Ray Wilson got a raw deal. While he was making a name for himself as the lead vocalist of Stiltskin, the remaining members of Genesis decided that if Phil Collins could replace Peter Gabriel, perhaps Ray Wilson could replace Phil Collins. The reception for “Calling All Stations” was frigid, almost non-existent and for good reason. There were many songs on that disc that just weren’t that good… But it had one that was great; the lost “hit” “Not About Us” could have been a major success and it was almost entirely because of
Wilson
’s powerful delivery, like a younger, more raw version of Paul Carrack.
Now, for his second solo studio foray, Ray Wilson proves his worth with “The Next Best Thing”, an album full of solid, honest rock and heartfelt, emotional songs. Highlights include the illuminating “The Actor”, “How High” and a passionate revisiting of the Stiltskin favorite “Inside”. The major misstep is that the disc opens with “These Are The Changes”, a song mostly populated by political soundbites, a soundtrack for a chaotic, unsafe world in times of crisis, and by and large it works well enough. However it shouldn’t have kicked off the disc and would have been more impacting if it came just before the last track, “The Next Best Thing”.
Still, track order is quibbling when the guts of the recording are so good, leaving the name “The Next Best Thing” sounding deceptively modest.
The New Year
The End is Near (Touch and Go) - May 18, 2004
From the ashes of Bedhead comes the second offering from The New Year, helmed by Messrs. Kadane and Kadane, and while the laconic specters of Smog, Slint and The Velvet Underground still influence the music, there are some new flavors in the ice cream case to be had on “The End Is Near”. Do I hear reflections of Television’s Verlaine and Lloyd floating around in there? Could be!
Flipping the title around in the first track, the gloomy prediction of “The end’s not near, it’s here”, and the slight, half-whisper vocal delivery, didn’t prepare me for the twin guitar and “live” approach found later on “Age Of Conceit” or the darn-near epic “18”. Here we find the heart and soul of what made the early 1970s
New York
new-wave rock so startling, an openness to long guitar runs and instrumental riffing that went missing from some of the more often lauded recent neo-wavers. Yes, this is a disc from 2004, you might be surprised to learn, and not a pleasant discovery the old guard never latched on to. Nor is it an imitation, meant to stump die-hards. This is simply the basics freed from the three minute “single”. Thumbs up, thank-yous and reminders that the renaissance ain’t dead yet.
Frameshift
Unweaving the Rainbow (Progrock Records) - January 13, 2004
With the lyric and guitar portion of the band Chain and the voice of Dream Theater, Frameshift arrive with a theme in this conceptual album, based on the writings of Professor Richard Dawkins. In fact, “Unweaving The Rainbow” is the title of one of Dawkins’ books and caused some concern in me pre-listen. You might recall that I gave Chain’s last disc a favorable, but faint, positive review mostly because I wasn’t sure the band knew what it wanted to be… pointedly satirical or dead serious.
However, “Unweaving The Rainbow” seems to have been a beneficial project for all involved. Singer James LaBrie gets to use all the tools at his disposal where, sometimes with Dream Theater, he has to “sing it hard” or “sing it prog”. A lot of the credit goes to guitarist Henning Pauly and lyricist Matt Cash who keep the options open, allowing a less stringent division of approach here. LaBrie was in on the musical portion of the writing and works amazingly well with his co-conspirators.
Pulling apart different tracks as highlights became difficult as I found the disc worked very well as a unified piece, but if you threated me with wedgies I’d have to say the one-two combo of “River Out Of Eden” and “Message From The Mountain” got under my skin the most. All around, “Unweaving The Rainbow” is fine stuff and gives me hope not just that this collaboration will continue, but that the experience will carry over into the members’ respective bands. See? Genetic crossbreeding might not be half bad after all!
Bryan Beller is a good bass player. I mean, really good.
He rolls from a true blue jazz number to some freeform noodle-stuff to an all-out rocker and you pleasantly let him take you along. No problem, Mr. Beller. I’m right behind you. On his debut solo disc “View”, you get a mostly instrumental recording that doesn’t get so pretentious and overwrought that you find yourself marveling at the technique against the merits of the music. And just when you had it figured out, another change throws you, specifically the roaring track “Bite”. It is this lack of rigidity that made the CD very refreshing in that each step along the way felt like a spur-of-the-moment decision, yet there was enough confidence in talent that it didn’t matter.
The tracks “Bear Divide” and “No” are simply solo bass (both acoustic and electric performed by Mr. Beller) and while both are acutely proficient in the playing aspect, neither really find Beller wallowing in the solo spotlight. I can only imagine how badly a solo bass disc could sound as a paean to conceit – “I am a golden God of the bottom end!”
Forget about it. View is a great kind of 'turn it up at home on the good stereo, turn up the bass level and go for a ride' sort of disc. If this sounds vague, you'll just have to get it and see what I mean. www.bryanbeller.com
Vast Capital
What More Else... (A Bird of Passage Music) - March 27, 2004
I don’t often take a shine to overly cheery music. It’s not that I always see the glass half empty (even though it clearly is!), it is mostly because some upbeat, overtly optimistic bands can truly ring hollow and, at worst, be positively obnoxious.
Fortunately, Vast Capital has the ability to mean what they say with a smile on their face and carry it off without sounding phony or forced. The bright and bouncy “Smile” kicks off the disc and, wonder of wonders, I was hanging in with it. Usually, jaded and cynical me would hear the phrase “A new day will dawn, the future is bright, when I close my eyes I think of you and smile” and check out immediately. No wake-up calls, I’m gone. Yet, strong musicianship and a true sense of sincerity carry it all through skillfully.
Not that everything is peachy in this burg. “Since You’ve Been Gone” allows for some moments of upset and, once again, it doesn’t feel like it has been injected for the sake of leavening, a moody splash of angst in the wading pool. It’s honest and uncluttered and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
If I have a beef with the disc, it is that I thought the band was limiting itself too much. They could take what is an obvious gift and apply it to so many different topics. I assume that, as a debut, the group felt a preciseness of vision was better suited than some sort of large-scale manifesto of current events both small and large. Then again, “What More Else…” is a debut and you have to work toward something. I think Vast Capital has the stuff to remain for a while and always with a glass more full than empty.
Going Deaf For a Living (PMM Music) - March 27, 2004
File under “Get Your YYZ Out!”. Instrumental power trio Razor Wire Shrine tear into their songs with the confidence found on the aforementioned analogy, which is not to say that their secret weapon is to rock like Rush without the double-edged sword of a lead vocalist (and this coming from someone who likes Geddy Lee). You’ll also find a touch of the Crimson King happening here and there, alluding to the band having some cool musical heroes, but sometimes “Going Deaf For A Living” gets out of hand.
There’s a fine line between working your instrument and showing off and sometimes the band crosses that line. Drums slam and roll and flip the beat while the bassline runs counter to a hot solo on the guitar and at times things get complicated for complexity’s sake, not for musicality’s sake. On the whole though, they keep it together and the result is excellent and volume-worthy rock.
The disc opener “Shards” and the blazing “To Strike A Personal Chord” just go for broke and don’t look back, the closing “World Of Hurt” rips into a piece of metallic shrapnel that morphs into occasional Fripp-ian tonalities, and just about everything in between charge along. I wish there had been a couple tracks that stepped back and were a little calmer, just for the sake of catching one’s breath, but if you want some really muscular instrumental music, Razor Wire Shrine’s just what you need.
The Cooper Temple Clause
Kick Up the Fire and Let The Flames Break Loose (RCA) - February 24, 2004
You may have noticed a theme in this set of capsule reviews and it is this: I can like a band’s music even though the style is clearly reminiscent of another band, but the level of that similarity must not cause the band or artist to sound like a sound-alike.So yes, I really liked “Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose” by the band with the new coolest name going, The Cooper Temple Clause, but God help me, they do sound a lot like Radiohead.
So let’s face it head on. This is probably the album Thom Yorke and co. should have made instead of “Hail To The Thief” as it certainly has more of a steady footing between the two worlds of the guitar rock of “O.K. Computer” and the blip-bloop of “Kid A”, and lead vocalist Ben Gautrey can project with a lot of boldness, especially on favorite tracks like “New Toys” and “Talking To A Brick Wall”, but we have the annoying crux of the argument: The Cooper Temple Clause is not Radiohead. Why must the parallels be so clear cut?
It's a very good batch of tunes, no question, and if the comparison doesn't scare you off, you'll like it as much as I do, but you might not be able to appreciate it as an entry in and of itself. I'll listen to the disc often, I do believe, but I won't be able to shake that nagging truth and this is why I've given it the less secure two and one half star review.
I’m the wrong person to review this because I certainly don’t get it. I’m not a teenage girl and this disc seems squarely designed to target that demographic. You have to hand it to Avril Lavigne though; she’s got a good, strong voice and isn’t afraid to sing, shout and sometimes be abrasive. That’s good because most of her peers are content to simply, disturbingly coo through eleven or so tracks of high school love and hate. Not so good is that most of the songs on “Under My Skin” also rut through the halls of girl meets/loves/dumps/gets dumped/hates boy. Furthermore, the songs seem constructed to fill spots in each radio market, not so much to be a satisfying musical experience. You have your Evenescence-sorta metal, your punky riff and run, your pop confessional, sounds you’ve come to expect, loops, and not much to break with formula.
But once more, you also have Avril. Call me crazy, but if she can break through the clichés of her time, she may yet release an album of real rock integrity and staying power, something that will last a long time. She’s got that voice and energy. I just don’t see “Under My Skin” becoming anything more than a product of its time.
So yes, I’m the wrong person to review the disc because I won’t get it. But if Lavigne wants to make a career, and not merely a footnote, of this she’ll have to produce something everyone will get or no one will get. Her target will only be viable until graduation and this will not hold up when real life intrudes.
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212 Frech
FC1810
"Even though most of the people I knew in my youth are gone, I still reach out to them..." Norman Maclean - Paraphrase
"...we should enjoy every sandwich." -- Warren Zevon
Ray Wilson got a raw deal. While he was making a name for himself as the lead vocalist of Stiltskin, the remaining members of Genesis decided that if Phil Collins could replace Peter Gabriel, perhaps Ray Wilson could replace Phil Collins. The reception for “Calling All Stations” was frigid, almost non-existent and for good reason. There were many songs on that disc that just weren’t that good… But it had one that was great; the lost “hit” “Not About Us” could have been a major success and it was almost entirely because of
From the ashes of Bedhead comes the second offering from The New Year, helmed by Messrs. Kadane and Kadane, and while the laconic specters of Smog, Slint and The Velvet Underground still influence the music, there are some new flavors in the ice cream case to be had on “The End Is Near”. Do I hear reflections of Television’s Verlaine and Lloyd floating around in there? Could be!
With the lyric and guitar portion of the band Chain and the voice of Dream Theater, Frameshift arrive with a theme in this conceptual album, based on the writings of Professor Richard Dawkins. In fact, “Unweaving The Rainbow” is the title of one of Dawkins’ books and caused some concern in me pre-listen. You might recall that I gave Chain’s last disc a favorable, but faint, positive review mostly because I wasn’t sure the band knew what it wanted to be… pointedly satirical or dead serious.
Bryan Beller is a good bass player. I mean, really good.
I don’t often take a shine to overly cheery music. It’s not that I always see the glass half empty (even though it clearly is!), it is mostly because some upbeat, overtly optimistic bands can truly ring hollow and, at worst, be positively obnoxious.
File under “Get Your YYZ Out!”. Instrumental power trio Razor Wire Shrine tear into their songs with the confidence found on the aforementioned analogy, which is not to say that their secret weapon is to rock like Rush without the double-edged sword of a lead vocalist (and this coming from someone who likes Geddy Lee). You’ll also find a touch of the Crimson King happening here and there, alluding to the band having some cool musical heroes, but sometimes “Going Deaf For A Living” gets out of hand.
You may have noticed a theme in this set of capsule reviews and it is this: I can like a band’s music even though the style is clearly reminiscent of another band, but the level of that similarity must not cause the band or artist to sound like a sound-alike.
I’m the wrong person to review this because I certainly don’t get it. I’m not a teenage girl and this disc seems squarely designed to target that demographic. You have to hand it to Avril Lavigne though; she’s got a good, strong voice and isn’t afraid to sing, shout and sometimes be abrasive. That’s good because most of her peers are content to simply, disturbingly coo through eleven or so tracks of high school love and hate. Not so good is that most of the songs on “Under My Skin” also rut through the halls of girl meets/loves/dumps/gets dumped/hates boy. Furthermore, the songs seem constructed to fill spots in each radio market, not so much to be a satisfying musical experience. You have your Evenescence-sorta metal, your punky riff and run, your pop confessional, sounds you’ve come to expect, loops, and not much to break with formula.
