March 2009 - Muzikal Mafia

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Muzikal Mafia - March 2009

The Fray - The Fray Album Review

March 17th 2009 02:31

Release date: Februrary 3, 2009

Genre: Alternative rock, Indie rock

Length: 43:25

Label: Epic

Launched to stardom with their hit-single “How To Save A Life” in 2005, The Fray are back four years later with their self-titled sophomore effort. The album continues in the path of “How To Save A Life” - mostly piano-driven songs perfect for radio airplay. Read on for the full review of The Fray.

Syndicate picks up where “How To Save A Life” left off with an upbeat piano ballad. The song is better than I expected. It sounds like a low-budget cross between X&Y-era Coldplay and Lifehouse.

Absolute is one of the few guitar-driven songs of the album. It reminded me of the Backstreet Boys' latest album Unbreakable. The two songs so far have been pretty good. I found myself humming the chorus of this one at first listen which is pretty rare for me to do.

You Found Me is another piano-driven song. Here you really find the formulaic structure present in successful pop songs: a quiet intro featuring the singer and the lead instrument, the full band kicking in on the second verse, a chorus where every final words are repeated twice (“Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me” / “Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded”) and an instrumental breakdown after the third verse. The chorus is catchy enough to make it a guaranteed hit. (At the time I wrote this review, I didn't know that “You Found Me” had made the Top 5).

The Fray - You Found Me (official video)
by thefray

Say When is a very revealing song in my opinion because the quiet instrumental really exposes Isaac Slade's voice which isn't that great in the first place especially when he sings in a deep/raspy voice. The poor singing continues in Never Say Never but the instrumental hides it better.

Never Say Never is another piece of regular pop-fare. I wouldn't be surprised if the chorus ended up on Grey's Anatomy - or some other TV show/movie targeting the same audience - with its repeated line “Don't let me go.” The guitar solo redeems the song's commercial pop sound. This track reminds me of Yellowcard's “City Of Devils.” The songs sound nothing alike yet I can't keep the connection out of my head.

Never Say Never Video

On Where The Story Ends, I couldn't even make out what Isaac was singing in the opening lines. It felt like he was mumbling instead of singing. It gets better after a couple of listens. The piano melody is nice and upbeat.

Enough For Now also has a nice piano melody albeit slower. It's a beautiful song, probably the best-written track of the album.

Ungodly Hour is sung by guitarist Joe King instead of Isaac. His voice is a lot “cleaner” than Isaac's and fits well with the quiet tone of this song. Again, the piano melody is quite good.

After three quiet piano-driven pieces, the presence of a synthesizer on We Build Then We Break feels out of place. It sounds like they wanted to go big and sound more edgy on this song, but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the album.

The album ends with Happiness, an acoustic guitar-driven song. This is the kind of song where you can't help but compare The Fray to Lifehouse and realize that they're just a cheap knockoff. The lyrics are okay, the melody is good, but I just kept wondering how Jason Wade's voice could lift this track up.

In the end, The Fray is a good album. However, when listening to it, there's that sense that you've heard it all before whether it's by Coldplay, Lifehouse, Yellowcard (especially the Lights And Sounds album); heck even one-hit wonder band The Calling had similar songs. It's a radio-friendly pop-rock record that doesn't try to go the extra-mile – they just stick to what they know. Hopefully, it's a just a stage in the band's maturation process. Right now, they sound like a cheap version of all the bands I've previously listed, but I can see something there, something very promising. My final verdict: 3.5/5

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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: Rock

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Blast From The Past Vol.6 – Part I: Metallica – Master Of Puppets Album Review

March 3rd 2009 05:34

It's been awhile since I posted something on this site. December and January are usually slow months in the music industry, and the few newly-released albums I had the time to listen to just didn't warrant a review from me especially when all of their tracks sounded the same and didn't appeal much to me. (I'm looking at you Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, and Hoobastank). I just couldn't get into any of these albums. So I've decided to make a fresh start with the sixth edition of Blast From The Past. March turned out to be a good month since Metallica's Master Of Puppets dropped this month. Since they're one of my favorite bands, I didn't need to look far for the motivation to write. I still don't know which album will be Part II. Right now, it's a toss-up between U2's Pop, Foreigner's self-titled album, and Nine Inch Nails' The Downwad Spiral. Alain should be working on a Part III, but I don't know what he's going to do - if he's doing anything at all. So, without further ado, here's Part I.

Release date: March 3, 1986

Genre: Thrash Metal

Length: 54:50

Label: Elektra

Released more thant twenty years ago, Metallica's Master Of Puppets is considered a classic of the heavy metal genre. The album has gone on to sell more than six million copies in the U.S. alone, and the band considers it their masterpiece. Read on to hear my thoughts on this record.

The album starts off with a bang with the high-tempo Battery which picks up where Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning left off. The track feels harmless enough from the guitars' slow and melodic opening notes. At the one-minute mark however, both guitars and the drums hit a frenetic pace and never look back. Hetfield's singing brings even more punch to a song that's already banging, and two fast-paced solos towards the end raise up the ante as you're left wanting for more.

The title-track, Master Of Puppets, keeps the album going. Here, the guitars aren't as fast-paced as in Battery but Lars' drumming hides that fact very well. Where Battery has more of a frenetic, all-hell-is-breaking-loose pace, Master Of Puppets' production is a lot tighter and well-structured as evidenced by the two solos – one slow and a fast one. Looking back, I have the feeling that this track is what Metallica were trying to recapture when making St. Anger – good drumming, good guitars and lyrics. Unfortunately for them, it simply didn't work.

The Thing That Should Not Be opens with a Western-like guitar. This song is another example of excellent structure. The way the guitars and drums build up every two lines in the verses is great. Then in the chorus, the guitars follow Hetfield's voice before returning to their original pattern (if you can call it that). Solid track all around.

Out of all the songs in Master Of Puppets, Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is the song that gets the heaviest airplay, and you can't really blame the radio stations for it. The song is simply perfect. It's a slow song that gives you time to appreciate the guitars and really listen to the lyrics, which, in the first degree is about life in a sanitarium, but evoke really well the feeling of being trapped and alienated.

Disposable Heroes opens where Welcome Home (Sanitarium) ends. Since the latter concluded with a high-tempo finish, Disposable Heroes comes in fast and furious and never stops. Lars' drumming is the most impressive in this song dealing with the use of soldiers as disposable heroes, hence the name of the song.

Lars continues his great work on Leper Messiah, a track that is not as slow as Welcome Home and not as fast as Disposable Heroes except towards the end. It sounds mostly like Master Of Puppets with a tight production all around. The guitars have a nice pattern (there's also a great solo). That combined with the drumming and Hetfield's monosyllabic shouts will have you headbanging 'til the end of the song.

The second to last track, Orion, is a eight-minute instrumental split in three parts. The first and third parts are basically as the guitars' riff is the same, but the second part has a blues-like sound that makes you want to close you eyes and enjoy. The smooth bassline helps to achieve that effect, and the third part comes just at the right time to put the guitars in the forefront once again.

Master Of Puppets ends the same way it began with Damage, Inc.'s frenetic pace matching Battery's high-tempo. You can feel the rage Hetfield pours into his singing. Like in The Thing That Should Not Be, the intstrumental follows James' voice during the chorus but keeps up a insane rhythm the rest of the time. Battery was a great way to start the album, and Damage Inc. just brings it all full circle – a great conclusion to a great album.

Unlike the post-Justice For All albums (excluding Death Magnetic that I found great), Master Of Puppets has no hits-and-misses, it's simply perfect. I want to find something that will stop me from saying that it's flawless but I just can't. No having this masterpiece in your collection should be considered blasphemous especially if you're a metal fan. As someone who embraces all types of music, I think that non-metal lovers don't know what they're missing. They only hear noise. I hear great guitar riffs, excellent drumming, great lyrics, but mostly, I feel something. Whether it's rage, sadness, or loneliness, James Hetfield knows how to pull you in with his voice. And isn't this the goal of music? To make you feel? Master Of Puppets gets the perfect score from me. 10/10.

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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: Rock

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