Finger Eleven is:
Scott Anderson-Vocals
James Black-Guitar
Rick Jackett-Guitar
Sean Anderson-Bass Guitar
Rich Beddoe-Drums
Finger Eleven is one of those Modern Hard Rock bands where pretty much everyone I know likes them, or at least likes this album. Even my Dad likes this album, and he has a very specific taste. The song that turned me on to this album was the opening single
Paralyzer. If anyone listens to any hard rock radio station you have likely heard this song as it's played very often. But somehow I was a little bit dissapointed with this album because I assumed that it would be just as good as
Paralyzer but it isnt. It
is a great album though but not what I expected.
The thing that impressed me was the guitar tone on this album. To me it sounds a lot like a cross between the tone on
Rush's "Vapor Trails" album and
Incubus' "Make Yourself" album. It's somewhat heavy, but in a way, very clean and sustained. At least the electric guitar does. There are many acoustic songs on this album, which isn't a bad thing. The acoustic songs here are some of the best written songs on the album simply for the catchiness and mellowness of them. My favourite soft song here is
Window Song, but the harder songs were the ones that grabbed my attention more, as usual. Songs like
Paralyzer and
Lost My Way are so incredibly catchy and packed full of energy, it makes it so hard to skip the tracks.
Some songs weren't too good though. To me,
Sense Of A Spark was a song that was worthy of skipping. The guitar tone at the beginning is so very annoying and sounds off key. I just never really got into that horrible guitar tone. Also I never really got into
So-So Suicide mainly because it is boring and uninteresting. A little harmonizing would have done these tracks some good.
For the most part the lyrics were pretty well written, like this exerpt from
Paralyzer:
I'm not paralyzed but
I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you're standing still
And this little sample of
Lost My Way:
The story is old
The Black and white
Have turned to grey...
...I've finally lost my way
The Bass Guitar is very audible and the tone is fantastic. The bass lines are very poppy on some songs (ie.
Gather And Give), but on other songs they just follow the guitar line and/or hold the band together (ie.
Paralyzer and
Easy Life). And the drums sometimes help make some songs a little more catchy, and I absolutely love the sound of the snare drum. It makes that snap but has a little bass tone to it. Just a stunning sound.
The vocals are very well done, and some of my personal favourite vocal moments are the chorus on
Falling On and the verses and chorus on
Lost My Way. Scott has a sound to his voice that makes him different from most vocalists, but still seems to sound a little generic. But that doesn't mean he isn't a great vocalist, because he is.
Well that's my
Finger Eleven review of
Them Vs You Vs Me. Please comment on it, and votes are also appreciated. Thanks.
Recommended Tracks
Paralyzer
Lost My Way
Window Song
Gather And Give
