Default was one of the mainstream rock bands that flooded into the music scene in the early 21st century after the success of others such as 3 Doors Down and Nickelback. Default was discovered by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback fame, and he actually helped write lyrics to and produce the majority of the tracks on this album. Default is:
Dallas Smith-Vocals
Jeremy James Hora-Guitar
Dave Benedict-Bass
Danny Craig-Drums
Pros
-High production value
-A couple decent tracks
-Catchy
Cons
-Repetitive
-Full of filler
-Generic, not anything special
The Individual Tracks
Sick & Tired-Opens with feedback and bass, it then falls into the songs main hook. Dallas delivers vocals that are very similar to Nickelback and 3 Doors Down. This is a decent start to the album, and Dallas gives a strong performance. There are not any really interesting instrumental parts, nothing that hasn’t been done better before. The bridge is the best part of the song, and even that is overly generic and boring. 1.5/5
Deny-The second single off the album, it is a better track than Sick & Tired. The instrumentals are better in this song however still not anything spectacular. Dallas has another good vocal performance. The song shifts from the soft intro into the heavy verse which is very similar to the heavy verses in Sick & Tired. The band has a pretty standard formula which this song follows well of Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus. While following a formula isn’t always necessarily bad, the songs are so similar it gets extremely boring. 2/5
Wasting My Time-The overplayed first single from this band. It is a good song and listening to it now it is better because I haven’t heard it in a long time. The lyrics aren’t anything special, and this is one of the few songs that Kroeger had no influence on, he didn’t help write or produce this track. The addition of the guitar solo is a nice touch to make this song different than the others. 3/5
Slow Me Down-The song begins with a heavy riff that is quickly subdued to give Dallas space to sing over. This song is almost a copy of Sick & Tired and not much else. There a few moments in the song when it could be mistaken for a song off of the 3 Doors Down album Away from the sun. This is probably one of the heaviest songs on the album, there is a nice little guitar riff in the bridge but it is not enough to make this song good. This song is not the worst track on the album, but that isn’t saying much. 1.5/5
One Late Night-Reminiscent of Wasting My Time, this song is actually good. Dallas gives good vocals over solid backup from the band. The band plays simply but this allows the vocals to shine. There is a solo which is a nice touch. The song is a solid radio rock song, better than some of the other radio rock songs out there. 3/5
Seize The Day-Another Sick & Tired clone, which tries to sound heavy and hard. The song is more similar to Sick& Tired than the others on the album. With similar sounding music, and similar sounding (rhythmically) vocals, there is not much on this track worth listening to. The bridge like the other songs is the best part. This is a solid skip on this CD. 1.5/5
Somewhere-A nice guitar intro begins the song. It continues to play in the background. Of course this song is very repetitive and similar to the rest of the album. The riff is the best part of the song, as Dallas’s voice is overly annoying in this song (I know some may think is voice is annoying always but more in this song). The drums and bass are recycled from the rest of the album. The bridge is heavier than the rest of the song, but unlike the other tracks it is not the best part of the song. 1.5/5
Live A Lie-There is a nice electric riff, with acoustic chords in this song. The acoustic helps make this song stand out compared to the others on the album. Dallas has a better vocal performance, sadly however the drums and bass do not. The bridge builds into a nice guitar solo which is the best solo on the album. The piano is introduced at the end of the bridge. The clichéd lyrics hurt this song a bit but it is still probably the best song on the album. 3.25/5
By Your Side-Another very similar guitar intro begins a very bland and boring song that you have already heard. This is a copy of the rest of the album with poor vocals, lyrics, and instrumentals. The saving grace is the short but entertaining solo during the bridge. Overall the worst track on the album, minus the short solo and a shippable track. 1/5
Faded-This was my favorite track on the album. It still is, but it is very similar to the other tracks. It is listenable at times, and contains some of the best lyrics on the album, of course some of the lyrics are not so great such as “How could he see, Anything at all? Since he's got no eyes to see.” There is a nice solo in the song and helps change it up. This is a solid song on a less than solid album. 3/5
Let You Down- The album ends with a copy of Deny. The song is poor track and is what you would expect to end the album after hearing the rest of it. They music is bland and generic, and the vocals are not bad, but not exactly good. The song is another shippable track. 1/5
Packaging the same song 12 different ways and calling it an album is not good for business you would think, but like the other mainstream rock acts they do it. At little more than EP length it is a “waste of your time” (haha I am so funny). If you really want a mainstream rock CD go get Nickelback or 3 Doors Down.
Download
-Wasting My Time
-One Late Night
-Live A Lie
-Faded
Overall 1.5/5
