Sunday, February 11, 2007

Sound Radius - Evolution Demo Reel

Hear The Track Here

Sound Radius works in my absolute least favourite of genres: Film Soundtracks. I'm not going to go into the reasons here because no doubt you are heartily sick of them by now. Most tracks of this genre (even the very best of them) escape my clutches with (at best) a recommended or two, or (at worst) damning with very faint praise - a speciality of mine as In think you've already experienced once or twice. However, slap me in a dress and call me Sally, Sound Radius managed to turn all that upside down with just ONE track - and his first review from me into the bargain. The Power Within (December 2006) is a superb example of exactly how to do this stuff so that even a philistine like me can see the point. Needless to say, it was my one (and so far only) Must Have in this category.

Not bad at all for a new Soundclicker.

His arranging and production skills are - as you may gather - prodigious as even the merest skimming of The Power Within will show. A track whose title describes exactly what the track is about. Evolution: A Symphony Of Rock is the title of the new CD from Sound Radius and - judging on what has come before - will probably also do exactly what it says on the tin, so lets dive into the title track. As well as the usual Sound Radius contribution the track is helped on this occasion by one Eric Severson who (apparently) played some guitar - that's the acoustic that features in this track presumably. It certainly sticks out as one of the main instruments and has a lovely sound, but that's another Sound Radius trait innit?

I can't say I am as bowled over by this track as I was by The Power Within mainly because I didn't think this was as good technically, there are distinctly iffy passages in terms of performance and/or chord placements. Not that these are wrong, more like they just don't sound right. The drums especially didn't back the track up and in certain cases sounded as if they weren't working to the track at all. Plus (and it's a biggie...) the style the track is delivered in is definitely not something I am partial too. However, the technical comments I make are based on what I hear, not what I think. Coming from an artist whose debut was so distinctive may well be the problem and I'm just too dumb to see it but, that's just me and I'm a well known nit picker. As soundtracks go, this is head and shoulders above most attempts at the genre DESPITE all I've had to say on the subject, and if you like this style of music, you will like this a lot.

Recommended Soundtrack material.

No comments: