Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours (Review:Elliott)

I've been told to give Fightstar a listen on numerous occassions. The first song of theirs I actually bothered to listen to was "Palahniuk's Laughter". Bearing in mind this was almost 3 years ago, I was pretty unimpressed. Given that my musical tastes have changed drastically since that first time, I thought it only fair to give them another listen after seeing this album uploaded by Dan.

The album gets off to a mediocre start with "99" although admittedly there was something about Charlie's voice that I quite liked. "We Apologise For Nothing" is one of the more commercial songs on the album - hence it's release as one of the singles. It's rather annoying that the song is the second song on the album as it gives Dan example with which he can say "every second track on an album is released as a single".

When I was in Belgium a week ago, I had my iPod on shuffle - something I very rarely do - and I heard the opening to "Floods". I thought to myself "ah I quite like this Muse song". I'm not sure whether I was disappointed or pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually Fightstar. Having listened to it again, it annoys me greatly as I feel that they've attempted to copy Muse. I used to be a fan of Muse but grew out of their music when introduced to bands like Radiohead, therefore I don't really enjoy the piano in "Floods" although the rest of the song is equally as average.

About halfway through "One Day Son", I hear the same Muse influence resurfacing, however, on the whole I quite enjoyed this song. The birds made the screams at the beginning of "Deathcar" catch me off guard. Very clever Fightstar. "Deathcar" gets off to such a good start and in comparison to the rest of the album, it's a lot heavier. Disappointingly, the anger and energy is lost when Charlie sporadically reverts back to singing. I would much rather the majority of the album took this angrier approach but I'm not sure it would do Charlie's pleasant singing voice any good.

Although I feel like I should enjoy "I am the message", I really don't. The lyrics on "You & I" are ridiculous: "It feels as black as the thoughts I had/When the road was as dark as my fears". Having listened to their latest single "Mercury Summer", I really can't take these lyrics seriously. The introduction to "Amaze Us" seems heavily Rage Against The Machine influenced but from then on, the song becomes boring. The rest of the album follows suit in that it does nothing to entertain me.

After only 5 minutes of listening to it, I really can't remember anything about this album that I actually enjoy. Charlie's voice is good in parts and the music is average but I just don't think there is anything about this album that really catches my attention and makes me want to hear more. I think the problem with this album is that the band have attempted to use their inspirations to force an album. It feels like Fightstar don't really have a sound and are just attempting to recreate music that they are influenced by. They don't know whether they want to be a metal band or a pop/rock band. I sincerely suggest that they look into becoming a tribute band -after deciding which band they want to copy - because the confusion in this album is insane. Either that, or they could spend a bit more time establishing their own style and stick with it - which, when it does appear on the album is below average. Is it any wonder that they attempt to reel listeners in by copying introductions of other bands?

2/5

Damien Rice - O (Review: Elliott)

I'd always thought that Damien Rice was one of those artists that Mothers listen to whilst cooking dinner for the family - a bit of background music. Having been introduced to the likes of "Jeff Buckley", "City and Colour" and "Get Cape Wear Cape Fly" I've started to have a lot of time for music that I previously wouldn't have considered listening to. Slow, melodic music coupled with a pleasant voice can be incredibly soothing and I've found that I can listen to these kinds of albums regardless of the mood I'm in.

The album opens with "Delicate", a very simple song. The title describes this song perfectly and sets the tone for what's to come."Volcano" introduces a female singer who appears on quite a few songs on the album. Something about her voice is very similar to "Regina Spektor's" and it fits the track perfectly. The violins on "The Blower's Daughter" work perfectly and the power of Rice's voice followed by the choir at around 3:30 is one of my favourite moments on the album - along with the climatic part around 3:15 into "I Remember".

There is something about Damien Rice's voice that I love. It sounds effortless and raspy but these are the reasons that I love it. The album doesn't sound overproduced and it doesn't suffer from a vocalist attempting to show-off their vocal range. It's easy to listen to and it seems to satisfy any mood. I can't think of a single fault with this album. I want to be able to say that it lacks a "happier, more upbeat" song but I know that's exactly what I don't want to hear from Damien Rice.

I'm happy that this album has completely disproved any preconceptions I'd had of Damien Rice.

5/5

Audioslave - Audioslave (Review: Elliott)

Having listened to Rage Against The Machine's self-titled album and "The Battle Of Los Angeles", I wasn't sure how the absence of Zach De La Rocha would affect this album. I started listening to Rage Against The Machine after hearing that they were announced on the Reading line-up last year and after seeing them perform live, I had the two aforementioned albums on rotation for a very long time. However, after a while - as with any other album that I play too much - I started to realise a lot of things that I really didn't enjoy. I started to realise how similar their songs sounded. Two songs into "Audioslave" and I was beginning to see the same pattern. Something about the choruses on the first two songs - in my ears - sounds similar. Nevertheless, I refused to let that stop me from listening to the album. It's probably a good job that I didn't stop listening because after listening to the album all the way through, I think I quite enjoyed it.

Obviously, there are some downfalls to the album. At points, the album falls victim to the same element that ruined the “Rage Against The Machine” albums for me. Often, choruses sound incredibly similar and I can picture Chris Cornell screaming along to the song from on top of a tower with fireworks flying everywhere (see Cochise video) As a result of this, I think the more melodic songs come as a pleasant surprise – notably “Shadow in the sun”. Chris Cornell’s voice is brilliant on the majority of the tracks but for some reason, as the album progresses, I find myself growing tired of it. This could be due to the fact that on the later, slower songs, he sounds about 50 years old. A part of me also misses the presence Zach De La Rocha. I think he added another dimension to the band along with a heap of energy in his angry lyrics.

I’ve probably been a bit harsh when talking about the “downfalls” of the album. I really did enjoy it. Tom Morello’s guitar solos are extremely entertaining – most notably around 3 minutes into “Like a stone” - and Chris Cornell’s voice is incredibly powerful at times. I’m just hoping this album has the longevity that I didn’t really get from Rage Against The Machine’s albums.

Personal highlights for me:

Gasoline

Like a stone

Shadow in the sun