Review Summary: Another band cut down far too early.
Here lies another case of a solid band missing the mark in terms of finding a target audience. Seven Wiser (now known as Fallzone) is a rock band from New York that was shuffled aside, shortly after the release of this self-titled record, due to poor sales and failed record deals. Often an album will live or die depending on the quality of its lead single, and while
"Take Me As I Am" was a decent track in the midst of the album, it hardly registered with listeners, only bumping its way to #37 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock charts back in 2004. That year saw bands such as Velvet Revolver (with
"Fall to Pieces" and
"Slither" respectively) and Nickelback (with
"Figured You Out") take up #1 slots for many weeks in a row, showing that mainstream audiences craved lyrical themes related to addiction and sex; fellow #1 charters Linkin Park (with
"Breaking the Habit") and Jet (with
"Cold Hard B!#@&") further encapsulate this notion. With those themes in mind, it's spectacular how off-the-mark Seven Wiser were with releasing their chosen singles.
"Take Me As I Am" and
"Life" went along virtually unheard on the radio, thus it's no wonder why the band fell apart fast. The tragedy is that they would have done just fine if they had only stayed true to the one song that ended up on two film soundtracks. At a slick, single-ready 3 minutes in length, "Sick" was a spectacular song, prominently featured on the soundtracks for both a Wes Craven-directed stinker and
The Punisher respectively. Ironically the lyrics perfectly summed up the title character far better than the movie's lead single,
"Step Up", ever did. Where that song felt extremely out-of-place in the context of the film,
"Sick" felt like a perfect match for the character of Frank Castle, reflecting the loss of everything in one's life, alcoholism and suicidal tendencies. The chorus packs these themes into one powerful punch:
"I'm sick of all this pain / so I drink it all away / yeah / alone here on this earth / until my eyes close and die". As a whole, the track is easily the best on the album thanks to the unsettling, strangely compelling vocals as well as the phenomenal instrumentals crafted throughout; the drumming,in particular, is absolutely jaw-dropping, adding an extra layer of urgency to an already outstanding anthem.
Despite the fact that
"Sick" is easily the best song on the entire record, the album definitely doesn't lack tracks that can at least compete with it in terms of overall quality and eagerness to please.
"Self Esteem" follows the lead single and immediately registers as yet another song that would have hit a stride on mainstream rock charts. The chorus is, quite simply, beautifully rendered:
"I don't like it / what you made me in and everything's in black and white / I still see it / from in your eyes, I don't like it". Something that becomes obvious fast - with hearing songs like this and even
"Take Me As I Am" proceeding it - is how vocalist Jon Santos has a unique quality to his voice that feels genuinely endearing; his vocal range is at a constant high throughout the album, which gives him a very vulnerable presence that is immediately relatable and likeable as well.
"Good As You Think" arrives in the middle of the album and successfully delivers an explosive, emotional whopper of a song, featuring an extremely touching chorus and superb guitar-and-bass performances. Further down the line,
"One In Equal" arises, maintaining a pleasantly subdued tone that has rarely been tapped throughout this extremely loud, rollicking record. Santos feels very well-utilized in this song, and the guitar solo, before the final chorus, compliments this excellent vocal performance quite nicely.
"Talk to Me" is quite a bizarre closer though, the vocals are unfortunately very forced, but the awesome instrumentals and short-length help keep this track from falling overboard completely, a fun listen overall despite a few glaring flaws. The song simply could have used a bit more creativity in terms of writing; the opening lines, for instance, are unintentionally hilarious with their bluntness (
"how / how / how can you live with yourself / after everything you did to me / and now you sit and cry a million tears / sippin' your alcohol / thinkin' of yourself / and how the world around is gone").
With a plethora of engaging tracks within, it's devastating to recall how this band almost immediately went under due to poor marketing on the part of their record label. The album is by no means a classic, but the songs that do stand-out shine brightly amongst the rest.
"Sick",
"Self Esteem",
"One in Equal" and
"Good As You Think" are wonderful songs riddled with memorable choruses and great instrumentation. Repetition is the album's biggest problem though, songs like
"Love to Hate" and
"Lies" are quite forgettable in spite of some stellar sections coated throughout. Overall, the album is a breeze to get through. It's easy to tell that the members wanted to create something extremely catchy and enjoyable, but it's just a shame that they couldn't reach a wide-enough audience in time to get a grip on some staying power; as they surely would have gotten better with more time and feedback at their disposal.
