Archive for the ‘Year 2003’ Category
Challenge - Spirit
More Info: www.officialchallenge.com
Verdict (Rating %): Enjoyable, but doesn’t have the “Acoustic Universe” ‘Wow! factor’ (70%)
Challenge are a duo consisting of LA vocalist (Allison Lindsay) and Dutch guitarist ( Arno Verstappen). I reviewed their debut album (Acoustic Universe) and was impressed
This time around they ‘plugged their guitars into a big Marshall stack and cranked it up’, the objective being to create a melodic rock album with a heavier sound and yet the same emphasis on melody. They also went for a basic sound without countless overdubs etc.
In trying to describe the overall Challenge sound this time around, I’ll go for ‘bluesy melodic rock’. Whilst the sound is obviously heavier than the debut, it still sits on the ‘light’ side of what I’d normally describe as melodic rock and sits closer to ‘mainstream adult rock’.
The opening track, “Spirit”, is a good start, with the guitar work being fluid and kicking it at the right moments. The next track, “Anytime”, has a strong rhythm section, plus a horn section filling out the tune and giving a bluesy/jazzy feel. Alannah Myles is the first comparison that I thought of. In fact, there are a couple of other tracks, “It’s My Life” and “Turn Away”, in a similiar vein. “Turn Away” finishes the album well, but on “It’s My Life” I found my self wishing the song had a bit more ‘bite’ to it.
The Hammond organ sound is present on a few tracks, most notably “Dark Night”. The organ gives it a Deep Purple feel and the saxophone includes a jazzy feel which some Purple tunes have. Maybe because I’m a Purple fan and it may therefore be an unrealistic expectation, but I found myself wanting the song to rock out a little more. “Backbone” is another example of this style.
Elsewhere, the tracks are mostly fall into the ‘pleasant’ category. “Opening Wide” is the track that most closely echoes the style of the debut, where the Allison’s clear vocals give it a folk feel, rather like early Heart.
I don’t often mention them, but this time the lyrics are noteworthy. In addition to the standard love songs, the lyrics cover crime (Dark Night), having a realistic outlook (Spirit) and defying conformity (It’s My Life).
“Spirit”, “Dark Night” and “Turn Away”, all show that the band can produce the goods when in electric mode. However, maybe I want to change the band into something they are not (a melodic hard rock band, rather than a melodic rock band), but I felt that generally the album lacked ‘edge’. The album is an enjoyable listen, but doesn’t impress the way the debut did.
Wampus Multimedia - After Hours: A tribute to the music of Lou Reed
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More Info: www.wampus.com
Verdict (& Rating): Melancholy relaxation (70%)
Mmmmm……..a tribute album. A tibute album to Lou Reed by a bunch of people I’ve never heard of. Come to think it, Lou Reed is an unknown quantity apart from “Walk On The Wild Side” & “Beautiful Day”, which don’t make an appearance here. If these guys were doing say a Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple….tribute I’d have some sort of reference point. So the merits of this as a Lou Reed tribute album will have to go unassessed here. The album could be perpetrating the most horrendous crimes against Lou’s music and I wouldn’t know (although I suspect not). I’ll leave that to the Lou Reed fans out there.
Wampus Mulitmedia is a US indie label, some of whose signings are featured here, who have previously released a Jonathan Richman tribute and who I think have Warren Zevon tribute in the pipeline. Now with a Warren Zevon tribute, I’d be in a better position to make comparisons with the original, having owned a couple of his albums. After Hours covers material from Lou’s days in The Velvet Underground right through to his latter day solo material.
Despite the disprate nature of the recordings, the quality is consistent. Although I did have some tracks that pleased more than others, I think the album is best judged as a whole. I’d describe the album as pleasant listening (and I mean that in a positive, rather an a bland or negative sense), and I found it strangely relaxing. For example, it is great music to have on whilst reading a book or in my case restructuring a web site.
For me the highlights were the TomWaits/Willie Nelson-ish slow ballad of Pale Blue Eyes by Radio Caroline, Satellite of Love by Kowtow Popof which could even be described as ‘catchy’, the bluesy Turn To Me by The Underhills and the simple melancholy ballad Cremation by Lee Rude. Other tracks worth a mention are the buzzing guitars of How Do You Think It Feels by tvfordogs and the indie jangly guitars of Music For Viola’s Going Down. The only tune that grated was the skiffle of Vicious by Okapi Guitars (the Duane Eddy meets The Shadows surf instrumental All Tommorrow’s (Beach) Parties being another possible candidate on some listens).
The strengh of this album for me isn’t individual songs, although it appears that the artists involved have lovingly crafted versions of their favourite Lou Reed songs. It works as a whole, albeit in a quiet rather than juggular grabbing way. I always thought that I’d find Lou Reed’s talking/singing vocal style a bit of a turn off over the course of a full album, which is why I haven’t investigated his music up until now. Therefore, this has been the ideal insight into Lou’s work for me.
Squint - Tinsel Life
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More info: www.squint.com
Verdict (& Rating) : Vibrant, exciting and classy (90%)
Squint consists of Dane Adrian (vocals), Matt Fredrickson (guitar), Young Charles (bass) & Tote (drums). The band was started in Michigan by Dane and Matt and are now relocated to Lousiana. “Tinsel Life” is the follow up to 1998’s Beeker album.
The whole Nu-Breed thing seemed to happen at a time when my interest in music was waning and it has remained largely unexplored terratory for me. Of course, Harem Scarem’s experiements with the genre made it into my collection. As did one Marv 3 album which doesn’t seem to have made it into my CD player that often. So my expectations for this album were fairly modest.
So I was surprised when the GnR meets the Ramones noise of “Anthem For Closure” made me stop whatever else I was doing and pay attention. Halfway through the song I reckoned punk meets glam (Ramones meets Poison) was a more valid comparison. By the time I’d listened to “Glimmer and Phrase” I remembered a band called Chequered Past featuring ex Pistol Steve Jones.
A song like “Postergirl” shows that the band have actually taken a bit of time to think about the lyrics. It is an amusing tale of searching for the perfect girl. “Unfinished”, “Shadow Shadow”, “Quite” and “Well Hell” all romp along with the quality being consistently high.Vocalist “Dane” rasps out the songs with just right amount of emotion without losing control and letting melody fall by the wayside. By the time “Well Hell” arrives, one criticism that could be levelled at the band is that the songs are all a bit one paced, but when they’re as catchy this who cares!
After listening to this album, somehow “No-Name” is the track that sticks. Yeah, just what want- to go around with the phrase ‘You’re a no-name bastard’ buzzing around my head.On “Random Caring” the vocals really remind of local punk merchants Stiff Little Fingers’ Jake Burns. The title track, “Tinsel Life” closes the album with finesse and is a contender for best track on the album.
Squint seem to have captured the engery of punk with the catchiness of pop and thrown in enough rock elements to create an album that is really special.
Double Eclipse - Freedom To Function
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I.C.O.N - ICONROCK EP
Tracks: Full Circle, Fixation, Last Exit
More info: www.iconrock.co.uk
Verdict (& Rating): Contemporary version of Sabbath meets Maiden (75%)
I.C.O.N, consisting of Mark Sagar (vocals), Jason Shuttleworth (Bass) & Scott Knowles (Guitar), were formed in 1999 in Burnley, England. After a fruitless search for a drummer, then band’s fourth member is a drum machine, even when they are playing live! Whenever the band play locally they attract both ‘classic’ and ‘nu-metal’ fans alike. The band have been building things up gradually moving from local gigs to natiowide gigs, a web site and the release of this EP in 2002.
A quick browse of the band’s web site will reveal a list of all time and current favourite albums that includes Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Led Zep,Venom, Filter, Stone Temple Pilots, and Queens Of The Stone Age.
Opening track, “Full Circle”, is a fast Metallica meets Maiden romp. The next track, “Fixation”, trades speed for clout and makes more of an impact. Overall I’m reminded of Sabbath, albeit with a more comtempory feel to the chorus. “Last Exit” is more metal with attitude to complete the set.
Listening to I.C.O.N I can hear that their music is build upon ‘classic’ metal, but overall their sound is a little more contemporary and I can well imagine how their materail appeals to both the ‘classic’ and ‘nu-metal’ fans when they play live. I.C.O.N’s style is a touch too metallic for my current tastes. but if you’re more metallically inclinded than I me, then check out their web site.
Zoomer - Songs For The Univited & Church Of The Last Resort
Zoomer - Songs For The Uninvited
Tracks: Hey Now, Americanz, Even The Score, Not Like You, What Ever, Don’t Do It, No Easy Way Out, Nothing’s What It Seems, One Baby Done,It’s Over
More info: www.zoomermusic.com, www.destinomedia.com, www.zoomerart.com
Verdict (& Rating): Eclectic jangly pop (70%)
This is Zoomer’s second release. His first, Maximum Plastic, was back in 1997. Other musicians on the album include Tony Brock (Rod Stewart, The Babys), Tad Wadhams ( The Babys, Sheryl Crowe) and Mary Ramsey (10,000 Manics, Goo Goo Dolls).
As you’ll discover reading the rest of the review, Zoomer sits a little outside the usual description of Melodic Rock. Rather than try to summarize his style now, why don’t I just move onto describing the songs and I’m sure you’ll get the picture.
The opener, “Hey Now”, is a jangly pop tune with a fairly catchy chorus that does a decent job of introducing Zoomer. “Americanz” is an easy going tune that has a retro feel - kinda like Mott The Hoople/Bowie does lounge jazz. More than anything else, the next tune “Even The Score”, had me thinking about Grace Jones with it’s spoken-style vocals and saxophone lead. “Not Like You” follows on with a jangly pop meets funk style.
It took a while, but when I listened to “What Ever”, the B52’s (Not that I can remember much about them apart from Rock Lobster) finally revealed themselves as the comparison that had been lurking at the back of my mind ever since track #1. “Don’t Do It” follows on in a similar style. On track such a this you realize that Zoomer isn’t going for an instant high with his songs and that repeated listens are required for the songs to get inside your head and make an impression. Concluding this little trio of tracks that I’d identify as the best on the album is “No Easy Way Out”. It’s a foot tapper with a vaguely Middle Eastern feel sitting on top of the perpetual rhythm.
I’ll have to be honest and say that I kinda switch off during the next couple of tracks - “Nothing’s What It Seems” and “One Baby Done”. The quirky jangly pop of “Nothing’s What It Seems” is too much like background music for my tastes. Whilst listening to “One Baby Done” I have found myself wondering how the track would end up if it were remixed with a heavier dance floor drum sound. It does have potential for a bit of ‘buggering about’ to create a Dance Floor #1. The cheesily titled “It’s Over” closes the album with a fuzzy guitar sound and a saxophone adding the color.
You will have noticed that the names I used for comparison purposes to describe the tracks, aren’t ones that regular Mood Swings visitors would expect to see. And indeed, this album would sit more comfortably in a cool pop album collection that a melodic rock album collection. The tracks that I enjoyed the most were actually the ones that reminded me most of the B52’s.
Zoomer - Church Of The Last Resort
Tracks: Heroz, Say Hello To The MusicWhite Noise (Black Sheep)
More info: www.zoomermusic.com, www.destinomedia.com, www.zoomerart.com
Verdict (& Rating): Less eclectic, more mainstream, and a more satisfying noise to these ears (75%)
The opening track is a laid back lounge jazz affair called ”Heroz” with a hint of blues and gospel thrown in. My immediate reaction is that it is better than anything I heard on the full album. Maybe that is because it is more mainstream and requires less thinking.
“Say Hello To The Music” at first reminded me jangly 80s pop merchants Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, but the chorus has a few quirky moments to make the track identifiable as Zoomer. The female backing vocals help to fill out the sound.
“White Noise (Black Sheep)” displays more melody and more of a sense of urgency than I identified on the full length album.
This shorter burst of Zoomer impressed me more than anything I heard on the full blown album.
Xinema - Different Ways
Tracks: In the Scent Of The Night, Over The Sea, The Last Flower, Timing, One Day, Different Ways, Maybe Time, Across The Styx, Distant Lights, How Can I Believe?, The Secret, Blind Is The Light
More info: www.unicornrecords.com, http://hem.bredband.net/b127802/
Verdict (& Rating): An appealing fusion of prog and melodic rock (85%)
Xinema is a three piece prog/melodic rock band from Sweden, who have been together in their present form since March 1999. The members (Mikael Askemur, Sven Larsson & Jonas Thurén) played together in a band called Madrigal from 1985 to 1990, with the emphasis on complexity and influences like Rush, Genesis, Yes, Kansas and Styx.
In 1998 the band had a few get-togethers and whilst discussing the poor sound quality of their earlier demos, they decided it would be fun to wrap up the Madrigal days by re-recording the songs with better sound quality. The outcome was the formation of Xinema and this CD.
When ‘In The Scent Of The Night’ strikes up a couple of things spring to mind. The first is Saga. Leaving that for the moment, the next is the sound quality. The band have left those poor quality Madrigal demos far behind. The good fusion of keyboards and guitar make for an impressive start to the album.
“Over The Sea” confirms that the band’s musical arena is progressive/pomp rock with a definite melodic rock/AOR theme. Since Saga is one of the better known exponents of this genre, a comparison is inevitable. Curiously Jethro Tull circa Broadsword is the closest reference point I can think of for ‘The Last Flower’. Something to do with the keyboard sound I think.
On a number of tracks the guitar work, which impresses throughout the album, has a style not dissimilar to Saga’s Ian Crichton. Prime examples being the next couple of tracks ‘Time’ and ‘One Day’. Around this mid-album point, the songs seem to be sticking to a tried and tested formula, but to be fair to the band there is usually something to keep you listening such as the sheer quality of a track like ‘Maybe Time’ or the flowing guitar work on ‘Across The Styx’.
By the time ‘Distant Lights’ arrives, the band are back in top gear and really demanding your full attention. A slight variation on the theme comes in the form of the more Asia-like ‘How Can I Believe’ and ‘The Secret’. That just leaves the final track, ‘Blind Is The Light’, to do just as impressive a job finishing the album with it’s well judged fusion of keyboards and guitar as ‘In The Scent Of The Night’ did opening it.
Xinema have a created an appealing album which will be of interest to fans of both prog and melodic rock. Fans of bands like Saga, Storming Heaven, Act and Thread in particular should check it out.
Brad Love -Through Another Door
Tracks: Perfect World, Annie Annie, Serious Games, Darkness, I Do, All Over Now, Remember Me, Can’t Say No, Techno Toccato, Simple Answer, Between Us, Home
More info: www.bradlove.com, www.songhausmusic.com
Verdict (& Rating): ‘AOR-lite’ featuring one of my favourite tracks from 2002 (80%)
Brad’s former band, Aviary, is not a familiar name to me and to be honest I didn’t quite know that to expect from this album. Something progressive and inaccessible I guess. Maybe that is why opener, ‘Perfect World’, made such a huge impact on me which I first listened to the album. . It manages to be a ‘perfect’ mixture of pop, rock, even a bit of classical, all glued together with a chorus that reminds me more of Nirvana than anyone else. An eclectic mix, but one that really impressed me on that first listen and has continued to on subsequent listens.
A little nagging voice in my head was saying that Brad’s voice and style reminded me of someone else during my first listening of the opener. During the track, Annie Annie, it clicked - Brad reminds me of Chris De Burgh. Whilst I’ll admit to liking some of Chris’s music, the majority of it is too middle of the road and bland for my tastes. Brad takes that style and gives it the necessary rock edge to make it more appealing.
Of the slower tracks/ballads on offer the next track, “Serious Games”, is the one that shines through. The chorus just seems to soar effortlessly and carries the song along, taking it into a more mid-tempo than ballad style. Later on, “Between Us”, is another ballad that shows Brad’s classical piano training coming through in the song writing. You’ve probably already worked out that the brief “Techno Toccato” also highlights this side of Brad’s music.
“All Over Now” and “Remember Me” are a couple of mid-tempo semi-acoustic tracks in the middle of the album that work well together, because “All Over Now” sets the mood, whilst “Remember Me” follows up with an extra supply of catchiness in the chorus department.
The most up-tempo track is “Darkness”, which reminds of Chris De Burgh’s “Don’t Pay The Ferryman”. However, the mid-tempo ‘AOR-lite’ tracks are the ones that I prefer. Another good example of this style is “Simple Answer”. There is a good build up to the chorus. There is even a little classical string interlude to give an extra dimension to the track.
If I call this ‘easy listening’ you’ll all go off with the wrong impression, so maybe ‘AOR-lite’ is a better description. The best track, without a question of doubt, is “Perfect World”. Indeed, it is one of my favourite tracks from 2002. With the best tracks mainly at the start of the album, it gives that ‘peaked to early’ feeling, but yet when listening I always hang on in there until the end.
Synema - Evolution For a Party of One (E4APO1)
Tracks: Conception De Renaissance (Act 1 - Design, Act 2 - Rebirth), Would You Like?, Movement Evolution (Act 1 - Youthful Dreams), Movement Evolution (Act 2 - Exit Out, Act 3 - Youthful Dreams, Act 4 - Exit Out, Youthful Dreams reprise), Garden Of Circles, Million Memories, Traveller of Space and Time, Banished to Pangea, Dream Time, Field River Tree, As Light
More Info: www.synema.com
Verdict (& Rating): Classy synth-based progressive rock (80%)
Synema consists of two musician - Steve Nellessen & Mike Adkins, with Mike Hargeaves (Traveller of Space and Time) and Christine Youngberg (Banished to Pangea) helping out on vocals on the mentioned tracks, and Gary Rosier lead guitar (Conception De Renaissance). The band’s name is a fusion of the words - Synthetic, Symphonic & Cinema.
The album is largely keyboard based, with guitars of both the acoustic varieties adding colour rather than being the central elements. Being a bit of metalhead at heart, I would have liked the guitars to be more central stage. In describing the overall sound of the band, it is difficult to better the band’s own description - “Electronic, Symphonic and Neo-Progressive Rock”. It is possible to detect influences here and there on the various tracks, but in a genre populated with acts content to rip-off Dream Theater, it is refreshing to find a band steering their own course.
Even though the album is split into a number of tracks, in truth they all flow into each other with no gaps, make the album feel like a single track, albeit one with plenty of variety (as you would expect from a progressive act).
“Conception De Renaissance” is a spacey affair that explodes into a guitar & synth fanfare to welcome you the CD and serves as an intro to the Floyd-like “Would You Like?”. Throughout “Movement Evolution” I’m reminded of Magellan (in their quieter more Yes-like moments) and Gentle Giant, which are couple of names that the more prog-rock aware readers might be familiar with.
As I have already said the album is keyboards/synth-based and a result I hear a few elements from bands of that genre that I’d be vaguely familiar with - The Enid on “Million Memories”, Tangerine Dream & Kraftwerk on “Field River Tree”. “Field River Tree” starts off with a synth bass-line with a Kraftwerk feel before taking on more of a Tangerine Dream theme. It is one of the more up-tempo tracks on the album. Combined with the space-orientated synth rock of “As Light”, which rocks out more than the rest of the album when it hits its stride, they make sure the album finishes strongly.
Whilst going through talking about individual tracks is useful from a reviewer’s viewpoint, this album is really best enjoyed if you can find the time to put it on, sit back and listen to it in it’s entirety. Despite it’s American origins, it reminds me of British classic progressive rock and bands such as The Enid. This is a good album that will appeal to many progressive-orientated readers.