmy Preziosa (bass); Bob Jenkins (drums).
Additional personnel: Sully Erna (drums).
Personnel: Lee Richards (vocals, guitar); John Kosco (vocals); Joe Wilkinson (guitar); Bob Jenkins , Sully Erna (drums).
Audio Mixer: Dave Jerden.
Photographer: P.R. Brown.
Dropbox's debut is emblazoned with a sticker blurb from Sully Erna, who proclaims that the band's melodies are the best he's heard since Alice in Chains. That's high praise. But it's also a bit misleading, since Dropbox are the first signees to Erna's Realign/Universal vanity imprint. The Godsmack mastermind also had a hand in Dropbox's creation, introducing guitarist Lee Richards (himself a former member of Godsmack) to vocalist John Kosco. Erna also played drums on the majority of the band's self-titled debut. What all of this really means is that Dropbox doesn't fall very far from the Godsmack tree. Whether the vocal harmonies of post-grunge anthems "Wishbone," "Unfold," and "I Feel Fine" really are on par with Alice in Chains, there's no question that the band is Dropbox's primary -- some would say only -- influence. Kosco, Richards, fellow guitarist Joe Wilkinson, and bassist Jimmy Preziosa temper their sludgier moments with brooding material ("Take Away the Sun"), and also find time for some straightforward heavy rock in the vein of Tantric ("Run," "I Told You"). But for the most part, Dropbox stick to recycling the powerful riffs and throaty vocals of vintage grunge, whether it's Alice or the chugging bottom end of Soundgarden, most apparent in the aforementioned "Wishbone." Godsmack fans won't be disappointed, even though Drop don't pack quite the metallic crunch of that group. The real audience for Dropbox seems like the casual active rock radio listener, the fan willing to take harder moments with the soft, and looking for melodic progressions suggestive of grunge's past glories. ~ Johnny Loftus
Developed with the guiding hand of Godsmack frontman Sully Erna, Dropbox has little to do with the former band's brand of heavily produced, industrial-leaning nu-metal. Rather, Dropbox's debut disc offers a heaping helping of old-school grunge characterized by the tried-and-true trio of sledgehammer riffs, throaty vocals, and pounding drums. Lead vocalist John Kosco often sounds startlingly like the late Layne Staley, but Dropbox is no Alice in Chains tribute band; the group's sound is rawer and more direct, with a heavy sound often reminiscent of Soundgarden or Black Sabbath. Brandishing a dark, melancholy edge that characterized many of the best original grunge bands, DROPBOX should appeal both to the flannel faithful pining for the genre's early 1990s heyday, and youngsters wondering what all the fuss was about.