 Quinn
Keon
"Second Attempt... Failure"
CD
Self-Released
Genres: metal, hard rock
Jun 23 - 29 2003 |
"When
Quinn Keon was fifteen, he got his first guitar and his life
changed forever. He had always known that he wanted to pursue
music, but now he knew for sure with what instrument." How many times have I heard this story before? It seems as if
every press bio on the planet has the same friggin' tale of epiphany. Just
once I'd like to see something like "When Joe Smith was fifteen,
he got his first guitar and his life didn't really change that much -
it was only an instrument, after all. But Joe found it
mildly entertaining and stuck with it, despite having hooks for
hands." Now that would be a press bio.
But, alas, I'm stuck with what I'm stuck with, and no matter how
much I mock and demean them, these corny "miracle" stories
are going to keep on coming. Yech.
So how is Quinn Keon's music? Well, it's mildly
entertaining heavy metal, too hard to be catchy but not hard enough to
fall in with the thrash and black metal crowds. The usual
suspects - Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, et al - are given
respect through imitation. Something tells me a song like
"Return To Me" will have enough accessibility to capture
fringe metal fans who have a soft spot for more conventional
rock. The songs sound like they should be performed in arenas,
but apparently Keon is more commonly found playing in bars.
All in all, this is nothing spectacular. The playing is tight
but the songwriting seems unoriginal and derivative. For the
next album, Quinn may want to take a few more chances -
"Becky" hints at his capability to create something a bit
fresh and different.
70%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
11 songs, distributed by Amazon, released
2002] |
