Billy Talent - Billy Talent
I must say I was excited to get a chance to listen to this album for reviews. I had heard the first single off of the self-titled album Try Honesty on the radio. I didn't really like it at first, but it managed to grow on me enough that I wanted to hear what the rest of the songs on the album sounded like. This is Billy Talent's first L.P. A self titled release, it offers a an interesting diversion to the other psuedopunk that washes over the airwaves these days. The music is very good, a lot of interesting change ups prevail though out the record. There style can definitely be picked out if you can stand the seven or eight listens it will take to keep the album from just washing over. Despite lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz's unique squeal, the album seems like any generic album of the day at first glance. However, after each listen the album seems to slowly crawl into your brain. You can start to enjoy the song composition and really start to appreciate it as a better-than-mediocre album. It can be crunchy at times and even has a softer side. While radio hits often represent the best the album has to offer, I often find this not to be the case. Maybe it's because I am biased against mainstream media and almost unconsciously refuse to say that what someone else chose for me to listen to was the right choice. However, Try Honesty is a good song to get you started in your journey into Billy Talent. The big problem I have with Billy Talent is the Benjamin Kowalewicz' singing voice. Don't get me wrong, his singing is unique, it is a good way to pick Billy Talent out of a crowd, but I think it detracts from the over all feel of the album. Even after multiple listens I still want to rip my ears out. I think the strength comes from the backing vocals. The songs I particularly like feature a lot more backing vocals than some of the other tracks. I am not sure if it would be better or worse if it would all be sung by the backing vocalist though. It may be that these backing vocals compliment Ben's singing really well. I have my doubts on this though. There are some good tracks where Ben's singing voice really makes the song. Cut the Curtains is a good example of this. Another problem is that most of the songs usually only have PARTS of the songs that are really good, while the rest of the song is not that good. There are not really many tracks that are consistently good from start to finish. Track(s) of Love: Ok, the last half of the cd is really good. From about Track 8 on is an above average song every track at least. It was tough trying to find one or two good song for this segment. Not to mention that the beginning of the album was littered with gems as well. Top Three: Track 9: Cut The Curtains , Track 10: Prisoners of Today and Track 12: Voices of Violence. Cut The Curtains and Voices of Violence feature more prominent backing vocals, which only helps to make a better Billy Talent song. Voices of Violence especially. Cut the Curtains and Prisoners of Today are both crunchier songs, Prisoners of Today a softer sort of crunch. Voices of Violence is more up tempo. If I was forced to pick one track off the album it would be track 12, Voices of Violence, no doubt. This again proves my theory that more often then not, the last track is usually one of the best, if not THE best on the album. In fact, this song is worth listening to the other eleven tracks. It is the perfect 'Sean Connery' of the album. Track(s) of Doom: There weren't any tracks on the album that I would call so horrible that I would want to vomit until I began coughing up internal organs, but there were a few that were lackluster. Track 5, Lies, is probably the worst track on the album. It's kind of annoying and easily skipped. That is probably the only completely bad song. A lot of other songs have chunks in them that just aren't that good or have uninspired parts or parts that just don't mesh with the good parts of the song. And now it's time for the final marks. I was not disappointed by Billy Talent's self titled album. When I first heard it I was impressed at how heavy it was. It's not Slayer or Ensign heavy, but compared to manufactured crap that the radio spews, it is heavy. I thought it would be poppier and was glad to be disappointed. However, it took far too many listens for me to finally start grasping the album and wanting to listen to it. It took even longer for any of the songs to get stuck in my head. Although I may concede that this is a sign of good songwriting and not just throwing out catchy tunes that are lowest common denominator accessible. On a scale of -5 to 5 I give Billy Talent by Billy Talent a -1. It was good but it just took too long to peak my interest. I know good music takes time to develop, but even good music gives you something to listen to while you are feeling out the record. This is considered an average rating for what I call generic music. So despite its seemingly low rating, Billy Talent has done a good job. Here's a cookie.
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