A Mixed Bag For Me
Posted September 09, 2009
By JJFrancesco_NRT, Staff Reviewer
I must say that I was very impressed with lead CHR single, "Secrets and Regrets" from Pillar. Having heard the entire album, it remains my favorite off of it. Lead Rock single "Fire On The Inside" is a pumping rock track that should satisfy fans of Pillar's harder rock side.
When I read this quote,"Confessions is the kind of album that will make CHR radio listeners fans of rock music," I must say, I was even more intrigued. But I must say, the album doesn't really live up to this name.
CHR music fans will have plenty to love here, as the track listing is about split evenly between softer and harder songs. However, I wouldn't say this album will make them fans of Rock music. Perhaps this would've been accurately had not nearly every single Rock track be weighed down with screams. The melodies were good enough and likely could have made that claim about the album true, but alas, "Call To Action," is the closest they get to a hard rock track that is scream-free, and even it sneaks a small one in there at literally the very last second. I'm sure Pillar's fans will love that, but hooking CHR fans? I am not so sure those tracks will do it.
That's not to say that the softer tracks are negligible. Quite the contrary, they are very well done. Secrets and Regrets, is, as I said, a very good song. It's a nice crossover song. There are even a few orchestrated ballads in here in the form of "Better Off Now"(another album highlight), "Will You Be There," and "Lose It All." I could easily recommend CHR fans to hit up iTunes or Amazon for these tracks, but unless you like some scream in your rock(and if you do, you're probably not the ones referred to in the quote about making CHR listens fans of Rock), you might want to pass on the other tracks.
But if you do like some scream in your rock, you'll likely find this album satisfying enough. The lyrics may be a bit cliche in parts("Call To Action," gee, I wonder what this one is about), but I didn't find them overly bad.
Ultimately, I give this 3 stars, cause I am being nice. Most of the songs had some high enjoyability to them, even the rockers(you know, when they weren't screaming), and the softer songs are definitely enjoyable. I like Rock music already, but not the screaming kind, and unfortunately, Pillar's "Confessions" did not do much to change that. View All Music And Book Reviews By JJFrancesco_NRT | View JJFrancesco_NRT's Profile
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