Pageant's

Album: Set The World On Fire
Artist: Black Veil Brides
Label: Lava Records
Released: June, 2011
Produced by: Josh Abraham
Reviewer: Kialynne Wood

Sites:
www.bvbarmy.com
www.facebook.com/Blackveilbrides
twitter.com/officialbvb
www.myspace.com/blackveilbrides
www.youtube.com/user/BlackVeilBridestv
www.myspace.com/blackveilbrides

Track Listing:

1. New Religion
2. Set The World On Fire
3. Fallen Angels
4. Love Isn’t Always Fair
5. God Bless You
6. Rebel Love Song
7. Saviour
8. The Legacy
9. Die For You
10. Ritual
11. Youth and Whiskey
12. Smoke and Mirrors

Black Veil Brides seem to tow the line between carbon copy and latest craze. Listening to Set The World On Fire, the skyrocketing band’s second signed release in just a year and a half, the average listener will probably hear the band’s influences clearly: Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, etc… But they might also have that awful deja vu, where some songs seem to have taken riffs from pre-existing hits to give them an “edge”.

That being said, the album is wonderfully mastered and it is great return to the roots of their genre, with the heavy metal sounds and strong guitar focus without the modern overuse of ‘screaming’ and synthesising. For such a young band, they have an excellent handle on what makes an anthem and they use multiple ideas per track, building each one up so it cannot be identified by just one aspect, each sound becoming part of something bigger. As far as anthems do go, ‘STWOF’ doesn’t seem to feature one stand out track, but each piece itself has a rock-out quality, as all rock albums should. Only “Love Isn’t Always Fair” and “Ritual” seem to get caught up in the mix for me, not particularly memorable tracks in regard to the excitement of the listening experience they create.

The most gentle of the tracks, the inspirational “Saviour”, is a mix of perfoming media that highlights the new and old in classic “metal ballad” style. The track makes the best of lead singer Andy Biersack’s husky tones in contrast to the somber, yet sweet, orchestral backing. Then, turning everything on its head, the full band tunes in with chomping guitars, screaming and a hidden anger that’s lingering below the surface. A nice mixture of genre, style and conflicting messages that creates a memorable – if not slightly generic – song. But we all love the metal ballad in the breather it gives any album, a chance to reflect and remember that even hard-rocking metalers have their soft side, and “Saviour” plays that perfect part.

Over all, Set The World On Fire is a terrific album, and an excellent second effort by Black Veil Brides. It’s accessible to fans both old and new and can be seen as a bridge between what rock used to be and what it has become today.

Album: Vices and Virtues
Artist: Panic! At the Disco
Label: Fueled by Ramen
Released: March, 2011
Produced by: John Feldman & Butch Walker
Reviewer: Kialynne Wood

Sites:
www.panicatthedisco.com
www.facebook.com/panicatthedisco
http://twitter.com/#!/panicatthedisco
www.youtube.com/panicatthedisco
http://www.myspace.com/panicatthedisco

Track Listing

1. The Ballad of Mona Lisa
2. Let’s Kill Tonight
3. Hurricane
4. Memories
5. Trade Mistakes
6. Ready to Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)
7. Always
8. The Caledar
9. Sarah Smiles
10. Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met…)

Vices and Virtues is the latest release by alternative pop band Panic! At the Disco. The return of their infamous exclamation mark is paired with a return to their electronic roots, after the folksy deviation of their second album (Pretty Odd). The album features upbeat hits such as their first single “Mona Lisa” and the second, the sweet “Ready to Go”, along with some rebellious tracks, and a love song for singer Brendon Urie’s girlfriend.

The band’s line up changed with the departure of bassist Jon Walker and lyricist/guitarist Ryan Ross last year and with them goes any Beatles knock offs, and some of the catchier lyrics, but the departure has allowed for more reflection from the two remaining members.

An added treat for any avid Fall Out Boy fans, and also a spunky pop song for any newcomers, is the final track on the album, Nearly Witches. This is a remix of a demo released in 2008 for Fall Out Boy’s Welcome to the New Administration mixtape, as part of a viral campaign for their fans. Panic! released the steampunk-inspired track as an unfinished, catchy hit and it has now been recreated into a pop piece which includes brighter lyrics, and a feature for the Los Angeles Childrens’ Choir.

While a tad disjointed, the album is a fun affair from start to finish. It doesn’t seem possible to listen to Vices and Virtues without ending up with at least one of the tracks swimming around in your head.

Title: Life In-Between
Band: Royal Bliss, www.myspace.com/royalbliss
Record Label: Capitol, 2009
Reviewer: Shauna Brock

Track Listing:

1. 1.       Save Me
2. 2.       Here They Come
3. 3.       Devils & Angels
4. 4.       Pocket of Dreams
5. 5.       Finally Figured Out
6. 6.       We Did Nothing Wrong
7. 7.       By & By
8. 8.       Wash it All Away
9. 9.       Whiskey
10. 10.   Fancy Things
11. 11.   I Don’t Mind
12. 12.   I Was Drunk

The words “all American drinking band” and “Salt Lake City” don’t seem like they should go well together, yet Royal Bliss is taking pride in breaking down that stereotype and bringing their brand of Rock and Roll to the streets of America with their major label debut, <i>Life In-Between</i>.  It’s an appropriate name for an album from a band that hails from a city where everything seems to exist in a gray area between the way the local culture is actually structured and how the rest of the world perceives it.

Well known in the Salt Lake City scene, Royal Bliss has spent the past ten years refining their often mottled sound into a clear, American blues-rock style. As a result of their hard work, they bring a maturity to their national scene debut that many bands lack.  <i>Life In-Between</i> offers up already well-loved songs and also introduces the band to America as a group of men who know what it is to be husbands and parents, and who know what it takes to survive in a culture where being different often brings about a feeling that life really is nothing but an in-between state where you can do no right yet so often, you do no wrong.

The collection of twelve songs on <i>Life In-Between</i> includes two re-mastered treasures from their last independent release, <i>After the Chaos II</i>, “Here They Come” and “Devils & Angels.” The songs, which were the ones to catch the attention of the national labels, are favorites of fans. “Here They Come” is a blatant commentary on non-Mormon life in Salt Lake while “Devils and Angels” pleads the argument between a life of addiction or a life with stability and a person to love.

The new songs, some of which have been sung at different shows throughout the course of the past ten years, give the quintet a chance to stretch their musical muscles and for Neal Middleton to show off the range (and the scream) that will soon become one of the most well known in rock music. Middleton is backed by the vocals of guitarists Taylor Richards and Chris Harding, bassist Tommy Mortensen, and Jake Smith on drums.

Middleton’s voice lends credence to the songs on the album – there is a childlike innocence in his vocals that makes you believe in the promises uttered in tracks like “By and By” (which is a promise to eternal friendship) and “Pocket of Dreams” (which is as much about achieving our own dreams as hoping that our children will achieve theirs). Yet, in the same breath, he brings an authentic air of “been there, done that, and burned the t-shirt” to harder tunes like “Save Me,” “Wash it All Away,” and “Whiskey.”

However, the standouts on the album are the powerful “We Did Nothing Wrong,” a mid-tempo piece that speaks quite clearly to a generation that is misunderstood and yet often blamed for a world they did not create. And, the bittersweet coming of age drinking ballad “I Was Drunk” that details fond memories of a life out of control and a reminder that just because we grow up, the party doesn’t have to end.

The growth of the band has been charted in Salt Lake through local radio stations and packed bars and is as mixed and interesting as this collection of songs.  Despite a couple of lineup changes, an accident that almost killed Middleton, poor early-on management, and the toughness of the music business, with <i>Life In-Between</i>, Royal Bliss shows the world they are ready for the next stage of success and that there is more to Utah than the LDS Church and Sundance.

Album: Bright Nights Dark Days
Band: Cavo
Label: Reprise Records, 2009
Reviewer: Shauna Brock

Track Listing:
01 Champagne
02 Crash
03 Let It Go
04 Cry Wolf
05 Ghost
06 Blame
07 My Little Secret
08 Beautiful
09 We All Fall Down
10 Over Again
11 Useless

If Matchbox Twenty and Rev Theory had a baby, they would name it Cavo. It would be a baby with a “Been there, done that, rebelled in high school” edge to its clear tenor voice, a strong (if slightly predictable) rhythm section, and original spins on guitar licks we’ve all heard a million times since Jimmy Page changed the face of music.

I wish I could say something bad about Bright Nights Dark Days, Cavo’s major-label debut album. I want to say something terrible. I can’t. I want to comment on how on first listen it feels interchangeable with the countless other bands that are taking over radio at the moment. I want to mention that it suffers from the same over-processed track layering that affects all radio-ready bands. I should point out that Cavo will be just as comfortable on alternative stations as they will rock and even mainstream stations, but all of that comes back to why I can’t say anything bad about this album. Why? Because there is something about how Cavo delivers the goods that makes the whole package work.

The truth? Bright Nights Dark Days is the very definition of mainstream rock. There is nothing overly poetic about any of the lyrics, and the musicianship is solid, but average. But that’s okay. Cavo is not trying to be anything they aren’t. They are not seeking to take over the world with blow-your-mind lyrics or crazy instrumentals. They are four dudes who clearly love to get together and play and what comes out of their work together is good and comfortable.

From the opening song, “Champagne”, through to the end of the CD, there isn’t any song that isn’t worth at least a repeat listen. Lead singer Casey Walker brings a tainted innocence to each song, so much so that his voice alone makes them an interesting listen. In addition, I think it helps that it is clear that Cavo is not a group of eighteen year old kids who managed to land a good break. In the liner notes, they are thankful of their wives, their kids, and the path that brought them to their place in the world.

Not all songs on the album are written by Cavo and the ones that aren’t are the weaker songs. Again, proof that musicians do best when they are able to explore their own style and not be forced into a mold meant for others. Standouts on the album are the first single, “Champagne,” along with the touching “Let it Go,” and the haunting “Cry Wolf.” But even though those songs come early on the album, the closers Over Again and Useless are as strong as the rest of the collection.

So it is worth it? Every last penny. If this is the first step Cavo is showing the world, then the rest of the journey is going to be a lot of fun. Personally, I am looking forward to it.

Album: Leave This Town
Artist: Daughtry
Label: RCA, 2009
Reviewer: Shauna Brock

Track Listing:
01 You Don’t Belong
02 No Surprise
03 Every Time You Turn Around
04 Life After You
05 What I Meant to Say
06 Open Up Your Eyes
07 September
08 Ghost of Me
09 Learn My Lesson
10 Supernatural
11 Tennessee Line
12 Call Your Name

The important thing with music is that it connects to the listener – no matter the reason. Whether it’s because that instrumental moment takes you, soaring, above the clouds, or because that one lyric touches you deep in your soul and sends shivers up and down your spine. There’s no accounting for what moves people. For some, the music means as much as the image and so they scream and cry over the Jonas Brothers and the like. For others, they only care about the lyrics and they pretend they are too damn cool to let it be known that internally, they react like those fangirls who scream and cry. For those people, those people who are too cool to admit to the Hinder and Fall Out Boy albums they have on their ipods, may I suggest an album for you to wave proudly: Daughtry’s Leave This Town.

I wasn’t paying attention, really. It was a Daughtry album. I thought I knew what to expect. And then, exactly halfway through, one single moment in the song “Open Up Your Eyes” caught me completely off guard and I leapt, reaching for the liner notes to read along with the lyrics. I can’t tell you that moment. I wish I could. But it was then that I realized this was more than a simple followup to the more than adequate debut from the former American Idol contestant and the guys he keeps around him as a band.

Leave This Town is exactly what you want from a sophomore album. The song structure is very familiar and wanders little from what Daughtry has already established as a style, there is clear growth in the band; lyrics are deeper and the music composition is stronger. Daughtry’s voice, which at times on the first album is thin and almost tinny comes across full blooded and is as able to rock with classic melodies as it is able to croon and break your heart.

The album is a bit of a roller coaster of talent and style and as with the debut album, there are guest musicians. This time around Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and country music star Vince Gill make appearances in the writing and singing credits. This is a slight letdown from the kickass appearances from Slash and Brent Smith (Shinedown) on the first record. The album also doesn’t really pick up until song four: “Life After You.” The first song, “You Don’t Belong,” will make any hard rock fan happy, but the two that follow are good, forgettable radio hits. But by “Life After You,” the album finds its way.

It isn’t the music that drives Leave This Town. Instead, it is the goose-bump-raising way that Chris Daughtry delivers the heart wrenching lyrics. His one-too-many-whiskey’s voice, which feels to be so much better suited for harder rocking riffs, rings out loudly across ballads such as “September” and “Tennessee Line.” Songs such as “Open Up Your Eyes” that start out slow but quickly build to a pounding beat, prove that Chris has one of the strongest ranges in rock music right now and as a result, the whole package of the band comes together beautifully.

If there is any true criticism for Daughtry it is that they are perhaps a bit too radio-ready and it actually is a bit disconcerting. Whether that is a record company decision or one made by the band is unclear. As with the first album, there are multiple moments when it feels that songs should push further than what is presented. These are the very songs that are safe and comfortable and will race straight to the top of mainstream radio charts while the best songs on the album are left for those who still buy whole album packages instead of just downloading the hits off itunes. For five guys who look like they’d be comfortable at the bottom of a mosh pit, they seem to back away from the risks that could give them true respect in the rock world. Those criticisms do not stop Leave This Town from being a moving, powerful album. Even though it is a bit heavy on the instrumental layering, the focus is on the lyrics, as it should be. So my only question is: what next, boys?