ERIC BASS – I HAD A NAME – ALBUM REVIEW

26th February 2025 0 By Laura Jane

Eric Bass releases his first ever solo record “I Had A Name” due for release on February 28th, 2025. Eric is best known as the bassist for the American rock band Shinedown, which he joined in 2008.

I’ll be honest, I was honestly surprised as for some reason when someone says they’re going to be releasing a solo record my brain almost automatically thinks “Oh no, here we go it’s an acoustic affair” However “I Had A Name” was far from this. As far as genre, I’ll be honest this album is very hard to categorize in terms of a specific genre as it’s a very dynamic album with lots of elements drawn from rock, metal, synth and oddly I’d even go as far to say as a lot of electronic elements thrown in there too.

The album kicks off with the track ‘A World Unseen’ which sets the pace for the following tracks and sets a strong anchor point for what’s to come.

The album shows emotional depth with the exploration into his faith, autism, ADHD, and executive dysfunction, and his quest to find his voice while reconnecting with a lost childhood all of which radiates strongly in the lyrics of the tracks on this release.

Highlight tracks on this album for me personally are ‘We Can’t Go Home‘, ‘Goodnight Goodnight‘, and ‘Dead Inside‘. I would also like to give a commendation to the track ‘New Graves’ which I found myself having a little bop along too without even realizing till I was 2 minutes 26 seconds deep.

It’s to be noted Eric took complete control of the process, writing, performing, producing, and mixing every track himself which in retrospect is very impressive and deserves applause for this and can not be faulted at all. It’s what you would expect from his 20+ years of experience in the music field and the uality of work he’s done previously.

Current singles released by Eric Bass “Mind Control” and “Azalia” are featured on this album and are currently available on all main streaming platforms. Alternatively, you can listen to “Azalia” below:

Overall the album delves deep into sensitive topics and does a great job doing so, it’s raw, it’s emotional and it’s to be praised for its deeply personal and introspective themes. The album receives a solid 8/10. If you are a fan of Shinedown you will definitely find euphoria in this work or if you are a general fan of deep and meaningful artistry it’s definitely not an album to sleep on.

Score 8/10