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Rating: Look who's back, the legendary Dimitri Molotov! Long time no see! Just kidding, no one knows me here, so let's stuff the DeServer with another review. Evidently, I've taken a pretty defined direction in my reviews, published at the rate of 2-3 per year, which is talking about unknown bands. This is a world that fascinates me, where people who don’t have millions of fans to please (something that guides many of the musical turns of more famous bands) or record labels to answer to, simply play good music, enjoying themselves and hoping someone ends up listening to them somehow, for lack of something better to do. This is what I'm doing more and more often, and the same reason why I'm at home this Saturday writing this review (also a bit of a headache, but it's secondary). So at least appreciate the effort, come on!
Anyway, back to the strictly musical discussion, this album was released by the so-called 32 Leaves in 2005, and for the first time among my reviews, it's not metal, but rather relaxed rock, an album discovered almost by chance and turned out to be really excellent, with all very enjoyable songs and little predictability. I'm talking about "Welcome To The Fall," the first of two full-length albums by the five Americans before "Panoramic" in 2009, perhaps a bit less original and varied than this one. Where to begin? I could analyze one song at a time, but I don't want to be unoriginal and varied either, so I'll just mention a few noteworthy episodes among these 11 (plus a short instrumental) songs, although I’ll end up naming almost all of them. As mentioned, indeed, they are almost all on the same level, but I think the first two stand out above the others: I'm referring to "Sudden Change," reworked from the first EP "Fik'shen," and "Blood On My Hands." A slightly hard rock sound emerges immediately, which creates an excellent contrast with the clean vocals of singer Greg Norris, a happy union between the most common of my nicknames and a surname that I think needs no further explanation. Practically a demigod. Although I'm joking a bit too much today, the singer of 32 Leaves still stands out with his particular voice, with a properly low tone that manages to reach a perfectly proportioned vocal range with the drive of the album. In short, the voice is not out of context, and this is much less obvious than it seems.
The rest of the band doesn't offer particular insights, but limits itself to making the various songs evidently different from one another, sometimes more and sometimes less: drummer Barrett Gardner demonstrates more than good technique, even if the role of the drummer almost always fascinates me due to my complete ignorance on the subject; the two guitarists Mike Chavez and Mike Lopez are similar not only in name but also in playing, and a real solo is noticeable, even if not excessively technical, only in "All Is Numb," another very beautiful song also released as a single; Aron Orosz, last but not least, on bass offers a first-class performance, audibly present in many of the tracks. I can talk (and I will) about "Your Lies," characterized by a calm background in which the drums stand out more: the chorus is very catchy, and is accompanied, like the rest of the album, by deep but not too much lyrics, but always poetic and appropriate to the cause. There's "Waiting," heavier than the others but still substantially in the same style; there's "Makeshift," not exceptional but definitely nice. But right after "All Is Numb," at number 11, we find the one that surprised me the most, especially after several listens, namely "Watching You Disappear." I really like the title, as well as the whole text, from which I quote the chorus (and if I feel like it afterward, I'll add a sample):
Face it
You're fading away from me
Face it
I'm used to it anyway
Watching you disappear...
Really beautiful, I wouldn't know if I would choose it as my favorite for the aforementioned reasons, but it's definitely one of the best, increasingly engaging as it progresses. It ends with the strange "Deep Breath," characterized by a decidedly evocative atmosphere and even a bit sensual, as suggested by the lyrics (but in this case, I won't spoil anything). Greg's seductive voice is accompanied by simple drum rhythms, sound effects distant from traditional instruments, and a fitting guitar riff, halfway between melody and melancholy, that supports the chorus.
So, we've reached the end, and between you and me, it's been nice returning to my fourth or fifth job after so long. My final judgment, debated until the end, I think it will indeed be 5 balls, my first 5, not only for the excellent performance but also as a sort of "encouragement," a term quite inappropriate considering that 32 Leaves disbanded in 2010, but giving me yet another confirmation that lesser-known bands are not so for lack of merit, but simply because they don't have the right support, a key element that increasingly determines the future of a young band.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Sudden Change (03:42)
It's odd that you would think
What's always been a game to me would suddenly change
Feeding off the empty
I waste another day
To find a way through somehow
Somehow
You'll find a way through me
There's no more to say tonight
Think till your head turns hollow
N' I fear the more that I try
The further I get
No way to tell you why
It's nothing new too me
The ground beneath me always seems to just give way
Bleeding right in front of me
What more could I say
It's find a way through somehow
Somehow
You'll find a way through me
[chorus]
Keep holding on or let it go
Your weakness hides but still it shows
Keep holding on or let it go
[chorus]
05 Wide Awake (04:25)
Wide awake
Fear is now the only thing that's keeping me
Wide awake
With no evidence your new defense is useless
You can find your way around it, the obvious truth
Back when inebriant and ignorant and cruel
I was spinning all around just waiting here for you
To find your way in
Hoping you find your way in
'Cause I'm wide awake
You are now the only thing that's keeping me
Wide awake
Yeah I'm wide awake
Fear is now the only thing that's keeping me
Wide awake
You were brilliant turned hesitant fool
You just have to look around you'll figure out its true
That when inebriant you're ignorant and cruel
And I'm the fool standing here waiting up for you
To find your way in
Hoping you find your way in
[chorus]
Fearing me obsolete...
Thinking I should clear out my mind
So I can't
Hesitate, complicate, anything anymore
It's a
Slow defeat empty sheets look at me lying on the floor
It's a
Slow defeat empty sheets look at me wanting so much more
[chorus]
06 Waiting (03:20)
Rip apart like everything
Anger me through the ceiling
Say the one thing
That drives me crazy
Till I'm burning in the fire again
I swear
I am burning in the fire again
I know I've been there once before
With my face down to the floor
Begging to feel the weight no more
Jaded by the ways of the world I keep on waiting
Waiting here alone
Jaded by like the rest of the world I keep on waiting
Waiting here alone
Speak to me in riddles that
Are somewhat hard to understand
Say something or don't say anything
And I'm preaching to the choir again
I swear
I am preaching to the choir again
I know I've been there once before
With my face down to the floor
Beggin' to feel the weight no more
[chorus]
So I pave my own way
Just to get through the cold
I'm so sick of suffering and waiting here alone
[chorus]
10 All is Numb (04:17)
C'mon drift away through fundamental boundaries
To find ourselves surrounding
The ones who've already gone and come back stronger
All is numb
I've been lost too long
My fate's been mistakenly chosen
All is numb
Yeah I've done you wrong
My fate's been mistakenly chosen
Here you'll stay
Where lies are spread wide open
And ties are not so strong
That place you'll never find me
I've already gone
[chorus]
I guess my thinking too much is what's been fuckin' me up
It's my own worst enemy, but
It will never own me...
Who am I kidding anyway?
[chorus]
11 Watching You Disappear (03:36)
Save your breath you're just someone helpless
Searching for answers all the time
Answers you can't find
Waste your breath it's just numb and hopeless
Searching for answers in your mind
Answers you can't find
Face it
You faded away from me
Face it
I'm used to it anyway
Watching you disappear...
Face it
You're pushing away from me
Face it
I'm used to it anyway
Watching you disappear...
Why regret, it's just somewhat pointless
You blame me, when you couldn't justify
Leaving me far behind
[chorus]
When there's no other way
And
No more to say
You fade away
You fade away
[chorus]
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