Review Summary: They will be legend, THEY WILL!!!
Mindwalk Blvd is a young and very talented group of three guys that includes:
Jordan Ferreira-Guitar and Vocals
Mike Avakian-Bass, Synth ans Back Vocals
Tyler Hudson-Drums and Back Vocals
When they recorded this album, Jordan and Mike were about 15-16 years old and Tyler about 13-14. They are talented for they age to say to least! Nobody could imagine that these guys are that young just by listening to the album. If you've heard their Rush, Kansas, Dream Theater and UK covers, you know what i'm talking about. Their interpretations of these songs are just mind blowing.
Guitar-Really good.
Drum-Extremely precise for this age.
Bass-Just fantastically groovy and spot on.
Vocals....No one of them seems to be the designated the singer and they are kind of lacking something.
Now, on this album, Jordan is the one singing, and I was quite excited to hear the music these boys had in them seeing how talented they are.
To start the album we have BESIDE ME, a really good opening in my opinion. It is not as groundbreaking as one could have wished it to be, but they are still very young and A LOT better than other sh**** young artists (Jonas Brothers, Tokio Hotel, Miley Cyrus...). It has a really good chorus (Styx-like harmonies + a Tool-like riff = tasty) and a really groovy funk bridge that adds to the song rather than seeming out of place. It is also clear that they are here to use their skills rather than show them, which is something that really scared me.
The second song, SOMETIMES, is rather disappointing and boring. It is kind of slow and attempts to be dark and sad, but it fails. The riffing consists in the same riff during the verses and average down-stroking in the chorus. The only thing that is a bit redeeming is the vocals, which once again features great harmonies by the whole band.
The next song is AWAY, which is your typical above-average alternative-metal song. It is great throughout, the main highlight being the guitarist that plays two awesome-if really short-guitar fills which must leave many guitarists in awe. The drumming is also top-notch here.
The heaviest song is the next one, PATRIOT. The song may not be as consistent as BESIDE ME or AWAY (terrible verses mainly because of the vocals), but it has a good riff in the intro and beneath the vocals in the chorus. It also has a truly fantastic bridge. It has the only real good solo on the album and some riffing and drumming reminiscent of Dream Theater. After that we have a calm part where guitar and bass complement each other very well, followed by a build-up to the last chorus. Everything in this bridge is done perfectly. Great song overall.
Now, we have the ballad of the album, and a solid one I must add. The guitar playing and the vocals are better than on most ballads that get air on the radio (yeah injustice). Again, they don't reinvent anything, but at least they don't try it and fail! My only problem with this song is the bridge part, which feels completely out of place because it's trying to be sad and everything while the rest of the song is beautiful and uplifting. It's not very long so I won't cry.
The last song is kind of weird. STEP DOWN is a hard-rock song (or cock-rock like some like to call it) that sounds like a blend of Buckcherry and Kid Rock. It is not bad but just not a direction Mindwalk Blvd seems to be comfortable in; and picking this song to finish the album is questionable. The solo isn't that good either. Song is average, average and more average.
One point I didn't talk about are the lyrics. They are okay/good for the most part but there is two songs here where they really sucks, and bad. PATRIOT features some of the worst war-is-good sarcasm in the last decade (''I can't be the only one, who thinks killing is fun'' COME ON!!!!). In the verses the vocal delivery is so bad it doesn't help either. The other one is STEP DOWN. 16 years old guys having lyrics reminiscent of Buckcherry is absolutely horrible and really doesn't help the song.
In summary, a very good debut album from really talented fellows. Hope they get better and better because they definitely have the potential of doing so.
Pros:
-The riffing
-The vocal harmonies
-The absolutely breathtaking production
-Multiple influences but no plagiarism
-A definitive singer
Cons:
-Some lackluster moments
-Some terrible lyrics
-They could have done better, but I'm pretty sure they will.
-Only six songs is short, I wanted more.
