Review Summary: Overall, preThing's debut album is a fun, exciting rocker with catchy melodies and great vocals. The highlight of the album is the interesting guitar effects used, while the weakness of the album was the lack of substance in the lyrics.
The debut album of former
Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique is not a rap/rock affair. No, 22nd Century Lifestyle manages to escape the rap/rock label, instead combining forms of grunge and progressive rock.
The album begins with the brutal one-two punch of "War" followed by the catchy rocker "Ascending". Both songs have catchy choruses and the former even contains an instrumental breakdown reminiscent of
Rage Against the Machine, but they're nothing spectacular. However, the record really picks up with the majestic "Can't Stop (22nd Century Lifestyle)". The song's beautiful, melodic guitars make up for Epique's inane lyrics. The intro of "Stay Alive" uses guitar effects reminiscent to those of Billy Corgan's of
The Smashing Pumpkins, while Epique's raspy voice soars into the chorus. Epique's great falsetto is the charm of the acoustic-rooted, poppy "Won + X", while his frantic breathing in between singing is the key point in "Arizona". The latter is an industrial rock groove where Epique asks "I'm coming back for more/what the hell are we fighting for?"
The next track "Know...More Words" is a brooding number where Epique whispers "No more words/I just want to die." The grunge rock picks up on "Faded Love" where the catchy chorus explodes after the quiet verses. The
Nirvana-esque tune contains a ripping guitar solo by Epique that draws influence from
Pearl Jam's Mike McCready. The album picks up again with "Shoot Shoot (Carl's Song)" which features an excellent backbeat by session drummer, Ted Barakat. Epique's distorted vocals fit the song like a glove and the flanger on the guitars has a life of its own. The closer is the catchy, but long and repetitive "Sunshine (I Love)", where Epique continues to distort his vocals. The highlights of the song include a vocal chant where Epique and company yell "Remember to bring everything with love/sunrise and out will come my," and the heavier part of the song where the chorus is repeated numerous times.
