Album Rating: 3.5
I love Brian's solo material. Sure it's not revolutionary and inventing the wheel, but it's fun earnest rock music and he's still an excellent lyricist. As much as I love listening to bold, ambitious and experimental music that I have to sit and listen through to appreciate, this is just a fun record I can throw on in my car, put the windows down and tap my foot while I sing along.
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I thought I was going to agree with the 2.5 rating, but this is really good--especially Etta James.
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Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
"His return with a second release (third if you consider The Horrible Crowes) is muddled with bland chord progressions and flat vocals. A voice that was once raspy, yet endearing, has been relegated to a strained and monotonous sound."
The juxtaposition of these two sentences indicates to me that you don't know the meaning of the term "flat vocals". One could make the argument Brian's not singing with quite the same intensity that he was at 28, but the dude's vocals definitely are not flat.
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Album Rating: 3.5
Seems like the criticism is the angst isn't there anymore, and while true tamer and more reserved Brian Fallon is still making great music.
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Etta James is great
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Album Rating: 3.5
Etta James is fantastic.
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Album Rating: 4.5
like the punk edge of sink or swim is gone but the songwriting is still there and able to match the tone of the music
plus fallon has only gotten better and better as a lyricist and the more mature sound really works with it
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Album Rating: 3.5
Etta James is amazing [3]
really liking My Name is the Night (Color Me Black) right now too. can already tell I'm gonna have to bump this up
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Album Rating: 2.5
@SteveP
My point is the vocals come off as bland and uninspired on a number of these songs.
Sputnik allows you to provide feedback in two ways. If you do not agree with a reviewer's opinion you are able to submit your own rating of the album. If you believe the review was poorly written and does not make a positive contribution to the site, then you can give it a thumbs up or down. I don't think you are recognizing the delineation between the two areas of feedback.
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Album Rating: 3.5
"When a successful lead singer embarks on a solo career the most common pitfall is creating music that sound like B-sides from the original band."
I'd place a comma after solo career. also, "music that sound" needs changed to "music that sounds"
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Album Rating: 2.5
Thanks for the feedback!
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Album Rating: 3.5
no prob. my other advice would be to expand on your points
"Although Sleepwalkers fails to grip the listener in any meaningful way there are flashes that will satisfy any Brian Fallon fan. 'Come Wander With Me' and 'Etta James' feature Brian’s sheer authenticity and charisma"
for example, you mention these two songs as highlights, but barely say a thing about them. saying they have "authenticity and charisma" doesn't mean much if you don't back it up with some beefier descriptions of what makes these songs stand out from the pack
the same goes for the tracks you disliked. I get you think the songs "lacked polish" but this could be explained better. a song doesn't need backup vocals or an extra guitar in order to be polished imo ;]
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Album Rating: 3.5
My Name is the Night (Color Me Black) is the other song that jumped out at me too Atari
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Album Rating: 2.5
Both valid points. I tried to keep it as concise as possible, but maybe another sentence or two could have helped.
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even so, don't know where the fuck the negs are coming from. it's a solid review
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Album Rating: 3.5
Color me back is v good agreed
Actually found the first half less enjoyable with the exception of Etta James.
Run from t/t to Watson has some really nice hooks
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Album Rating: 4.5
Sleepwalkers is my least fav song on here prob. Love the first half, wheras painkillers’s high points are more scattered
Painkillers is better but i also think painkillers is better than most gaslight anthem stuff so. I like this more than american slang and sink or swim (and get hurt obv)
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Album Rating: 3.5
I don't think any of his solo stuff touches any Gaslight stuff except Get Hurt tbh
Reason is that the solo stuff is instrumentally bland and the lyrical content fine but rehashed.
I loved the tone Rosamilia used to get from his guitar on 59 Sound, American Slang etc, deffo had a lot more drive to it that the fairly pedestrian stuff here
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Album Rating: 4.5
idk the rock instrumentation made stuff on get hurt and handwritten kind of dull because it felt like it was moving way slower than it probably should (hence my fav songs on handwritten are 45 and howl). Here the more pedestrian tone suits the more mature and slower songwriting i think
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Album Rating: 3.5
I'm not sure the songwriting is more mature though, just more of the same and possibly more formulaic than ever
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