Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Member since:29.08.2002
Reviews:625
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It seems strange that its been a couple of months since my last music review. So to get myself back into music reviews again I’ve decided to go for a recent addition to my music collection. The third album from, The Beta Band. They are one of the best kept secrets in the country, that in fact everyone will probably have heard at some point. I’m sure your probably wondering how that’s possible, well they appear on a number of soundtracks. Most notably one of the main tracks on Trigger happy TV was by The Beta Band and they also get a mention in High Fidelity.
Coming out of Edinburgh they have risen slowly with 2 previous albums and a collection of their EP’s. It’s the appearance on Trigger Happy that really brought them to my attention and inspired me to seek out some music by the band. Although they receive a lot of coverage they seem to pass most people by. As a band they haven’t been content with either of the albums
since they signed for a major label. That is until now and the release of Heroes To Zeros, which seems to have finally appeased the band.
The album is another step forward for the band as they continue to mature and at the same time their music seems to be progressing with them. The early days brought about a lot of sampling and Lo-Fi dubbing. Now 3 albums down the line they rely more on the guitar riffs, featuring a higher number of guitar solo’s than on previous albums. Of course this shows a marked improvement on these earlier albums and will open them up to a wider audience.
The tracks are all the work of lead singer/guitar Stephen Mason. He has blended together a diverse mixture of subjects to create 12 tracks for the bands new work. He’s relied mainly on world events drawing in his feelings on Terrorism and War. This has lead to the album being a little more aggressive than previous albums. This aids with the mixture of mellower tracks with a the more upbeat. If they had someone with weaker vocal’s, I’d say it would be fair to say that the lyrics and musical accompaniment wouldn’t work anywhere near as well.
All 12 tracks have one thing in common and its not the vocals. Each track has a distinctive vocal sound, none of which sound too similar. Instead it’s the drumbeat that seems to be constant throughout the album. The beat isn’t the same for each track varying enough to make each sound different. Rather when each track starts up it will carry on in the same way as the introduction. This keeps the album moving along and at the same time keeps each track sounding fresh and vibrant.
The guitars sound pretty good on all the tracks, including the weaker tracks such as “Space Beatle” or “Wonderful”. They add superb variety to each track with only a couple of tracks even sounding remotely similar to each other. Of course I feel the guitars have a bigger effect on the mellower tracks. They seem to bring out the best in the vocals on these mellower tracks, which helps to make them sound a lot better than perhaps they otherwise would. They also have a similar effect on the faster tracks adding a good pace to each song. This, like the constant drumbeat, aids in keeping the album going.
From my own point of view I’d say there are really two tracks that stand out. The superb “Outside” was instantly my favourite track. It isn’t often that I’ll listen to an album and a track will grab me as quickly as that but “Outside” seemed to appeal straight away. The other would be the slower but equally good “Simple”. It took me a lot longer for this track to really hit me by how good it was but the mix of slow guitar riffs and superb vocals really make it stand out.
The band though can only have themselves to thank for the outcome of this album. As well as writing and recording the whole thing they have also produced it. This lead to them achieving exactly what they were trying to accomplish with this third album. The mature sound holds well for the bands future and hopefully they will continue to improve on what they have already accomplished. Hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy a nice warm summers day, with a BBQ, a few mates and The Beta Band playing in the background.
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Update: Since writing this review the band have since split up.
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The sleeve to Heroes to Zeros, the third album from the Beta Band, depicts them as ... more
garishly clad cartoon superheroes, bursting from the frame to confront the forces of evil and deliver a mighty smackdown. Anyone familiar with the career of these Scots ...
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