Grace Hotel
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Album Reviews

The emo-punk-pop sounds of Ace Troubleshooter surfaced early in 2000 and gave the scene a sound which you felt was familiar, but didn't quite hit the mark. Sounding like all your favourite bands in each genre compressed into an album, the result was intresting and saw you listening to a bit of emo and some well tuned poppunk. But does it work? Well Yes and No...

Title track 'Madness of the Crowds' gets the album underway in energetic fashion and you can chalk this one up to bouncy punk with swirling vocals which actually work rather well. The song doesn't let up and is a strong start to the album. '2:00 of your time' brings us back down to earth with a pacey number charting the pain of having your other half in a different timezone. Those Americans sure do have it rough! It is somewhat reminiscent of a more upbeat Get Up Kids song and is guaranteed to get your dancing. 'Have it All' slows us down again for a standard affair but a highlight of the album is coming up next in 'Amanda'.

'Amanda is only 17 years old but she is too young yeah, she is too young!' Very upbeat, very energetic and rather good. 'Age of Gold' and 'Estella' are energetic and slow and slushy respectively with neither really hitting the spot. 'Estella' shows promise but never really finds any momentum.

'Out to Sea' is pure pop-punk and is a mighty fine effort, and has single written all over it with a infectiously catchy chorus. 'Mothra (But for Grace)' has a darker edge to it and to hark back to more comparisons reminds you of Brand New. The edge and the bitterness seem to suit the song and band nicely. Maybe another section they could explore more. 'Lets Go Away' is a standard effort with penultimate track 'Numinous' proving a worthy predescor to the superb final effort of 'Your Reach'. It's uplifting and bouncy which is sure to please the masses.

Ace Troubleshooter are relatively unknown on these shores, but that really should be changing. They seem to flit between emo and pop-punk effortlessly, but you feel they need to decide on a path to choose to further the band. Personally I feel there talent lies in the upbeat tracks and that is where there direction should try and head. Otherwise this album would be a great find for that special someone in ya life!

~ punktastic

Well, this cd basically rocks the casbah more so than any casbah-rocking thing ever. And let me tell you, lots of people have tried to rock that casbah, whatever the heck that may mean. So yeah, this is the greatest recording ever to grace a compact disc player. Or maybe (probably) not, but I still must say it thoroughly rocks. Allow me to expound on my cleverly developed opening paragraph. First of all, to all of you whining about songs about girls, let me just say this: why is that such a big freaking deal? Most people write from personal experience, and for single guys of this age group that happens to be a pretty important topic. So, to the ladies whining: realize we think about you a lot and be flattered or something. To the guys whining: suck it up and deal, then go out and do better and when you do send me your cd; I'll listen to it. Plus, it's not like every song on this cd is about girls. The title track and "Have It All" are cool social commentaries. "Have It All," "Numinous," "But For Grace," and some other ones are more spiritual. Then there's some girl songs, but whatever. I'm sick of talking about this. To the guy who compared Ace to Good Charlotte and Simple Plan...well, I don't know what to say except that you are a frightening individual with a sick, deviant, nefarious, twisted mind. It was all I could do to keep from vomiting profusely when I read that hideous sentence of yours. I think I will have nightmares about it for years to come, terrified that someone so depraved as yourself wanders free about the streets. So please stop talking. You're scaring the children. To the guy who compared Ace to Newsboys and Audio A...you are so the man. Now that I'm through offending people for my own personal entertainment purposes, I will say some things about this disc. Musically, I like it very much. It is definitely more emo than the self-titled, but there is still some punk-like stuff in it. Some of it is pop-punky, but for the most part I would say it is just a little mellower and more emo-esque. Cool riffs all over the place, especially in "Out to Sea," and that cool solo in "Age of Gold." It's not MxPx or Slickshoes type punk, but (thank God) it is also not Blink type punk. Vocally, they simply rock. John is the man, even more so probably than the Newsboys/Audio A guy. Enough said on that. Lyrically, I think they are really awesome. Actually I think a lot of their songs are too deep for people to really understand. I don't fully get all of them, but the depth is definitely apparent. Very strong poetically as well. Not much cliche stuff thrown in, or simply stupid stuff like Relient K (and I like RK a lot; some of their stuff is just too dumb for me to handle). My personal favorite song is probably "But For Grace." Very deep and spiritual and musically awesome. Probably the hardest song on the cd. I hope there will be more stuff along those lines on the new cd. I also like "2:00 Your Time" and "Age of Gold." Actually I can honestly say I like all the songs. And I think that sums the cd up pretty well. There's no songs I want to skip and there's great variety. It is definitely not repetitive. Of course, not everyone will like this cd. Only those people with very refined and excellent taste.

~ Bristolbum

While I enjoyed taking a listen to the boys latest offering, I found that most of the songs were pretty catchy with out really standing out. While the guys know their instruments and can put together some pretty decent tracks, the fact that they are lifelong garage-band buddies shines through as the album just lacks the professional edge that would skyrocket them to stardom.

The first five songs are some of the best on the album, from the pop-punk sound of "2'O Clock Your Time" to the edgier yet really fun song "Amanda". "Estella" is a rock power ballad that speaks of lost love. Other standout tracks for me were the California-esque "Out To Sea" and the melodic "Numinous" that has real nice vocals and a thought-provoking feel. The last track "Your Reach" in comparison is similar to your typical Blink-182 fare, a nice punk track.

Give these guys a listen when your craving some new stuff from your fave big-time punk artists for a bit of a rawer sound that exudes fun and emotion throughout.