Gem-X - You're An Angel (But A Demon Too)

Hear The Track Here

I generally get to roam around a bit when writing these reviews doing research into this or that aspect, but none more so than with this track and this artist. It's a long story, so I'd get a cup of what does it best for you, grab a seat and let me tell you what happened. The first time I heard You're An Angel (But A Demon Too) it was obvious that it had some problems and after whapping my Ipod upside the head a couple of times, I decided the fault had to lie with the track itself. After continued playing I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that Gem-X just can't sing. Seemed a bit harsh to me too, but it was an inescapable conclusion. Therefore I REALLY applied myself to it and noticed that the tendency to go out of tune was the problem. Not much wrong with the music btw.

Call me soft but I hate to diss someone's work without digging much deeper to see whether it is this track that would give me this impression and that others may show a different face. There are only three tracks on Gem-X's Soundclick page; two MP3's and a video cover version of AFI's Girls Not Grey. The online version is definitely NOT the version I reviewed, it's been Auto-tuned for a start and that's bound to help any pitch problems and truth is it's a pretty good track because of that. Mark this moment chums, because it will probably by the one and only time you will find me defending Auto-tune.

Sign, the other MP3 shows that this inability to hit the notes isn't restricted to the one track, and of course Auto-tuned to within an inch of it's life. Funnily enough, it actually doesn't help much with this track because the voice goes where it will. The songs themselves are really not bad though, and neither is Gem's voice - despite my pissing and moaning - provided it stays in pitch. As far as the AFI cover goes, I actually like that band and that track so I was a bit hesitant to listen to what Gem could do with it and surprisingly enough, it came out pretty well. An acoustic version, for sure but Gem holds the tune well considering it's complexity and those long drawn out endings. Don't know whether it was the tunes familiarity but I liked this the best of all the tracks I heard.