Better than good
Posted January 16, 2010
By alandmuse,
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.) View All Music And Book Reviews By alandmuse | View alandmuse's Profile
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