Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Steve Gilmore Reviews: Silvertrain - Empty

Artist: Silvertrain
Title: Empty

I seem to have spent almost the whole of 2005 berating John and Ritchie (aka Silvertrain) to get a grip and get some new material out there, as well as batting the n dozen million demos that John has shot my way, all of which - I am sure - we are all heartily sick and tired of. Not that I have anything against John's songs, even in the demo form but when you put it against the classics they issued a couple of years ago, it doesn't compare. It doesn't stop them garnering the attention they deserve but I still feel they are coasting off tracks that are decidely showing their age - at elast for someone who has listened to their entire repertoire several million times.

Empty is, in fact, a bit of a change from ANY of the tracks I have heard since The One To Blame CD and one I sincerely hope makes its way into the next recording session. The first reason is - of course - the fact that is so different from the 'normal' (read softer, gentler) Silvertrain we have become used to over the past year. Empty is a much harder edged proposition and bears some resemblence to the rockier side of Silvertrain I first picked up on and loved. Tracks like One Night Stand and The Night I Died probably came from roots similar to this, and believe me that can only be a very good thing indeed. Admittedly, you'd have to picture what this may sound like in a 'proper' arrangement but what's here isn't too shabby at all.

It's a pretty straightforward classic rock song, with a fairly ploddy beat that would be picked up enormously with the inclusion of a live drummer as I found the timing a bit suspect. Nonetheless, the bulk of the track is carried by a guitar riff and accompanying bits that more than adequately hold the track up, allowing the vocals to carry the main feel of the song. A bit of a broody monster this boy too, a vastly different beast to the cuddly warmth I have come to associate with ST's ouput of late. If this one DOESN'T make the cut for the next recording session, I will no doubt be back on my high horse before you can shout 'damn nitpicker'. In the meantime, take a listen to what first attracted me to this UK band, and maybe you can also see the future of rock as we know it... (Ed: Bit strong Gilmore, are you still having those delusions of critical grandeur? Don't think for one second this is going to get you a holiday...)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lol...
I know I know Steve...
It's definitely on it's way I promise...
To be honest we are a victim like most artists of the tool that helps us promote are music so well...
The Internet!!
We get plenty of songplays the stats show that but I think alot of people just don't buy because they can either just log on on any number of sites and listen for free or heaven forbid get round the download...
And not being a gigging band (heck it's hard enough getting together to write and record!) CD and download sales are our only source of income...
Digital downloads are showing a steady increase on sites like iTunes, Napster & MSN Music and anything we do make goes straight back in to the new music...
I can put my hands up and say that if we could knock out a decent tune at home every time without incurring studio costs then sure we would quite happily give more songs away...

Anyway back to the plot what there is of it...
Yeah Empty is very akin to One Night Stand especially in the way it was put together...
The drums are one of those dodgy loops from an old CD that are probably going to be popping up all over the place on our stuff to try and give it at least a little lift...
I felt the problem was that having no drummer alot of the tracks that were coming out lacked the balls of the first CD so I just whacked the loop on the PC and came up with a very simple tune but I think it could well lead to something very meaty indeed...
Will it be in the next studio session...
Probably not as we already decided on the tracks for that and to be honest until Richie sings on it we wouldn't want to commit...
But I would say that it will almost certainly make the one after that...
Touch wood...
Future of rock!!
Blimey Steve thanks...
Well I hope we can get to that next CD...
I guess Def Leppard managed to carry on with a lot worse problems than we ever had like loss of limbs and deaths of band members (remember that next time you are moaning at your bandmates lol!!) so we have to really...
Thanks again for the review I know I'm pushing my luck with the home cuts...
Cheers John...