Greg Norton – “Complicate Me”

Greg Norton – “Complicate Me” – Single Review

When this track first started to play on the ol’ playlist over here, my first thought was “I wonder if this is what Blue Oyster Cult would sound like if they were still making new tunes.”  That subsided quickly enough as the new single “Complicate Me” from Greg Norton shifted and clicked into gear…then I was half sure it sounded like a more aggressive form of what you’d find on something like Toad The Wet Sprocket’s masterpiece Dulcinea from back in the day, before I eventually settled on this cut being more like something you’d find in a cross between Brother Cane and the first album from Three Doors Down.  Which makes sense, that’s kind of where I ended up putting Greg’s previous single in the realm of for comparisons too.  I suppose it all fits into the same kind of category of Rock with a lil’ southern influence to it at the end of the day.  Catchy though…I can see Norton’s new track landing on several playlists other than just my own.

Overall, he’s battling the same obstacles that he did with his single “Echoes” earlier on this year, and the positives are equally the same as well.  On the one hand, you’ve got a track that’ll remind you of several other bands and artists immediately, and on the other, you can’t take a single point away from the genuine professionalism you’ll hear in Greg’s music.  Ultimately, it’s that second point that’ll outweigh the first, which is a good thing in Norton’s case.  We all hear hundreds of songs within a week that will sound comparable to this or that, so really, all you can ever do is play your freakin’ nuts off and do the best you can to bring people back by paying attention to all the details.  Greg does an exceptional job with rounding out his material with everything it should have…he achieved that on “Echoes,” and I’d readily tell ya he’s done that once again with “Complicate Me.”  He’s using the dynamics of the space extremely well on this track – look at the progression right off the drop…he’s got a solid intro, he’ll detonate that and explode into the main meat of the energy to follow, then back it off to give you a smooth & stylistic verse, which gives him the ability to re-up the stakes again as he heads into the hooks.  If this were a recipe, believe me, it’d be in all the cookbooks you’ve ever read – but just because the blueprint is out there doesn’t mean everyone out there has the chops to follow along, you feel me?  That’s what’s setting Norton’s music apart for me right now, and what makes him stand out – it’s all in the execution.  He might be rocking on a path that’s tried, tested, and true, sure – but he’s proving that he’s got the ability to do it all so much better than most, and all-in-all, he should be proud of what he’s able to accomplish.  I can think of tons of people out there that’ll love listening to “Complicate Me” and reach for the volume knob to turn this UP every time that it comes on…Norton rocks the right way y’all.

So, even though he’s still got some room to build the identity in his sound and show us what makes a Greg Norton tune different from the rest of what’s out there, that’s not something that’s usually ever created overnight.  He’s well on his way, and doing the right things you wanna hear in this year of his career, still very early into his timeline overall.  The vocals are outstanding, the musicianship is once again impeccable…I love the rumble in the bass, I think the tones of the guitar are genuinely exciting & even more killer in the solo…the drums keep the energy up & excel when the main hooks are revealed.  As far as that chorus is concerned, it’s not only memorable, but something you’d wanna hear again – and I’d absolutely tell ya that within a few solid spins, you’ll likely be quite hooked on this fiery single from Norton.  There are plenty of reasons to return, and I think he should be stoked about how this whole track has turned out from performance to production once again.  Dude clearly knows what he’s doing and has a real firm grip on how to get the most out of his sound and material…and given the fact that he’s still just getting this machine warmed up, he should be extremely excited about how far he’ll be able to take his music as time goes on.  Because the accessibility is there, the right pieces of the puzzle are all in place, and at the end of the day, no one actually needs to recreate the wheel when it comes to the art of making music.  Make the stuff you’re passionate about, that’s always going to lead you to the best results.  If it happens to be different than the rest of what’s out there already…bonus.

Ain’t never been anything wrong with a killer Rock song that’ll get people turning it up loud and proud though, which is exactly what Greg Norton’s got with “Complicate Me.”  The quality of his sound, and his attention to detail has been staggeringly awesome so far…I’ve definitely got this dude on my radar for sure.  If he’s this good at the start of his career, believe me when I tell ya, he’s gonna be a full-on beast with a behemoth’s sound by the end of it, and all he’s gotta do is follow the same instincts and work ethic that he’s using right now.  Keep up the incredible work Greg, and keep on keepin’ on brother-man.

Find out more about the music of Greg Norton from his official website at:  https://gregnortonlive.com

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