HVY1＜Blue Vinyl＞

Atlanta-based Stuck Mojo had clearly reached a crossroads when the band recorded 1999's very timely HVY1 live album. Still reeling from the sudden departure of founding bassist Corey Lowery (who insultingly defected to join the formulaic atrocity Stereomud), the bandmembers seemed unsure about their ability and desire to carry on. In fact, HVY1 sounds suspiciously like a career wrap-up and/or special farewell release for the fans, delivering energetic performances of such career highlights as "Crooked Figurehead," "Throw the Switch," "Not Promised Tomorrow," and "Reborn." But wait a minute, what happened here, when did it all go wrong? Just a year earlier, Rising, the group's third and by far strongest album, had brought Stuck Mojo to the cusp of mainstream metal media notoriety, further, in fact, than many expected their label, Century Media, could have brought them. But, though they'd accumulated no small amount of street cred for helping to spearhead the rap-metal fusion of the mid-'90s (indeed, they were one of the earliest groups to do so with style and panache), Stuck Mojo seemed to hit a brick wall just when the chips were stacked in the band's favor. Perhaps this was due to the unfeasible economics involved in securing spins on commercial radio, perhaps it was a result of the band's buffoonish obsession with pro wrestling (which stood at complete odds with their dead-serious subject matter), perhaps it was a combination of the two and more, but whatever the case, Stuck Mojo would only manage one final studio album, the career anomaly Declaration of a Headhunter, before calling it a day. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia