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CD SPINS Reviews of New National and Regional CDs by The Staff DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Everyday (RCA) Everyday is a confidently aggressive shift for DMB. The hefty violin and saxophone arrangements that have until now defined the Matthews sound have been usurped by thick keyboard lines, backburnering the wind and string instruments into accents and textures that provide enormous ballast for Matthewνs honest, one-of-a-kind voice. The grooves of So Right and Fool To Think are classic Matthews, with drummer Carter Beaufords uncommon expression adding otherwise unrealized dimensions to songs like Sleep To Dream Her and Mother Father, which are densely packed into four and five-minute formats. Besides the introduction of electric guitar (some of which is guested by Carlos Santana) to the mix, sax/flute player Leroi Moore adds contra-bass clarinet and Boyd Tinsley runs his violin through a wah pedal; also, both musicians sing backing vocals for the first time. Lyrically, Matthews speaks of the inspirational droughts plaguing his pre-Everyday songwriting environment: What in the world would I sing for/If I had it all? This collection represents the discovery of a refreshing oasis. Cliff Frantz VAN ZANT VAN ZANT II (CMC Intl) Van Zant II from brothers Donnie and Johnny Van Zant ( of .38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd, respectivly) turns out to be a collection of just plain good 'ol southern rock-n-roll. Opening with a moving ode to brotherly love and caring Oklahoma the Van Zant boys rock with classic rock riffs and grooves. Those who have heard the first single from this set Get What You Got Comin, have a good taste of the record as a whole. That single, which is all over national radio right now, is a personal favorite of mine due to the powerful guitar work. No wonder, considering that the track features Kenny Wayne Shepard who delivers a fine performance. At Least I'm Free is a testament to what rock is about. The power-chord riffs of Donnie make this song an instant classic, not to mention one that deserves to be played as loud as possible when listening. Its a jam! Although some of the songs, for instance the heartfelt ballad Imagination, may not stand up to others on the record musically, the mood and feel of the record allow you to overlook subtle downfalls of the album as a whole. Overall, this is simply a good southern-influenced record from start to finish. Tastefully, Van Zant II is a premium blend of rock riffs, power guitar, heartfelt vocals, and mainly quality music. It can all be summed up best by saying that if you are a Skynyrd or .38 Special fan, or just one who enjoys rock n roll with a little boogie-woogie added to the mix, than this record will be a fast favorite and a must have for your music collection. Nice job guys... Flash AEROSMITH Just Push Play (Columbia) The futuristic, female Robocop-ish supermodel on the cover of Just Push Play represents Aerosmiths (and humanitys) continuing evolution toward complexity. Complying with their natural instinct to improve upon what theyve already mastered, Aerosmith yet again puts Steven Tylers rasp on the point (except for the lead vocal debut of Joe Perry on Drop Dead Gorgeous), while Tylers musical accompaniment maintains its march away from the gut-rock simplicity of the Mama Kin days. The bands latter-years addiction to over-production only occasionally steps on their songwriting toes here. That is fortunate, because at bare bones, songs like Jaded and Avant Garden deliver the masterful penning that Aerosmith has only occasionally (mostly during the heroin years) failed to fabricate. Yes, the textbook Aerosmith ballad Fly Away From Here fails to tap any real emotion from the listener, but for the most part, Just Push Play presses most of the buttons that Aerosmith fans expect, desire and respect. Cliff Frantz O-TOWN O-Town (j records) O-TOWNs debut album is a good pop album. Now I am not going to profess that they are any different from *NSync or the Backstreet Boys, because they deliver more of the same boy band harmonies and sweetness weve heard before. While they may not break new ground, O-Town are very good at what they do. One song that does not fit in with the rest of this album, is Love Should Be A Crime. It has more of an accostic sound rather than a dance one. I like the way that it kind of stands out from the rest of the album and gives the boys a bit of their own identity. Another personal favorite is Shy Girl, a really nice song with a chorus that goes Shy girl / its written on your face/a mermaid outta water/feeling outta place/shy girl / tryin to hide a blush / caught you lookin for a second / felt my heart a rush/dont run away / dont be afraid / dont be shy girl. The up-beat songs are the ones mose likely to get the group the most attention. Unless youve had your head under a rock, you most likely have heard their first single, Liquid Dreams. Another that I would pick to follow that up is Every Six Seconds As I said in the beginning, this is a good pop music album. If you like boy bands, you will like O-Town. Sarah Lounges MERCY TREE Room To Grow (Indie) N.W. Indianas own Mercy Tree gives us Room To Grow, an acoustic/electric pop release that is heavy on harmonies and raspy lead vocals. Included here are 16 tracks most of which deal with relationships love lost and love found which clock in at 72-minutes in length. Perhaps thats part of the problem. I think 11 to 13 songs could have been culled from Room To Grow to make this a much more coherent release. Its usually nice to get as much music as possible, but here the volume of songs seems to mean that a few sub-par selections made it to the final product, diluting the overall success of the project as a whole. For example: The lead cut, Cant Letcha Go is perhaps the discs weakest song. Sounding choppy and unfinished, it simply does not fit here very well. A few others also do not fit well here. Having said that, there are a lot of things to like about Room To Grow. I Like The Way, a straight up rocknroll gem and I Tried, a Pearl Jam meets Hootie pop/rock cut, are among the best tunes on this notable freshman effort. After several listening sessions, these two songs both have stayed with me. Other Mercy Tree tunes with strong staying power are (Love Story) The End, Angel and Here I Stand. These songs alone make this CD worth adding to your collection. David Alan Buco ANTIFREEZE Four Letter Words (Kung Fu Records) AntiFreeze, bow their freshman release for Kung Fu Four Letter Words on April 3 and its an album worth noting for those who favor the underground emo style. The band previously recorded two CDs for Macromusic Records before being discovered last spring by punk rocker (and former Hoosier), Kris Roe of The Ataris. Roe passed their demo to Joe Escalante of The Vandals, the founder of Kung Fu, who signed them and put then in the studio with Roe behind the board. AntiFreeze is very similar to The Ataris in many ways. While this band is emo-rooted, they easily slip into the pop/punk genre with such songs as Is He Your Boyfriend?, Fell on Deaf Ears and Cyber Sweetie, all of which pine about obsessive online relationships. The lyrics on Four Letter Words dwell on lost love, and the band does a lot of sulking over the absence of a girlfriend. The bands punk roots really grab a hold in the lyrics of songs such as Our Band, a biting ode to the general apathy of MTV and like-minded corporate music when it comes to the punk attitude and sound. The band has fun shouting out lyrics like washed up bands on MTV. Kung Fu has done well signing AntiFreeze, who seem perched to become one of the bright spots in the punk rock scene of this new millennium. Brad White MONSTER MAGNET God Says No (A&M) Dave Wyndorf has exploited his artistic freedom like a lyrical Caligula by taking God Says No even deeper into the exploitation of hedonism, power, immortality and god-like self-admiration. Combining the experimentation of Dopes to Infinity with the slick songwriting of Powertrip, this new album overwhelms the senses with swarms of guitars, pelvis pumping grooves and swirling alien psych-rock. The high testosterone lyrics range from apocalyptic to de Sade-ish with snappers like, Children of the atom/Lets get together and die (in All Shook Out) and Its time you suck the cock of the fire god (in Kiss Of The Scorpion, which sounds like Ronnie James Dio fronting the Doors). As much as Wyndorf is a mans man, he does throw a bone with Queen Of You, which is penned from a female perspective. The nearly two-minute musical outro of My Little Friend defines Monster Magnet as excessive, indulgent and proud of it. Cliff Frantz Dark Ritual Dark Ritual (E.P.) (Independent) Imagine combining the emotions and feelings that surge through your body when listening to such disparate bands as Joy Division and Megadeth into one. This is how one might feel after a healthy dose of Dark Ritual music. This five song, self-titled regional release (these guys hail from Barrington, Illinois) is emotive, hard and yes, you guessed it very dark. Above average lead guitar, powerful rhythm guitar and rock solid bass and drumwork blend wonderfully with the hauntingly quiet and sometimes powerfully loud vocals of Dale Tippett. The first cut, Artemis, is painfully dark and thunders through speakers not unlike early works from PRONG. You know what I mean sparse yet full, soft yet loud? The best song here is Parts Feel your skin pushed against the blade/I can smell that youre still afraid... an almost gothically dark seven-plus minute epic containing remarkable musicianship. The strangest cut is the final track, Loca. Im not really giving anything away when I say, think Ricky Martin on acid. Theres a lot to like with Dark Ritual, so give these guys a shot. Their first release is a solid one. David Alan Buco OUR LADY PEACE Spiritual Machines (Columbia) Spiritual Machines arrangements are less dense and provide more of a vibe than the all-out auditory attacks of previous Our Lady Peace albums, where the bands over-instrumentation often bewildered passive listeners. Still based in strong songwriting and impressive musicianship, Our Lady Peace again delivers intricately crafted Canadian pop that most listeners either love or hate, mostly because of singer Raine Maidas uncommon falsetto outbursts. Retorting to the writings of Ray Kurzweil (who extensively preached the inevitability of mankinds takeover by machines) Raine explores the resilience of the human soul as well as the complexity of the human mind, but fails to convincingly argue his retaliatory case. With recording deadlines pressing, OLP drummer and recent beating victim Jeremy Taggart passed the baton to Pearl Jams Matt Cameron (ex-Soundgarden) for two songs (Taggarts attack had rendered his bass drum ankle temporarily fickle) and the transition is seamless. Spiritual Machines does not contain the breakthrough hit single that has eluded Our Lady Peace ever since Starseed introduced them to the industry, thus reducing the appeal of this album to those whose taste for Our Lady Peace has already been developed. Cliff Frantz DON BARON/SPIN CYCLE Self-titled (Indie) Of all the local music Ive heard in the past few years, this CD ranks among the best. The songs and musicianship are about as good as they can be, and thats giving them all the best of it. Don Barons songs are very melodic with lyrics that are humorous without getting stupid or self-conscious. Heartbreak Away, my favorite song on the CD, has a haunting beginning which develops into a grooving midsection with a very effective background vocal arrangement to put the exclamation mark at the end. Its one of those incredibly complete songs that I wish I wouldve written. Reinventing the Square is a standard rock song thats anything but standard. It rocks hard from start to finish, showcasing Barons diverse abilities as a writer. His voice gets a bit squeaky at times perhaps he should write his stuff in a lower key but all-in-all, he has a very engaging vocal style that will no doubt develop over time. The other contributors on the CD, bassist Gayle Hoyda and drummer Tony Schon, lend solid rhythmic backing, if not technically amazing, They give the songs just what they need to move and groove. Schon excels on the discs last track, Im The Type, laying down the rhythm hard and with a flair thats difficult to define but easy to identify. No Average Joe and I'm the Type are fine examples of Hoydas no-nonsense approach to her instrument. She couldve fleshed out her parts a little, but her performances from are consistently good. Lastly, with all of the musical winners on this disc, they wouldnt be nearly as good as they are without the contribution of guitarist Eric Kurutz. He can get sounds that are nasty, chunky, smooth, whatever the song calls for putting weird chords in places where one would least expect them. No Average Joe being the most obvious example and Main Event, the leadoff track another, where his use of odd chord voicings on his acoustic guitar subtly takes the songs to a totally different level. His work on Heartbreak Away is another example of adding the needed pinch of spice to make a song great. Granted, hes got good material to work with, but Im convinced that Kurutz has the abilities that could make even the most hopeless and dead song come to life. His background vocals also deserve an honorable mention. This guys a monster. Well, enough effusive praise. In a nut shell, the songs are tightly crafted, flawlessly executed, and im |