Do you listen to Bush? I mean the band, not the one who apparently doesn't like black people. Well, if you do, why not try a clone? Oh, but this is the good kind of clone. Like - the Clone Army in Star Wars, or Young Link in Super Smash Brothers Melee. They're that powerful...but not as annoying. Or easy to order around. If you went head to head against Hurt's music, you'd probably limp out bleeding and crying like the pathetic wuss you are. But there is a good side to confronting this wall of power - the pure pleasure of driving down the road and having a track off this album burst in fully armed, rocking to and fro about your chassis. Or headphones. Or home stereo. Whichever, I know a fan of this sort of music (hard rock) will greatly appreciate the awesome potential and ability to create anything they desire within the genre and keep it alive. For Hurt, filler doesn't exist. It is not a word, its merely an anti-goal. One that they overcome professionally. They succesfully combine hard rock, prog and classic (rock) to forge a great piece of music, something you as a rock fan are required to hear. Melody and Harmony come together and sex each other up, and the result is nothing short of Hurt's
Volume 1.
The best part about this album is the combination. As stated beforhand, prog is present here. Now when you think of progressive music, bands like Kemic-Al, Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree may come to mind. Hurt is a different sort of the genre - they aren't as experimental as one may expect, but they do it enough and their sounds clearly shift throughout the albums and inside the songs themselves. So its like a bit of toned down prog. Some of it may seem like the usual rock verse chorus verse kinda thing, but thats only describing a couple songs off the record. It really isn't like that in full - progressive fans will most defenitely find something to occupy their CD players in the bathroom with a smut magazine on this one.
HARD F***ING ROCK! Yes, they make that too. Listen to the banging drum beats, guitar flourish and a flawless,
perfect vocal display. I'm serious. Songs like "Overdose" and "Rapture" especially give you that feel. The Bush/Tool combo. Yeah, Tool. You can hear hints of them and APC fiddling around with the guitars and lyrical work. The frontman even sounds like Maynard, in a bizarre, STD'd child kind of way. But its defenitely Maynard nonetheless. And thats not bashing on the singing, you know - I fell in love that part of the band. Mind your head about these things when listening, so you don't drivel away at the songs trying to understand them. Just open up and greet the band with open ears. Theres nothing too deep here, try to enjoy it in all its simple but gratifying glory.
Apparently Hurt wanted real feeling music, not too emotional but stuff that makes you want to really listen. Its the hard rock version of Radiohead. Just not as set apart from other bands. Listening is the key to this album. You'll want to not just skim through their songs and pass them off as a generic rock band, because you may hear just that if your hearing this through the radio. One song does absolutely
no justice to the band. It'll be great but nothing special enough to replace your Bush collection with. I want you to hear the album open to closing, like an engrossing novel. You don't read much, you say? Well, don't worry. There is no reading involved here. Your not going to want to download these lyrics and hang them above your bed to keep you safe from the natural steroid-fueled unstoppable headlong raw power of Hurt's music. Nothing revolutionary in the written department, a downside but one thats remedied by the actual vocals.
Lets talk about instrumental. If your a fan of interesting and driving guitar work, you'll be an instant cling-on to this album. Nooo, the
good kind of cling-on, trust me. You'll be more of a superfan than a tail chaser. It can easily become shallow sounding after a bit, but as soon as you grow tired of the music it should shift to something new, a different aspect of the song. The instruments do a great job in changing and keeping the melodics going strong. The band members are not no talent hacks, but their no Jimmy Page's either. As I've gladly seen a phrase being tossed around here, 'music does not have to be played good to
be good.' There are several positives that can be found in hooks and melodies. Since the bass guitar has made itself absent, holding together the thriving colony of guitars are the drums. Like Bush, again, swirling, curving, slamming drums takes care of the necessary bass. No Bonhams or Ulrichs (heh), but its good enough. I'd put it in a pipe and smoke it.
Glad to see this band performing this well as musical virgins. I'm a huge fan of potential, and believe me - if any metal/rock group has any at all these days its Hurt. It'd be a credit to your ears if you check them out.
Damn, Chris! This band f***ing rocks!
QFT.
Credits:
Vocals/Guitars/Violin: J. Loren
Guitars: Paul Spatola
Bass: Josh Ansley
Drums/Piano: Evan Johns
