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Rating: "April," more than a genuine new album by Vast, is a collection of unreleased tracks offered by the artist Jon Crosby in a completely acoustic format, stripped of all the electric and electronic embellishments that have characterized his work until now. It almost seems like a singer-songwriter album from a solo project by a vocalist taking a break from his own group. It would be so if Vast were not already the emanation of a single person. That's why this album feels a bit out of place in their discography. If it weren't, it would be a sonic turning point that would leave the band's fans astounded.
"Transition," "Passage," "Parenthesis" are therefore the keywords to find the right interpretation of this work. Within the album, there are eight new songs and acoustic versions of two lesser tracks from "Nude," "Be With Me" and "I Can't Say No To You," which paradoxically are almost preferable to the originals.
The constant strumming of the acoustic guitar accompanies the introductory "You're Too Young" and melancholy immediately becomes the protagonist of the scene. In "Sunday I'll Be Gone", a piano makes an appearance. "One More Day" is even more intimate and reflective. Pale, dull colors paint the air and it already seems difficult to sustain such emotional tension throughout the album. However, Crosby's rock soul makes a fleeting appearance with "I'm Too Good" in a sort of blues track for metal offspring. Finally, there are some rises in Crosby's splendid vocal tone, and the acoustic atmosphere is even partially broken by a brief electric guitar solo. REM comes to mind, especially those from "Automatic For The People."
"I Am A Vampire" is another somewhat atypical track on the album, with a nursery rhyme-like rhythm and an aura more joyful compared to the rest of the grooves on this record. With "She Visits Me", you plunge back into introspection, thanks to the anguished notes rarely heard on a Vast album. Echoes of the most poignant Radiohead, those of "Exit Music (For A Film)" to be precise, can be heard. A slightly country atmosphere accompanies "Tattoo of Her Name", which almost sounds like an unplugged version of "Land Of Shame." The only other completely unreleased track is "Having Part Of You", which is very reminiscent of "Desert Garden" in melody as well. Perhaps it was this track that sparked the idea for an acoustic album where the songwriting was reduced to its essentials, music stripped of any additions, the artist laid bare further, even more than in the past.
An umpteenth act of love towards the fans. Whether it was appreciated or not, that's your call...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 You're Too Young (03:35)
It's after two
And I am all alone
Then she appears
She says she'll get me home
We end up lost
In a suburban maze
And then she says her house is on the way
I should leave
It's time to go back home now
I should leave
You're too young for me
She has a man
She says he's just a boy
And she wont bite
Unless it brings me joy
I don't know where all the time has gone
I don't know where all the years have gone
I should leave
Put your clothes back on now
I should leave
You're too young for me
I should leave
It's time to go back home now
I should leave
You're too young for me
02 Sunday I'll Be Gone (04:01)
Hair of gold and eyes like stormy seas
You say you love me, want to marry me
And as I'm looking for the wedding ring
You say I don't have to spend anything
Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
Your dad gave up on you so long ago
Your mother is someone you do not know
You have no money and you still get by
Everything I say makes you cry
Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
You can wear, all the colors that you want
Sunday I'll be gone
What am I supposed to do
Sit around and wait for you
You ask for nothing and you want
Everything
You want to take another photograph
You say it makes you think of me
If it only took a photograph
I think you would still be here with me
Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
You can wear, all the colors that you want
Sunday I'll be gone
Sunday I'll be gone
03 One More Day (02:58)
Have you heard
Have you tried to understand
It's all right
It gets easier with time
How are you
Are you ever coming back
I have changed
And I've realized I was wrong
I was wrong
Now I'll never see your face anymore
Oh my Love
I'd give anything for one more day with you
I'm getting through
I wish you felt the way I do
I have changed
And I've realized I was wrong
I was wrong
Now I'll never see your face anymore
Oh my love
I'd give anything for one more day with you
04 I'm Too Good (03:39)
I guess I made a big mistake today
When I told you that I loved your pretty face
Everyone says I should walk away
From the storm that lies beneath that pretty face
In my dreams
I was lost
You were nowhere to be found
You're too bad to bring back home and
I'm too good to feel this way
I guess I made a big mistake today
When I bought a dozen roses for your place
You're a zombie in a dress and I'm your clown
When I take you out you always look around
In my dreams
I cried out
You were nowhere to be found
Why am I the one who's crying I'm too good
I'm too good to feel this way
You were nowhere to be found
You're too bad to bring back home and
I'm too good to feel this way
06 She Visits Me (03:31)
she visits me
when I am weak
when I have nowhere to hide
she always knows when I have someone
and then she comes
she comes to torture me
she visits me
when I am asleep
when I have nowhere to run
she always knows when I have no one
then suddenly
she's there to tempt me
she visits me
she visits me
from the corners of the past
she won't let go of my spirit here
she comes
she comes to haunt me
she visits me
she visits me
from the corners of the past
she won't let go of my spirit here
she comes she comes to haunt me
she comes, to visit me
07 Tattoo of Your Name (02:54)
She told me he was beating her today
And she showed me all the bruises on her face
I said, baby, can I make it all OK
She said, honey, you should make him go away
There's a hundred thousand dollars in the bank
And the policy he took out yesterday
We can live outside the country for awhile
Until things smooth over and get under control
There's a tattoo of your name across my soul
I bought a rifle and black gloves without a name
For an alibi she went six states away
When I saw him I felt fire I felt cold
Like the devil and the lord wanted my soul
Like the tattoo of your name across my soul
So I shot him in his car until he died
I called to give the signal and she cried
Life has a way of making other plans
She called the cops and said I was a crazy man
I'm gonna get this thing removed when I can
There was never any policy
And the bruises came from falling on the street
So the judge gave me one hundred thousand years
In the courtroom she was filling up with tears
I saw her hold the lawyer's hand real tight
They looked tired from lack of sleep last night
Seems the whole time she had me under control
With a tattoo of her name across my soul
She gets off and I will never have parole
Just this tattoo of your name across my soul
Just this tattoo of your name across my soul
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