Grace Hotel
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Album Review

Track One: Under These Skies... the demo kicks off nicely with a really upbeat rhythm and a taste of the energy that made Earthsuit so popular... definitely grabs your attention... "yuh"... "that's how it goes"... there's a nice bit of odd sounds interrupting the flow of the song... not that the interruptions are bad... just that they break up the rhythm and throw in some surprises here and there... this actually feels a lot like an earthsuit song... you get the feel that there's like three guys singing the lead all at the same time... and it's such an eclectic bit of music... it's pretty cool... "when you're livin under... these skies"... interesting concept on the lyrics too... Track Two: Beautiful World... this intro is kind of opening up the sound a bit... once the song totally kicks in, it has somewhat of an eighties "Devo" type feel... i think i can picture them all wearing those Lego hats too... anyway... "what a beautiful world we live in"... "for you... not me"... pretty intriguing lyrics... on the surface, it seems to be somewhat of a jaded attitude... but i think that there's far more too it than what the surface shows... anyway... right now i think it's fading out... but there's like a high synth robotic voice interacting with Adam Laclave... Track Three: Cash Machine... this i guess is as close to a ballad as Macrosick comes... it's a pretty laid back tune... but it has the same distinct punch to it.. .and certainly the biting lyrics... "we trade our souls for a market share"... kind of calling the American dream out on the carpet as they say... everyone's so materialistic... it's somewhat of a common theme, but you really don't notice because it's such a different treatment for it... and the music is really entrancing... it kind of gives off the feel of "resistance is futile"... but i'm probably just being silly... anyway...Track Four: We Never Started... back in full swing with this one... straight up and down driving beat... dun dun dun dun... really in your face "hey look at me" type of a rhythm... lyrically, it's probably the most straight-forward song as well... discussing original sin and the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden... although the meaning is still somewhat hidden... like... what does it mean that "we never started"?.... what didn't we start?... ugh... my CD drive is flipping out right now... excuse me a second... ok... let's try this again... i think things are straightened out now... where was i... oh i remember... back in the garden... "remember the time we died in the garden"... anyway... i'll leave the meanings up to you when you buy this and listen to it... but it's pretty interesting... you can really tell that they put a lot of thought into their theology and lyrics... which is certainly something to appreciate... oh on this bridge here, Laclave sounds like Peter Cetera from Chicago... (very briefly, settle down)...

*** INTERMISSION (maybe it's cheating but i'm falling behind on this typing and i need to go stretch) ***
Track Five: Nothing's On the Radio... back to the eclectic, unconventional sounds and rhythms on this one... and the multi-tiered lead vocals... it's pretty cool... assaulting the choices for radio singles... i think it's something we can all relate to... spinning the radio dial trying to find something creative and all you end up is the same washed-out sound that has been determined "radio-friendly"... anyway... this track is a good example of the meshing of styles and sounds that Macrosick uses a lot... there's a slight bent towards the eighties dance tracks as well as a modern feel to it all that shows off the creativity and energy of the group... Track Six: Nice Hush... hmm... ok, i've finally accepted that this is the song and i'm almost a minute in already... it kinda felt like it was just loading an intro track... plus my player has been showing it as being over from 30 seconds on... anyway... this has been an instrumental so far... based around a string of chord progressions on the keys... and a few interjections throughout... it's a pretty peaceful sound... pretty nice and a good interlude... total change of pace... and it's done... ringing in at just over three minutes... Track Seven: Jerkweed Inspector... starting off with a nice driving beat... fairly unconventional rhythm to it... and the verses are more of a cadence than singing... i think it'll take a few listens to really catch the gist of what's being said here... besides it being slightly difficult to catch all the words... it's a pretty abstract metaphor in use... it's a really cool song and unfortunately i'll bet a lot of people don't even listen to it because (*gasp*) they said "jerkweed"... oh well... Bonus Track Eight: The Prize... i'm somewhat confused here, but i got these songs all between two promotional discs one has the seven songs listed on the DemoDisk track order... and the other has 4 songs from that list and this one that i'm assuming is correctly labeled "The Prize" (though, some of the others on that CD aren't labeled correctly) and is an older song that isn't on the DemoDisk... anyway... here's a quick look at this one as well because i have a little extra time and i don't want to short-change you at all... it's another slower track... reflective, i guess... "there's a reason why i can't surround you"... it's a pretty tune... it's slower but it still has a quirky rhythm to it and it's really smooth... and that will do it...

~ trudatmusic

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