Review Summary: A solid album of a band first breaking onto the scene, featuring unique vocals and poetic lyrics.
Thriving Ivory is a five member rock band who came onto the scene in 2008, spurred by the rerelease of their self-titled album under a new record company boasting bands such as Evanescence and Seether. Their debut single, "Angels on the Moon", is a piano rock song with moderate success, garnering itself a spot on the Billboard Hot 100. I first heard about the album on an infomercial at 2:30am and could only think that this was destined to be a one-hit wonder of sorts. Nevertheless, the single was catchy enough to warrant a listen of the album.
The album was hit and miss for me, some of the songs really jumped out while others seemed to drag on. The reason being that many of the songs sound exactly the same. Same tone, same tempo, everything. The song, "Angels on the Moon", is a good choice for an debut single, with gentle piano and an excellent guitar fill, it's a good chance to draw attention to the lead singer, Clayton Stroope's, impressive range of vocals.
While there are many unremarkable (and frankly, difficult to distinguish) tracks, there are the ones that have very good attributes that help redeem the uniformity of many of the songs. Examples being: the fantastic piano in "Hey Lady", the high notes hit in "Alien", and the welcome edge found in Stroope's voice in "Light Up Mississippi".
The most notable piece on the album is "Twilight", a quicker paced, less repetitive, and quite catchy tune. The best part of the song would be the simple, yet elegant piano that fits quite well with the tone of the song. I can see this song being featured prominently in movies and television if ever released as a single.
With this being their first album, I can only expect more from them as time goes on and they start to break free of the confines of their security in writing much the same sound into each of their songs.
Recommended Tracks:
- Angels on the Moon
- Twilight
- Light Up Mississippi
