 Ed
Hale And Transcendence
"Rise And Shine" CD
TMG
Genres: pop, rock/pop
TMG
405 E 51st St, #2D
New York, NY 10022
July 22 - 28 2002 |
Well
well well, isn't this professional? The U2-esque cover art
immediately put me off of this, before I had even given it a shot. I
hate U2 and U should 2 - ha ha ha. But seriously,
the clichéd shot of the five band members standing on a cloud
reminded me a bit too much of the so-called "Greatest Band in the
World". Really, if you're going to release a fancy, glossy CD
like this, there's no reason to propel yourself to a God-like stature
by placing yourself in the sky above all the "regular"
people. We get enough shameless arrogance in the mainstream scene as
it is. But, enough of my inconsequential rant. The truth is, in
actuality, that Rise And Shine isn't all that bad. In fact,
it's rather good. Don't get me wrong, this isn't one of those amazing
pop discoveries - it's just a good, hearty record.
"Love Is You" is a prime example of Hale's style.
His voice is there, singing over familiar guitar chords and normal
drum patterns, and it all seems to work. When the devilishly catchy
chorus comes in, you may be surprised to catch yourself - shock!
horror! - singing along. This is the style that characterizes most of
the album, with the most notable track being "Better Luck Next
Time", an energetic blast of pop that sounds as if it should be
played really loud in a packed arena (and I say that in the best way
possible).
Parts of this album are very catchy, yet the shameless über-production
that was used, and the overly glossy Ed Hale™ image, will
pretty much prevent this from ever achieving success on the indie
scene, which is a shame really, because it seems that Hale has some
good ideas to share. Maybe next time.
74%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
64 min 13 sec; 17 tracks; distributed by Insound;
released 2001] |
