Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Music Review: 10 Years

Thanks to my wonderful family members who payed attention to my organized wish list and constant nagging over the holidays, I am now the proud owner of 7 new CD's that came to me as Christmas presents. I've been listening to them a lot, as well as other single songs I've been downloading as usual, and I think I'm finally ready to review one of them!

Feeding the Wolves, 10 Years
Genre: Hard Rock, or Alternative Metal, according to Tuniverse

Oh Lord, I love this CD! 10 Years is a very new band to me. The only music I knew from this band from Tennessee included a single released in 2009 and the single currently being advertised on this album "Shoot It Out", from 2010. I must've had a really intuitive feeling that I would love the rest of it, because usually I listen to more than two songs before buying an album's band. Anywho, I'm glad I put this on my wish list because it's a great one!

It's always hard for me to describe music in words, so I try to look for other bands the music is similar to. It is my personal opinion that they are pretty different from any other band, but at times they have reminded me of: Three Days Grace, Framing Hanley (mostly on the first verse of "The Wicked Ones"), and Panic! at the Disco. Except I think I might like them better than all three of those bands. All of their songs have diverse melodies, upbeat head-banging/foot-tapping rhythms, and choruses that are easy and fun to sing along with once you learn the lyrics. The bridges deserve commendation for not just being slightly varied versions of the already played choruses or verses, like many bands do when trying to hide the fact that they've run out of music-making juice.


Of course I haven't listened to the lyrics much yet because I'm all about the sound, but at least I can say it's definitely not focused on sex and drugs. Actually, I haven't even come across a song that seems to touch on romance or relationships all that much, and that's rare these days, wouldn't you say? Don't quote me on this, but it appears that the songs are mostly the kind that analyze personal performance and inner struggle-type things, like in these lyrics from "Waking Up the Ghost":

     I, I'm waking up the ghost
     Not digging up the memories that were dead to me
     Now, now I'm getting close
     Closer to the enemy that's inside of me

I have an immense attraction to the perky songs like that one that leave my legs bopping up and down uncontrollably (not in a spastic way), but even the ballads on the album can hold their own. "One More Day" and "Don't Fight It" don't have to compete with the energized songs they're surrounded by, because the whole set flows like a well-made album should. Another thing I appreciate is the specific song titles that are easily connected to the songs themselves. When you see the words "Dead in the Water" or "Chasing the Rapture," you can easily recall the sound and lyrics they refer to. I get really annoyed when an album's song titles are all one or two vague words and you have to think harder to remember them. Three Days Grace has this problem, and in general I think their songs are less memorable - or at least the ones that aren't immediate radio hits. There we go! That's why 10 Years is better! As a whole, this album is more memorable. (An epiphany just occurred inside List Girl's head.)

What I don't like about the CD:
- It is not long enough! There are only 10 songs total, adding up to less than 45 minutes.
- The front insert doesn't contain lyrics to any of the songs. It is two pages. Lame.

In conclusion, 10 Years' album Feeding the Wolves is a quality rock/alternative album with pep and variety, but I wish there was more OF it. Here's one of my favorites, for you to taste the awesomeness. 



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