Stories
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Addison Road Addison Road has reportedly endured their share of hardships over the past year. That they are persevering and turn in a sophomore album is a testament to their commitment to expressing their collective...
Disappearing World
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Fair I missed the first Fair release, but have been familiar with and impressed by Aaron Sprinkle's prodigious production output over the past several years. It's great to hear him put even more of himself...
The Good Album
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All Star United I've kind of gone back and forth with ASU from their first release in 1997 - they're occasionally guilty of creating tunes that can be described as "competently catchy", but which ultimately are rendered...
Poppier than their debut, but very listenable | Posted June-22-2010
Addison Road has reportedly endured their share of hardships over the past year. That they are persevering and turn in a sophomore album is a testament to their commitment to expressing their collective walk in Christ through their music, so I give them kudos for that in itself.
I was very impressed by their debut and while I find the new release to be a bit poppier and perhaps a tad more generic as a result, it is also a bit more diverse. It consistently shows solid musicianship and an ability to deliver a good hook. Highlights include Won't Let Me Go, Don't Wait, Show Me Life and Where It All Begins.
Another Sprinkle of Magic | Posted February-02-2010
I missed the first Fair release, but have been familiar with and impressed by Aaron Sprinkle's prodigious production output over the past several years. It's great to hear him put even more of himself on the canvas, along with his bandmates in Fair. If pressed to describe the sound, I'd describe it as MuteMath-meets-10CC. Don't ask me why but this CD sounds "British" to me - echoes of ELO, Alan Parsons, etc. The emphasis on keyboards gives the tunes a certain breeziness and distinctiveness that eludes so many guitar-based bands. Sprinkle demonstrated his ability to elevate already-great songs with interesting keyboard textures on Capital Lights' (R.I.P.) last release, and continues to do so on this album. Well done!
Better than good | Posted January-16-2010
I've kind of gone back and forth with ASU from their first release in 1997 - they're occasionally guilty of creating tunes that can be described as "competently catchy", but which ultimately are rendered forgettable by familiar Beatle-esque arrangement devices and homogeneous production. That said, The Good Album is one of the band's stronger efforts, with tunes that spread more broadly across the palette with melodies that are, while still eminently catchy, a bit more muscular and distinctive than standard fare. (There are a couple occasions where Ian Eskelin connects sly references to melodic and lyrical forebears, such as Gary Wright's Mt Love Is Alive and Poison's Nothin' But a Good Time.) Highlights for me include Dude, That's Freaking Awesome and Pretty Famous (which has echoes of the groups first big hit, La La Land), featuring Ian Eskelin's trademark wry, sarcastic humor, as well as Once Again With Feeling, I'm a Killer and The Blame. (The use of a euphemistic vulgarity by the Christian band may be understandably be seen by some as questionable, but, as the song in which it is used ultimately is skewering the slacker/partier lifestyle, the use of such vulgarity is itself satirized, so I can forgive it; it is, however, unfortunate that the its use is so dang singalong-able.)
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