Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Sleeping - What it Takes...

I need to start off by saying, the whole time this album was in production and they were writing/in the studio, I was very excited. I was a huge fan of Questions and Answers, so needless to say I was greatly anticipating what The Sleeping's new album would contain.

My hopes had been supported by an amazing single release on their myspace. "Bomb the World" kept the band in check with a sound resembling Question and Answers with a little new punch to it with a little more keys involved in the song. The frenetic pace of the drums and the calm vocals at the beginning, turning into more and more power as the song continued gave me hope for the rest of the album.

So needless to say when the album was released, I was eager to give it a listen. My first impression with the first track was, I was in for a bit of of a ride. The keys were still a major part of the song (as I could tell they may have been more involved from the single they had released on myspace). However, as the tracks played on, I noticed that the keys seemed to have take predominance over the strings.

It sounds like the rhythm started to come from the keys instead of the strings, a concept in which I was not entirely going to give the cold shoulder to, after all, I am all for innovation and experimenting. However, as the album passes through track after track, the keys and guitar seem to mix, and seems to distract from the strong vocals that the singer is capable of. At some points, it almost sounds too mixed to make out a rhythm or riff at all.

It is not a totally bad review, I totally dig the slower songs, the ones that sound more like ballads. They are really well formed, and have great connecting lyrics. I do find the drumming on this album to be outstanding, even though in most parts it seems to be drowned out by the keys and "noise guitar", as I dub it when you can not distinguish between random strumming and a definitive riff.

Those instances in which I can hear distinguished riffs, and amazing keyboard parts separately and not misharmonized, I enjoy both. I also enjoy the parts in which the band allows the vocalist to showcase his rough but assertive vocals.

Although the instrumentals for the most part bother me, lyrically, this album really hits.

I have to say, I am quite disappointed with this album, although not quite as much as I could have been if there weren't a couple slower songs in which had really good lyrics.





















Album: 4 out of 10 zings.

Message to band: The riffs and music stylings with "Believe What We Tell You" and "Questions and Answers" were a lot more catchy, and a lot funner to rock out to. Uncomplicate yourselves, don't focus so much on experimenting, especially through a whole album. Keep it simple, with a few complexities, and make it easy on the ears to pick up on enjoyable things.

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