Tim R.
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Wow
Being a big Ken Andrews fan, I thought it only necessary to pick this album up. I wasn't expecting too much, as honestly I hadn't heard one track off of it- I was banking on the fact that it was a Ken Andrews project and therefore would be amazing. It turns out, this is an excellent rock album that is well done with incredible song writing and talented musicians. The CD arrived in the mail, and by that night, I had listened to it four times, all the way through! Andrews' singing here is some of my favorite from all of his work, and I found myself humming along to "Hey Sugar" quite often. If you are a fan of Failure or Year of the Rabbit, or just enjoy non-mainstream, smooth alternative rock, then get this album!
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Digital Noise Network
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Make Believe really does make you believe there just might be some more hope out
Remember those old CD’s in the 80’s that didn’t necessarily have that cheesy-80’s tone to them that made you just wanna bust out the tight jeans, Michael Jackson glove, and the intimidating REO Speedwagon jeans jacket, but it did have a hint of carefree-80’s rock to it? Me neither.
For some strange reason, On reminds me of late-80’s rock without the goofiness we now see in those 80’s CD commercials (I’m sure a lot of you don’t hear that, but screw you, this is my review). At least, a few tracks do, the rest remind me of why Ken Andrews is worshiped by many. Make Believe really does make you believe there just might be some more hope out there for the music industry—until you hear the history.
Amazingly, their first disc, Shifting Skin was released on Epic. It was a bit more electronic-in-nature, and was a bit less organic than this album. This one is just straight up rock, and it has some great beats to it. Anyway, back to the story… almost two years since the release of the first On CD, Ken Andrews finally reemerged to the scene after what seemed like he had fallen off the face of the Earth, ready to do another record for Epic. Then, a few weeks later, he’s ready to do one on his own. You can make the call as to what happened. So he self produced and put this album out on his own, going for a more personal touch to it. The only place it’s available for purchase, actually, is a real mom-n-pop like online record store. My experience with that site was unbelievable—fast, friendly customer service (I accidentally actually ordered the thing twice, they fixed the problem right away), and fast and prompt delivery. There’s not much else to ask for.
Indeed, Make Believe is a very grass roots like album. It gets back to the basics of rock—talent and originality, and good tunes. And to be expected from Andrews, it’s well polished but far from overdone. Instead of making it sound like the latest radio hit, the album sounds just right—a good balance of old fashioned studio tricks and a real polished and more modernized sound to it.
The best part is, it gets better every time you listen to it. It might only be forty minutes in length, but it’s a fun ride while it lasts, and you want more at the end. Very few albums today really have a good replay value to them—sure, we sometimes award good replay values upon review time (Audioslave, Open Hand, and more in my own case at least), but how many times after those initial 10 spins or so do you keep spinning it? This one has been in heavy rotation in my CD player. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
I’d say the only downfall of this album is the length, and the fact that one must wonder how much time this act will gain from Ken Andrews’ schedule. With the Year Of The Rabbit full length due out in a few months, and the fact that he will be touring in support of them, it’s tough to say. So you might be left high and dry, with just a pair of good discs to offer from this group.
In the end, it’s probably safe to say that On won’t die anytime soon. Andrews’ clearly wants to get this music out there, even though he might not be shopping it to labels or anything. This one is for the fans, as evident by the grass roots approach. It’s for those who care about music, not everyone in the world. If he wanted to just make a million bucks off this album, he’d slap it together real quick with a bunch of hooks, and shop it, and then sell it. Instead, he just creates music, and we devour it. Enjoy.
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