Monday, April 16, 2007

Chevelle: Vena Sera (Review)

Band: Chevelle

Album: Vena Sera

Genre: Hard Rock

Year: 2007

After success in their first three albums and still ending concerts with their big single “The Red,” the hard rock group from Illinois hasn’t lost an inch of steam. Any idea that their slower singles would have an influence on their upcoming CD is immediately broken into a thousand pieces by singer/guitarist Pete Loeffler’s intoxicating riff on “Antisaint.” The CD rocks heavily throughout, taking breaks during “Saferwaters” and “I Get It,” but never losing the style that made them popular to the rock scene.

In fact, if anything the loss of Pete and Sam Loeffler’s brother Joe has helped the band, as it has gotten rid of an on-going distraction in the band (Pete and Joe’s artistic differences were worse than normal ones, since they are brothers) and provided the remaining Loeffler brothers with a full tank of angry fuel, which they used to pen hard rock anthems such as “Straight Jacket Fashion”, “Brainiac,” and “The Fad.” You can feel Pete’s anger with every scream, every banging guitar riff, every shattered Tom-Tom.

Vena Sera is most likely Chevelle’s best album to date, as it seems they have done well in getting rid of the distractions to create straightforward music that makes its point and kicks your ass while doing it.

Scoring:

Replayability: (16/20) There is a lot to find in Chevelle’s new CD. For example, you can spend hours listening to each song more than once to see if any of their lyrics rhyme (answer: no, they don’t). A lot of times, especially in the transition from the last song, “Saturday,” to the first, “Antisaint,” the rock gets to be almost repetitive, but overall it is an easy listen to get you in the mood to kick someone’s ass, or at least imagine that you could if you weren’t 6’3 and 120 pounds.

Music: (18/20) While not extremely musically challenging, Chevelle’s haunting guitar riffs and well placed instrumentals pace the song much more than the aforementioned non-rhyming lyrics. There is a lot more experimentation with guitar than would be expected with a trio, a band where the singer has to bear full guitar responsibilities. Overall, the background music is what makes the atmosphere for their songs.

Lyrics: (14/20) The lyrics…not so much. To mention it one more time, the lyrics don’t rhyme. Ever. This isn’t a deal-breaker by any means – in fact, it’s intriguing that the lyrics can grab the listener’s attention without having the easy mnemonic device of having the last syllable sound the same. However, it doesn’t save the fact that some of the lyrics do not exactly make a single bit of fucking sense. “We know him as one cell/Should've combined to save brains/How bout I teach him to crawl/lift up the head so proud” sounds good when you’re belting it out with a strong voice and shredding guitar, but when spoken it sounds like a forty-year old beatnik poet who is about to be pelted by month-old cabbage.

Completeness: (18/20) This album flows very well. Any time the rock becomes too hard (as if there’s such a thing), Pete steps in with a slow but rocking ballad that keeps the listener on his toes. Remember in High Fidelity when John Cusack’s character explains how to make the perfect mix tape? He says that it has to come out strong to grab attention, then take it up a notch, and then takes it down. This is exactly the method that Chevelle follows, and it makes for a very whole album.

Emotional Pull: (17/20) Though not invoking the same sorts of feelings as my previous review, it does draw nearly the same amount of feelings. The only difference is instead of feeling remorseful about a relationship gone bad, the listener comes away from the Chevelle CD with an urge to hit anything. It’s still a powerful feeling, but dangerous if not treated very carefully.

Total Score: 83/100

Grade: B

So Chevelle’s Vena Sera would make a B in college but a C in high school. This does nothing to take away the CD’s accomplishments, as it is the perfect CD to blare out of your truck when you’re in a foul mood. “The Fad” is a great song to listen to when you’re angry at everything representing establishment, “Antisaint” is a great song to listen to when you’re angry at an egomaniac…pretty much any song on here is great to listen to when you’re angry. Just try hard not to listen to the lyrics. You might go cross-eyed.


-Nate

Evans Blue: Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume (Review)

Ah, here it is, the debut review of the Rock Report Card. I’m sure you’re all shivering with anticipation.

Without any further introduction, let’s get into it.

Band: Evans Blue

Album: Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume

Genre: Post-Grunge Rock

Year Released: 2006

Evans Blue is a Canadian rock band whose mixture of heavy riffs and chilling vocals are reminiscent of post-grunge rock bands such as Chevelle and 10 Years. Formed in 2005, the band released their debut album, Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume, in early 2006 and hit the road with rock acts such as Flyleaf, Taproot, and 10 Years. The single “Cold (But I’m Still Here)” got enough airplay to launch it to number 4 in the rock charts, but they still have quite a way to go before being a household name in rock.

If judged by the quality of the CD, though, they belong there. From the opening riffs of “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed,” Evans Blue takes the listener on a complex and riveting journey of an abusive relationship with as many heart-warming moments as heart-breaking stories. The music does well to tell the story: as the moments in the relationship get dark and depressing, singer Kevin Matisyn switches between anger and depression in his tone. Songs such as “Quote” and “Over” well exemplify these feelings: while the speaker’s reaction to the broken relationship in “Quote” is subdued and accepting, in “Over” he shows his anger at fate for never working for him. The emotions range from song to song, yet still capture the one point that holds every song together.

The CD is not all highs, though; there are moments in the CD where it seems as if Evans Blue is struggling to maintain their own rock style, and instead seem to be imitating bands like Tool in verses of “Stop and Say You Love Me.” The harmony of Matisyn’s voice is part of what gives the band its power; however, in songs such as “Stop” and “Over,” his creepy spoken words are too much like Maynard James Keenan and end up just falling short in comparison.

This is but a minor flaw, and presented against the many good things about this CD do little to harm its score. Overall, Evans Blue has put out a great CD that gives fans of hard rock an excuse to cry about their bad relationships.

Scoring:

Replayability: (17/20) There are many songs on Melody, such as “Quote,” “Eclipse,” and the Sarah McLachlan cover “Possession,” that have many nooks and crannies to it that are not revealed upon the first listen. In fact, it took me many times of listening over the CD to realize that “Stop and Say You Love Me” and “Quote” are connected by almost the same lyrics, giving both songs deeper meaning.

Music: (15/20) The music of Evans Blue is mostly lyrically driven: the words and feelings of the song push it forward more than the guitar and drums. However, the former drummer Darryl Brown does an admirable job of keeping the songs tight, and the lead guitar is solid if not unremarkable. The guitar intro to “Dark That Follows,” is haunting, and the lead guitar riff in the single “Cold” is important to the song’s desperate flow.

Lyrics: (18/20) It is with the song lyrics that Evans Blue really shines. Songwriter Matisyn covers both of my requirements for lyrics, writing both artistic and accessible songs. It is evident that the band members are intelligent; their website description of themselves seems to come out of a Chuck Palahnuk story. As far as songs go, lyrics such as “She’s holding out for weapons to kill the ghosts inside/Or at least kill the thoughts she has of killing her mind” are poignant and touching, while the simple “Will it change your life if I change my mind?” states a straightforward but strong message.

Completeness: (15/20) It can be argued that Melody is a concept album, written from start to finish with one central idea, that of a bad relationship. Therefore, the long story should flow easily from chapter to chapter, song to song, without any major breaks or changes in quality. Unfortunately, that’s not the way CDs work most of the time. While there are many powerful tracks that blend into each other such as the transition of “Beg,” “Over,” and “Possession,” a few of the later tracks aren’t strong enough to keep the transition going.

Emotional Pull: (19/20) I’m sure it will be a staple that CDs with higher scores in lyrics and music will result in a higher emotional pull, as they are connected. It is true in Evans Blue’s case, at least. The strong feelings are impossible to avoid in their heavier songs such as “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed,” and “Possession,” and “Quote” is continually mentioned in this review because it is one of the strongest songs in emotional content that I’ve heard in recent years.

Total Score: 84/100

Grade: B

Verdict: Evans Blue’s Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume gets a solid B for its efforts, and it is in my first review where I see a tiny flaw in my grading system. A B, while being an admirable grade, can bring up feelings of merely adequacy; that a B CD (heh) is not worth listening to. However, a B in the Rock Report Card is a very strong grade; Evans Blue’s harmonies and feeling-inducing lyrics are well worth the listen, even well worth the buy. This group from Toronto is intelligent and knows how to make moving music; if they continue their strong style, it won’t be long before they are a well known name in rock.


Next CD Review:

Band: Chevelle
CD: Vena Sera


-Nate

The Rock Report Card Introduction

Welcome to the Rock Report Card! I’m Nate and I’ll be your guide during this magical musical tour, a place where you’ll find the reviews and rants about bands and CDs you’re interested in. I’ll be reviewing old music, new music, and any kind of music that comes my way. No genre is safe from my nitpicking: I’ll focus on rock, rap, country, and whatever subcategories arise (the name is simply there because alliteration is cool).

The CDs I review will be graded much like tests, and I will be serving as the ornery sixty-year old teacher who judges harshly because she’s ashamed of her pathetic personal life. I will grade each CD on five categories, equally worth 20 points a piece. The categories are as follows:

1.) Replayability: Although the Microsoft Word spellcheck does not accept replayability as a word (although I’m not putting too much stock in that, as it doesn’t accept spellcheck either), it will be used here to represent the ability of a CD to endure continuous playing without becoming boring. A CD that can stay in your player for weeks without tiring itself out will get a high score, whereas a CD that stayed in your player for about five minutes before you yanked it out and hid it under the futon, never to be heard again, will get the lowest rating.

2.) Music: Yes, this is all music. What this category is referring to is the actual music of the record: the guitar, the drums, the cowbell, everything. Music that grabs the listener’s attention and instills good feelings will get a higher score while music that either sounds uninspired or untalented will get a lower score. Note that this does not mean there has to be blazing guitar riffs on every song or a stomach-splitting four minute drum solo; it just has to be music that sets the tone of the song well.

3.) Lyrics: As important as the music, the lyrics sang or said have the power to change someone’s life. They also have the power to deplete a person’s IQ points. The key to this rating is two-part: a CD can get a high score in this category if it is filled with artistic and flowing lyrics that are poetically charged with deep meaning and significance, or it can also get a high score if it has simple and accessible, yet effective lyrics. An example of this would be the song “Something I Can Never Have,” where Trent Reznor’s simple repetition of “You make this all go away/I’m down to just one thing/And I’m starting to scare myself,” may not have made Shakespeare proud, but it does drive the song’s point and wonderfully illustrates the song’s struggle. Simple is not always good, however, and lyrics like “You make me blue/what can I do/I miss you/Oooh baby oooh” will get a considerably lower rating.

4.) Completeness: This category is a reflection on the album as a whole rather than a collection of ten to fourteen songs. A well-made CD has the power to take the listener on a ride for almost an hour, using each track as the next stop on the trip and in the process creating one whole product. The biggest sign of a complete CD is simply that you don’t find yourself skipping any of the tracks after listening to it a few times. You may have favorite songs on the CD, but it is the songs that aren’t your favorite that help earn the completeness rating.

5.) Emotional Pull: This is the way that the CD plays with your emotions and makes you feel for each song. A CD with a powerful emotional pull will leave the listener feeling different after listening to it: this is part of what I meant when I said that lyrics have the power to change someone’s life. The CD, if the lyrics and music are done correctly, can alter a person’s view on music and other things. A lower score in this category would indicate that the listener heard the CD and came away from it without a single thought except for “Hey, is 24 on yet? Jack Bauer is soooo cool.”

So, after these five categories have been graded and tallied up, the total of the five will make the final score, which for those of you who have been out of school for awhile means it will be rated out of 100. Then I will take the score, slap a college grade on it, and publish it for you wonderful people to see so you know what CD’s are worth hearing.

Now, as for anything of this nature, it is necessary to make a disclaimer regarding my opinions and views. They are my own, and just because I find a CD great or atrocious does not necessarily mean that anyone else will find them as such. However, this is my report card, these are my rules, and these are my grades. And since I’m something of a smart guy who knows his stuff, I suggest you take my suggestions.

I am open to making reviews on CDs or bands by request: just shoot me an email at rockreportcard@hotmail.com, and I’ll put one up whenever I get around to listening to the CD and forming my opinions. I am going to start this site by reviewing some bands that may not have the spotlight shined so directly on them and then branch out to whatever CD I’ve heard that I want to comment on. This is all subject to change, of course, but for now you’ll just have to wait until my first review comes out.

Band: Evans Blue

CD: The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume