Posted on: November 15, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The album art of Neurosonic’s “Drama Queen” does leave me a bit scared, bearing a queen with fangs and blood running in the corners of her mouth. But the first track takes the fear away, the opening is really good. The fast sung lyrics remind me of Thousand Foot Krutch. It isn’t annoying as it sometimes can be, the lyrics are understandable. As it turns out, the openings on all the songs are pretty good. The vocals are different; a tenor male voice that sometimes channels Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. I kind of dig the bounce back from fast lyrics to smoother songs. It works. The lyrics channel head more toward the emo side than the instruments would have you believe.

I really enjoy “I Will Always Be Your Fool”. The slower vibe works completely, and I like the lyrics also. It reminds me of early 90s mainstream jams. I really like the thick harmonies with no lead emerging until the chorus. Got it stuck in my head. The calmness carries on to the next song, the acoustic guitar is subtle and a nice accent to the soft empty sounding vocals, which match the lyrics stating, ” We’ll just walk away and I’m alone again.”

A couple songs lost me, such as “Crazy Sheila.” Though I did like the squealing guitars. “Until I Die” grabs a more modern sound than the rest of the tracks. It includes some time changes that caught me as powerful. I am after all a sucker for time changes. The opening of “Fearless” is really good, as are the lyrics. The songs with this kind of style to them are my favorites on the disc. The little appearance synth makes on the album makes completely adds, doesn’t deplete from the solidity of the intros. I think that the harmonies on here are pretty solid, they don’t clash and they aren’t overdone and obnoxious. The drums consistently keep the instruments together, with a solid beat throughout. “So Now You Know” features some of those minor chords I was expecting from the band. But the verse picks it up and becomes consistent with the rest of the tracks. The ending song has pretty cliché acoustics to it, but I still appreciate its use. As a whole, I don’t think one word puts Neurosonic into a genre. The lyrics don’t match the music doesn’t match the vocals doesn’t match the album art. But I still give props; a couple songs had me jamming along.

Top Tracks: Fearless, I Will Always Be Your Fool

Rating: 6.3/10

Neurosonic – Drama Queen / 2006 Bodog Music / 11 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/neurosonic / http://www.bodogmusic.com / Reviewed 27 May 2007

[Charlie]

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