by kickmesign, www.southofmainstream.com, 11.24.03
Artist: NOW is NOW
(www.NOWisNOW.com) Title: Transitions Label: A Lot of Records Rating: 4
stars out of 5
I was immediately struck by the richly emotive quality of
this recording. The music and the vocals are ripe with well developed and
tempered emotion...meaning the emotion is always at the right level. The music
and vocals work together to create this deeply emotional listening
experience.
The overall sound is one of a pop/rock flavor, with bits of
folk and country layered in for a richly diverse, but extremely comfortable
sound. The layered vocals shimmer in and around the brightness created by these
talented musicians. You could be having an incredibly bad day, feeling like
darkness had surrounded you completely and this album would manage to shed light
on your gloom, even though the subject matter isn't silly or overly sunny. It's
brightness comes from it's rich emotion.
Mitch Alden's vocals are mostly
gentle, thoughtful and emotive, no matter the volume level of the individual
track. They glide around the equally thoughtful lyrics. I'm always impressed
with songs that are well written without falling prey to overindulgence. There's
no preaching or pontificating, just warmth, honesty and beauty. Excellent
backing vocals, both male and female, only add to an already wonderful listening
experience.
To take each track and break it down into bits and pieces
would serve no purpose in this instance. Though very well executed and quite
technically sound, this is a recording that has merit above and beyond it's
mechanics and technical proficiency. The superior pop rock base of this music is
embellished with superb guitar sound - electric, slide, acoustic and hook. The
vocals are this album's crowning achievement, the element that sets it apart
from other good releases, making this release great.
(Note: The disc had
one misstep that kept it from getting a perfect rating. The sixth track, "Heaven
Helps" sounds forced and abrasive. It's too loud and modern for the rest of the
disc and sounds like the mess the band Live has been making of their career over
the last year or two. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the album and the
vocals don't do justice to Alden's skills.)
This is an album that
requires more than a cursory listen. This recording should be experienced, not
simply heard. Experience Now Is Now today!
Favorite Tracks: #2 | Into
Darkness #4 | Sail Away #7 | Down
KickMeSign is a staff writer
for www.southofmainstream.com.
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