CD Review: Vintage Blue's 'Strike The Mics'

Vintage Blue
Strike The Mics

The Chicago-based band, Vintage Blue, was formerly known as Tanglewood. Now the name is shed, but the tunes are better than ever. The ska-influenced, "Set You Free," is a mix of roots and rock music with luscious vocals and reverberating sax. The more rock-driven "Unchained" is partly influenced by Creed, but on a much lighter, vocal scale. The wailing guitars are not too loud or unnecessary. The folksy, ballad, "California Road," contains a good folk rock beat with reverberating B-3 and the horns give the song a little retro-class. "Sleep On This" is strikingly-similar (at least vocally and structurally) to circa-2000 Ed Kowalczyk from the band, Live. The folksy-rock ballad contains backup vocals, horns, and B-3 charisma. The Southern-rock-style piece, "Here To Stay," is a post-grunge anthem with vocals and guitar arrangements reminiscent of Stroke 9. "Against Time" is another song seemingly inspired by Stroke 9. The opening lines of "Just Breathe" beckons the spirit of the band Filter. The most divergent song is the classical, ballad-esque, "Great Divide." Throughout, Vintage Blue delves into various rock, ska, pop, and ballad-driven hooks with intelligent lyrics and classy grooves. Anyone interested in folk-rock, roots, post-grunge, and classy music with style and swagger, than look no further. ~ Matthew Forss       

CD Review: Adam Cross' 'Sirens'

Adam Cross

Sirens
Self-Release

The power-ballad is perfected by Adam Cross and his work on Sirens. The slightly gruff vocals border on a lighter version of Creed mixed with a little U2, David Gray, and The Fray. The power-ballads are driven by spacious guitar solos with a thunderous full sound. The back-up vocals on “Scared To Pieces” breaks up the booming drum-kit and all-encompassing guitar noise. “Time Of Our Lives” and “Burning Castles” are other songs with a big guitar sound and percussion set-up. The lighter “Save Me” contains more pop-centered vocals with a little Pearl Jam-meets-Savage Garden thing going on. The ten songs contain similar arrangements with slower ballads and power-ballads with full guitar sounds and big-time percussion—not to mention—innovative vocals that are difficult to characterize and describe. Though, “Tragedy” is the only song with a fast, dub-step beat throughout the song. Normally, the last song on an album tends to be fairly introspective and uneventful; but this is certainly not the case with Sirens. In fact, the best guitar solo on the album occurs in this song. Overall, Adam produces a very solid release of relationship tunes with smart lyrics and excellent backing percussion and vocals. In short, the power-rock ballads of the 1990’s are back…which is a very, very good thing.

Review by Matthew Forss
Rating:  5 stars (out of 5)