Collective Soul - Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid

This is the sound of a band trying to find their sound. This album has everything on it: (sampled?) hand claps, organ, symphonic instrumental interlude, faux-punk, acoustic track, and a few radio-friendly generic rock songs just for good measure. Oddly enough, despite all this effort, I don't think it sounds a thing like their follow-up album (although, that'll be another review, for another day).

But, before I go running off to the next album, let's have a bit of a look at this, the debut release from Collective Soul. There were, as I remember it, two "big" singles from this album: Shine and Breathe. Nearly twenty years later, the first song doesn't hold up as well as the other one, although I still take notice of the 'extended' solo included on the album that was always cut-out for radio play. Generally speaking, because of the constant mix of sounds and styles on the album, it feels very choppy as you listen through it.

According to Wikipedia, this album was actually a set of demos that the record label rushed into production to capitalize on the band's sound at the time, which would seem to make some sense given the varied nature of the songs. Whatever the case, listening to the album now, it sounds like very generic mainstream rock with a few, often too short, guitar solos thrown in for good measure.

As of today, the band is still touring and has released eleven albums in total (nine studio albums, one live album and a greatest hits package); their most recent release is their second(?) self-titled album.

Recommended track(s):	Love Lifted Me; Breathe
Worth another listen?	No.
Overall rating:	Two Stars

Snow Patrol - Final Straw

This was the first album I heard/bought from the Irish band Snow Patrol. Of course, the follow-up album included the international smash hit Chasing Cars, but it was the singles from this album that first caught my ear.

However, the singles seem to be the only good part of this album on this re-listen. The first four tracks on the disc were bland, comprised of pop-rock cliches and I really couldn't tell where one ended or the next began.  Then, the a trio of tracks that caught my ear arrived (see "Recommended track(s)" below).  And then the rest of the album felt tired and unimaginative again, to the point where I kept looking at my iPod to see how many tracks were left in the album.

The singles were okay, but nothing spectacular. Any comparisons to Coldplay or other UK/Irish bands don't jump out at me on this re-listen. It was very much a stereotypical pop-rock album which sounded a touch over-produced and lacked any sort of energy, as if this was the one hundredth time they'd played these tracks in the studio.  I don't know what I heard to make me think I should give this album another listen, but this might have been it's last listen from me; I'll have to see sometime if their follow-up was any better.

Recommended track(s):	Spitting Games; Chocolate; Run
Worth another listen?	~Maybe
Overall rating:	Two-and-a-Half Stars

Damien Rice - 9

This is an album/artist that I was introduced to via the TV show, Live at Abbey Road.  In season one, Damien Rice performed a few tracks from this, his second album.  Rice was, as I remember it, the "it singer-songwriter" when his first album, O, was released, although to be fair to this review, I neither have it or am familiar with it.

My inital reaction to this album on this listen was that it's almost too sparce in places.  Almost like a grunge-styled folk album, there are really, really quiet parts followed by really, almost explosive loud parts.  The comparisons to other folk artists like Ray LaMontagne and Nick Drake are obvious, but someone I think they do it better... or, at least more consistantly.

I think that was really my issue with the album: it seemed to lack some sort of flow for me.  The changes in LOUD and soft were, at times, too dramatic for me.  There are certainly some solid singles/tracks on the disc, but as a whole it doesn't seem to work.

Listening again, I now realize how infrequently the female vocalist, Lisa Hannigan, is featured.  On the Abbey Road show, she sung on each of the three tracks they performed, but (on this album, at least) she's only used a handful of times.  It might well have been her presence, or the interaction between the two voices, that really made the songs stand-out for me initially.  That said, in looking up Lisa's name for this post, I realize that she's gone on to do some solo work; her most recent album was even nominated for a Mercury Prize.

So, it's not a great album in the folk-rock, singer-songwriter genre in my mind, but there are some choice cuts here.

Recommended track(s):	9 Crimes, Dogs, Grey Room
Worth another listen?	~Maybe
Overall rating:	Two-and-a-Half Stars

Barenaked Ladies - Rock Spectacle

I don't plan to review multiple albums from the same band, back-to-back, very often, but I'm not making any rules against doing so either. So, as a follow-up to yesterday's review, here is one for the Barenaked Ladies only live (non-bootleg, digital, legal or otherwise) album.

This album really disappointed me. It's one that I remember really enjoying and listening to over and over again. I was very excited to have put this in the CD player, especially after enjoying Stunt the day before. These live versions seem really restrained and clunky; they don't have a lot of life in them and seem to be heavy on the psudo- acoustic side of things. I've seen BNL in concert a few times -- including once in my high school gymnasium after the school had won the concert as a part of some milk promotion -- and they're usually very upbeat, involved, high-energy affairs. This album captures none of that, until about the last two or three tracks. Maybe.

I also don't understand the almost total lack or between song banter on the disc. The Ladies, especially at this point in their career, were known for on-stage improvisation and humourous commentary between the band, between songs. The only time this does appear on the album is, oddly enough, at the very end, after the last song. This is extra weird/annoying because, during their If I Had a $1000000 performance, they make reference to this stage banter... but you have no idea what it's all about until after the song is over!

For a band with such a great stage presence and upbeat catalogue of music, this album didn't do them justice.

Recommended track(s):	Life, in a Nutshell
Worth another listen?	No.
Overall rating:	Two-and-a-Half Stars