Weekly Review NUMBA ONE!

So since I've got this time waster goin, I'm gonna start reviewing cds I own. If you have a suggestion on an album, hit me up in the comments or wherever. So... what to start with...?
Gatsby's American Dream and the Volcano! I absolutely love this album. The guitar work is amazing, Nic Newsham's vocals are great and catchy, Rudy kills it on the drums, and the bass isn't overpowering, but doesnt fade into the background either.
The first song on the record, Theatre is also the only single on the album that I know of. This is the song that led me to buy the cd. Its got a great drum part over the bridge and the chorus is pretty catchy, although "chorus" isnt entirely applicable.

The second song, Pompeii, is less straightforward than Theatre. It has no chorus, like most GAD songs. What I like about this song, is the different parts it has. I doesnt repeat any particular riff or progression. It starts off mid tempo, pumps up to a double time feel, then suddenly slows down to half of the original feel.

The Guilt Engine is one of my favorite three tracks on here. "My shame is cold like a grave but my lust is hot like an engine." I really like that line. The song seems to describe how life is about holding things in, "I am ticking on like a bomb," and the regret that goes with that. "Maybe I could make this right."

The fourth song, A Mind of Metal & Wheels, isn't my personal favorite, but it IS good. Nick's vocals are quite good on this track. The best way I could describe the song is to use Nicks' words, a "sweet tragedy." There's also a good bit of non-drum precussion that fits in very nicely.

Fable is (I believe) about the show Lost. "We came here on a plane, never going home, not really." Again, this is one of the few GAD songs with a chorus, althought not exactly the same on the second. The song is shortm but memorable. Another of my favorite three.

The next song, The Giant's Drink, shows one of the many qualities that I enjoy about Gatsby's. The way that some of the songs share lyrics or an idea. This will be more evident after "Meet Me at.." But this song has a dynamic about it, the imagery, and the tones. It takes you in, and releases you.

Shhhhhh! I'm Listening to Reason would have to be my third favorite song. Also this song shares the line "It's not the same, It's not the same," with a song on the previous full album, Ribbons and Sugar. Its great to listen to because it has very discernable parts. Each riff has a different feel to it. The song starts out with an organ and guitar, and ends with a gang vocal that caries the melody to the end.

The next song, whose name will take me longer to type than the song actually is, Meet Me at the Tavern in Bowerstone, is a full 28 seconds. Its fast paced and short. The lyrics here feed off of the song above, The Giant's Drink.

Your Only Escape is one of the only songs on this album that I always seem to forget. I KNOW the lyrics, and I know how it goes as soon as I hear it, but when not listening, it slips the mind. But it should be mentioned that it is not filler. It is good!

The Hunter is relatively open. The lyrics are self-explanitory. "If there's a place that good folks go, All I know is that they'll never let me in." Its almost a sense of despair, yet the mood of the song keeps it on a lighter level, serious without being morbid. It's introspective with "What can save me?" but again, not dreary.

One of the final songs, Speaker of the Dead, connects with Fable, again sharing lyrics and music. This gives the album a sense of completeness that you cannot get with a run of the mill pop cd. Although lacking on time, its lyrics are memorable, "Who will remember you now? Dead and gone." I will.

The second to last song, Badlands, is actually a re-do. The song was orginally available on Gatsby's E.P, In the Land of Lost Monsters (available on snakesandsuits.com). This version is very apparently cleaned up. Like most of this album, the work in the studio has paid off. Vocal effects give the listener a sense of emptiness, or distance from Nic. The end builds up with "a tragic fall from grace, and we're still falling just like the dinosaurs." (Which are on the cover of GAD's EP!)

The closer on Volcano, The Loosing of the Shadow, closes our reoccuring theme (a volcano, in Pompeii in case you don't read song titles.) This song was a perfect choice for them to end with. Its fast tempo keeps your attention, but the song ends in a short feeling 2.36. The song is from the point of view of the volcano itself. "I am a volcano and I'll hurt you all." Not too hard to understand.

So those are the songs. The album was produced by Casey Bates and Tom Pfaeffle. Casey did their final album also.