Your Backstage Pass To The Music Industry
Your Backstage Pass To The Music Industry
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WAITING FOR CADENCE Star of All Stars Rick Maggio and WFC |
| Good rhythms, but the vocals are too overshadowed by the instruments. When listening, yeah the music sounds great and the vocalist has a good voice, but it seems like pop quiz on the ability to concentrate. Focusing on the words is really hard especially in the first song. The second track is a lot better quality than the first but, what is with the minute and some-odd-seconds intro. The anticipation of actually hearing the words was killing me. I'm only half kidding. Long intros are good for building anticipation but this band just does not seem to make up for the wait. The songs sound rushed period. Worth a listen if Christian music is really your thing, but make sure the volume is all the way up and you are listening with the utmost attentiveness. Personally, I would much rather listen to Casting Crowns or Relient K. God Bless. (Erica Glanc) | |
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WALLS OF JERICHO The American Dream Trustkill Records |
| Walls of Jericho took a bit of a departure from the sound that got them to be a household name when they worked with Corey Taylor on "Redemption." I want to go on record and say that their work with Corey Taylor as far as I was concerned was and is their best material to date much due in part to listeners being able to hear the amazing vocals that Candice is truly capable of. With that being said, oh joy! Walls of Jericho is back to their old ways on "The American Dream," complete with metal riffs and that ever so annoying screaming thing they do that for some odd reason seems to make people love them. I never have understood music like this, never really quite got why anyone in their right mind would listen to this, and never want to hear garbage like this coming from my speakers. Alas, the job of a reviewer is fun sometimes isn't it? | |
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IAN WALSH Please Remember Plus 5 Records |
| "If you think of breakups, this was a hell on earth kind of break up," states 19-Year-old, Berklee College of Music student, Ian Walsh about the relationship that spawned the songs that made up his first EP, all five of which coincidently appear on his wonderful full length debut album "Please Remember." Walsh writes what he knows and knows what he writes. It is simple, who hasn't been through a breakup that changed their life and their outlook on how love is supposed to be? For the listeners, we are lucky that Ian decided to share with us how it made him feel not only in his words, but in the wonderfully crafted music that will fit amongst today's mainstream acts like Maroon 5 just as easily as it will against some of the Warped Tour artists like Academy Is. Walsh lends his musical talents to guitar, bass, and piano throughout the album and knows just when to crank it up a notch to drive home his lyrics as he displays on "Catch My Eye," but more importantly when to slow it down and use the piano as the prominent instrument as he displays on "Now or Never" and "Goodbye." Ian Walsh has created an album chalked full of emotion that anyone and everyone who has ever dared to play the game of love and lost will relate to with relative ease. | |
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WARSHIP Supply and Depend Vagrant Records |
| I will just go on record now and say that I have never really understood what the fuss was all about over bands like From Autumn To Ashes, but alas, everyone but me seemed to take to them and their music so perhaps I was the odd one out on that particular equation. However, when members of From Autumn To Ashes, Francis Mark and Rob Lauritsen, got together to write the tunes that would eventually make up "Supply and Depend," the debut Vagrant release from their project Warship, they went ahead and made me understand that perhaps I was right all along about these guys. If there is something that I understand less than From Autumn To Ashes it would be Warhsip. Melodic? Sure, I guess so. Different then other bands out there right now? Maybe a little, sure why not. However, I don't like the current trend of bands that want to get a lyrical point across by screaming the lyrics at me the way that a majority of "Supply and Depend" is presented. I actually really dig the music. It offers a harder driven style of guitars complete with riffs that lead you one way and then hit you from the other, throwing a complete curve ball at you in that you never quite know what is going to come next. Unfortunately, for me the vocals are truly the key for a band and that's where this loses it for me. There isn't much imagination here, but rather just more obnoxious screaming like every other band out there that I don't get. Sing boys sing, and you may have had one of the best and inventive albums of the year, but by screaming you pretty much have just become like 100 other bands out there right now. | |
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WELCH BOYS Drinkin' Angry I Scream Records |
| I grew up in the thick of the re-emergence of the punk rock scene with bands like Rancid, NOFX, Green Day, etc… carrying the punk rock flag to a new generation of fans. Along the way as I started to listen to the bands that influenced the bands I was digging the most, I found out what true punk rock was all about and fell in love with the scene. Then something happened along the way, and bands filtered in that completely lacked the intensity, frustration, and anger of those bands I originally fell in love with and watered down the scene with a bunch of emo crap. Recently there has been a re-emergence of the scene I loved, much due in part to bands like The Street Dogs, Dropkick, etc… and now I Scream Records has made me the happiest guy on the planet with the release of the latest effort from Welch Boys. This is everything I have been waiting for and there certainly is no sophomore slump here. As a matter of fact "Drinkin' Angry" may just be better than their debut album. You don't have a chance to relax from the minute that you hit play and "Head In The Sand" kicks in. You will literally leap out of your seat and instantly begin to pump your fists in the air with the energetic chorus that will capture you and make you sing along with them even if you don't feel like it and luckily that is the trend throughout the album. It has been a long time since a band could put together an 18-track album that is perfection from opening note to closing note, but The Welch Boys did just that. If you like the street punk sounds from Boston that mix in a little bit of hardcore edge, then The Welch Boys will be a welcome addition to your collection of music. | |
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WEEN At The Cat's Cradle, 1992 MVD Audio |
| I know when my friend's start to clean their closets up they usually will find some long lost treasure from their early days as a band that they had totally forgot about. That seems to be exactly what has happened with Ween. Digging through their old stuff they came across a recording of a full concert from 1992 and thus decided not to keep this hidden gem to themselves but rather released it to their fans so they can own a piece of the band's history. Though the performance is only about an hour long it captures a uniqueness and rawness that helped define the band in it's early days. You notice right away that this is not the Ween we have come to know and love today but rather just the duo of Dean and Gene Ween. That's right they used to tour as only a duo with an audio tape deck providing the bass and drums, and this was one of those stops. As you can imagine they sound raw as raw can get on this album. Running through a 21-song set in just about an hour is certainly not an easy task, but Ween pulled it off. The talking and BS that most other bands do to fill a time slot in their early days, for the most part is not here, but rather you just get straight forward music. As an added bonus the package includes a DVD that captures portions of concerts from late 91/early 92 and where the CD has you visualizing the performance you are listening to the DVD allows you to see just what Ween was all about and how they pulled off a live show back when. Though Ween has always been a left of the dial band, this collection is very rough, raw, and overall may not win them any new fans, but for diehards this is a must have. | |
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WEEN The Friends EP Chocodog Records/MVD Audio |
| Ween is always one of those bands that you never really know what's in store for you when you hit play on any of their releases, but you can bet it is going to be completely out there as is the case with "The Friends EP." A remixed version of their song "Friends," kicks off the EP and you are instantly met with beats that would be more suited for a dance club then the mainstream radio that was playing "Push The Little Daisies." As you dig into the EP you find yourself surrounded by more dance beats, and then you stumble upon "King Billy," which is a very strange combination of reggae and Jamaican dance hall and will have you looking for your old Bob Marley albums. The Jamaican dance hall flavored "Light Me Up" follows before the album closes out with "Slow Down Boy," which coincidently is the only slower paced song on the EP. Another truly unique release from Ween and if you are one of those folks that likes something that is truly an acquired taste then make sure to check out this EP. Buy Album Review | |
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WILLMOTT, BEN Rich With Love By The Way Music |
| Ben Willmott's music first found it's way to my hands via his debut release, "Nowhere To Go But Up," and the minute I hit play on that album I was hooked. So, when I found out that he had a new album coming out my anticipation was at an all time high and as soon as I hit play on "Rich With Love," and the album opener "Up at the Top" kicked in complete with the groovy piano based pop rock that originally hooked me on his music, I was sold again. As you press forward what you quickly will start to discover is that Willmott has honed in on his craft and taken his sound to a whole new level on this album. From the slower based songs like "Alabama" and "Emily," both which beg to be compared to Billy Joel all the way through to the pop driven songs like "Ithaca" and the rocking "My Side," I dare you to put this album on and not be in love with Ben Willmott's music. This is an artist to keep on watching and I suspect he is going to have a break out year backing this well crafted album. If you are a fan of artists like Ben Folds, Billy Joel, etc… then this is a must have CD for your collection. | |
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WYNN, STEVE Crossing Dragon Bridge Rock Ridge Music |
| Last fall, Steve Wynn spent time in Slovenia writing and recording new material that eventually became his latest effort "Crossing Dragon Bridge." The singer/songwriter genre is one that I love as it is usually the place to find the best written songs, that are very well crafted musically and lyrically. It is also the genre that finds the stranger, left of the dial artists, which aren't afraid to experiment with a variety of sounds. The latter is the case for Steve Wynn. There is your typical singer/songwriter stuff here that features mostly acoustic instrumentation and allows the lyric and vocals to shine. However, as you dig further into the album there is an obvious feel of a foreign music influence on tracks like "When We Talk About Forever," and "Wait Until You Get To Know Me," which reminded me of something you'd hear from a band of gypsy's. I know, kind of weird, but just as you go huh, you are smacked with a heavy dose of 60's styled pop rock, which is where Wynn truly sold me on this album. On tracks like the driving, "Annie & Me," and the psychedelic tinged "Love Me Anyway," you can't help but compare this to the late work from the Beatles, think the "Get Back" album. Steve Wynn is never going to find mainstream success with an album like this, but there is no denying the talent you will find spread throughout "Crossing Dragon Bridge" when you hit play. Well worth checking out if you dig something that is a little different than the norm. | |