Review Summary: Greeley Estates are set for a breakout year, and Tragic Hero Records are set to help make that happen.
Artist: Greeley Estates
Album: No Rain, No Rainbow
Label: Tragic Hero Records Records
Release Date: January 26, 2010
http://www.myspace.com/greeleyestates
Rating: 3.5/5
RIYL: Post-Hardcore,
The Word Alive,
BlessTheFall
Science Records was home to four bands, according to their MySpace, when Warner Bros. Records eliminated the label in 2008. Three of the four bands have now found a label to call home again. Early in the year, we saw
Confide and Tragic Hero Records announce their deal. Confide has gone on to rerelease [i]Shout The Truth with bonus tracks and videos. Confide are now recording new material for a 2010 release. Then in May, BlessTheFall announced that they had signed with Fearless Records. They have since released their new album
Witness. Lastly, and the focus of this review, Greeley Estates announced their signing with Tragic Hero Records in late 2009, and are set to release
No Rain, No Rainbow January 26, 2010.
Up until their signing with Tragic Hero Records, I knew of but had never heard Greeley Estates. After listening to the two songs they have release in promotion, “
Seven Hours” and “
Jealousy Breeds Killing Sprees”, I decided to take a listen to their Science Records release
Go West Young Man, Let The Evil Go East. Listening to that album, I heard a somewhat generic band with unique vocals and some potential. Their change in sound from that album to this one can already be heard on the two promotional tracks released. Greeley Estates wants to be a part of the heavier tier of post-hardcore, and fittingly the album starts off with “Seven Hours”. The unique vocals are still somewhat here, but the maturing process and going heavier seems to have changed their dynamic. The new dynamic is both good and bad for the band. On one hand they lose some of their sound that made
Go West such a huge album in the scene, but on the other the vocals sound so much better.
While Ryan Zimmerman is holding down the vocals, his band mates are showing off their skills. The guitarists throw in the breakdowns, but they put them into an appropriate part of the song, as in “
I Shot The Maid”. The guitarists are greatly helped by the production team as the guitar sound of the album is top notch, clean, crisp, and mixed well with the rest of the parts. I may be the only one, but I love when I can transition smoothly from listening to the drums, guitars, or vocals to one of the others. I often find that either the drums or guitars are harder to pinpoint all that is going on with them than the other. Speaking of the drums, the band seems to have written some very good arrangements. Sadly, the drums are nothing special with no standout moments for them to shine.
There are a few blemishes on this album though. The first is that while the instrumentation is very spot-on, a lot of it is generic and predictable. There is also the already mentioned fact that the vocals lost a bit of their unique sound on this album, but in losing some uniqueness they gained better overall vocals. The last blemish is the fact that a lot of the heavy parts seem to sound the same. They should stick to screaming and singing, as their growls are absolutely weak. I also do not love the last second addition of the interlude “
4,5,6” but it is not a big deal as it is pretty short.
“
Friends Are Friends For Never” is the leader of the pack as far as individual songs goes. It is fantastic all the way around and has equal parts old and new. It would be my choice as a single, but then again “Seven Hours” is also a good choice. The label and band will be golden either way. I would like to take a moment to address the criticism that “Jealousy Breeds Killing Sprees” received when it was released. The track by itself is weaker than the rest, but when you hear it in the placement of the album you quickly hear why the track made it onto the album.
No Rain, No Rainbow is comprised of a fantastic set of songs that will be sure to please new and old fans alike. While they are eventually weighed down by some flaws, I feel confident that I will still be listening to this album at this time next year. Greeley Estates are set for a breakout year, and Tragic Hero Records are set to help make that happen. If you are into this genre, this album should be on your list to listen to in early 2010. Now if only I could find out why lying through my teeth would not count as flossing… :(
