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.

The most recent video, and another Bartholomew Cubbins production, from a band that continues to amaze and captivate with their artistic originality, their vision, and talent. This is War, Mars’ third album, is due out December 8th and if this is what we have to look forward to, no wonder, all the excitement that’s been building in anticipation of the release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTMrlHHVx8A

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?

Album: Opal Hill Drive
Artist: Opal Hill Drive
Label: Independant, 2008
Reviewer: Shauna Brock

Track List:
1. Opal Hill Drive
2. Damage Done
3. The Past
4. Something’s Wrong
5. I Don’t Wanna die
6. Table for Two
7. Taking Its Toll
8. What Age Brings
9. Lil Miss Do No Wrong
10. Listening
11. Baby Blue
12. Everything

Just when you start to feel like there will never be as fantastic a time in music again as when Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles were ruling the airwaves, a small band out of Utah comes along to change everything.

Opal Hill Drive, a seven piece band consisting of Miles Crocket on piano, Doug Tolman on bass, Jason Dowdle on lead guitar, Joe Woodward on rhythm guitar, the father/daughter team of Dru Gilbert on drums and Maddy Gilbert on lead vocals, and Jeddie Duffey on lead vocals and rhythm guitar has emerged with a bang from Salt Lake City. Billing themselves as good, classic rock, it’s easy to think that they’re trying to simply capitalize on the sound so many of us cut our baby teeth on. But, take one listen at a show or to their self-titled debut CD and all of those ideas fly right out the window. Owning a sound that is obviously inspired from the classic country and rock bands of the seventies, they bring their own twist on the genre and creates a sound that is Western but hardly Country. The group brings an instant sense of the Western mentality that is shaped by high mountains, homey valleys, sweeping plains, salt deserts, and the blue collar attitude that is a part of every day life in the world West of the Rockies. Songs such as “Opal Hill Drive” and “I Don’t Want to Die” speak of daily sacrifice, hard work, and an understanding that life keeps moving even while, at times, we seem to stand completely still.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the group is the achingly haunting voice of lead vocalist Maddy Gilbert. Her smooth, clear vocals bounce beautifully off the scratchy voice of co-lead Jeddie Duffey. Maddy’s voice is daring and confident and she takes control of the songs with the same ability as her predecessors Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. She shines through on each song and despite how easy it is to get lost in a band as large as Opal Hill Drive, she carries the group with confidence on her small shoulders. And, as time goes on, it is clear her vocal skills will get even stronger.

While each song on the album is a treat for the ears, highlights definitely include “What Age Brings,” “Baby Blue,” and the heartbreaking “Table for Two.”

Over the course of the album, Opal Hill Drive proves they are as capable of beautiful guitar solos on songs such as “Damage Done” as much as they are hard rockin’ vocals on pieces like “Taking Its Toll.” And while it is easy to dismiss “local” bands, there is no question as to their passion to create quality music. The album is beautifully mastered and it is hard to believe that it is a small, independent production; it leaves questions as to the professionalism of this small, “local” band.

If this is just the beginning, I can’t wait to see what happens next.