Ahead of it's time!
Posted April 14, 2012
By pizzabrain,
This cd doesn't fit the other cds in tone, style, or pace particularly well, but the artisanship, heart, and hard rockin good time are all there, and in my opinion they were all taken up a notch for this cd.
While the cd was giving into the trend of running from the nu-metal sound it went in it's own direction. Instead of going metal, or wimpy girl rock it actully went for a bit of an old school rock tone and style, while obviously keeping many of it's modern rock roots.
To start Phil X's guitar work on the album is INTENSE, and way ahead of it's time for a modern rock cd. It's been 8 years and we're really just now starting to see this level of guitar playing even being considered acceptable in modern rock. Before that it was called "showing off" or "outdated" for reasons that are questionable at best, and yet here is a great example of how much it can add to music. Imo the solos were a tad short, but other than that they really add a lot of intensity, and feeling to the songs.
The lyrics, while occasionally a bit hard to decyfer, are good and interesting, which was also ahead of it's time for modern rock. In 05 most of the modern rock bands were singing blunt songs about relationships, or fighting battles. TFK actually used metaphore, and had worship songs (Some of which are still some of the best worship songs you can get.) which was generally looked down upon by fans of modern rock (Even in many of the Christian rock community.) at the time.
Vocally the album was strong, while Trevor has grown since then, he still had it and rocked it like a boss. His voice fit the music, and added a lot of feeling, and intensity to the songss. He kept it aggressive, when appropriate, and toned it down when it fit the songs, which is NOT something a lot of singers of the time can lay claim to.
While the drumming, and bass were a tad on the typical side, they kept the album solid and let the guitar, and vocals grab you.
Overall I give the album 5 stars for it's artistry, and being so far ahead of it's time. Give it a listen or ten if you get a chance.
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