Mostly, I put this album on and forgot about it. Then my wife asked me to turn it off. I don't normally subject her to my musical review process, but sometimes she walks in on me. I have much more of a tolerance level, and I often need to have some sort of noise going on in the background to work on anything.
In the case with Damage's album Velocity, the noise level was
a little too much. I can accept music that is generally appropriate. This album
is not such. Imagine Alice in Chains with a little bit more creative musical
flourishing, or what out of touch DJ's call 90s "Alternative" hard rock with
subject matter that involves vague references to trivial matters of the heart
and alcohol. Track 9, entitled The Fall, particularly drove me to completely
understand what the point of the album was: getting laid. I did have to especially
struggle with the fifth track, Cryin all the Time. This is a somewhat
emotional, acoustic track, with a surprisingly sensitive nature. This would
be the power ballad I suppose. And for the inclusion of such, I really have
to let this album down.
Damage's strengths lie within the whammy bar waving, crybaby induced guitar solos and driving strength of the majority of the music on the album. As I've said before, I'm not a fan. The appeal for this line of music is usually found while driving around slightly buzzed on a Friday night looking for a fight. That's not me. But it may be you. And this album is for you, not me. Don't kick my ass. I'm just an opinionated critic, and I'm not always right.
A big reason for the unappealing nature of Damage's sound is that I've heard it a million times, and it is fairly unoriginal. There is a market for this type of music, but it usually consists of the same type of similarly riffed fare. The lack of originality leads one to believe repetition is the norm for Damage's musical base.
I honestly see this type of musical style to be a sort of shop talk level for musicians. Bands that play this type of music are usually into gear and equipment, and often the focus is perceived to be more on technicalities than musical creativity. This is just an observation I've made, seeing bands like this in the past.
So, in conclusion, Damage's Velocity is not for everyone, and
it is really nothing great. I would imagine the group has grown since the original
formation. Their
MySpace page reflects a different lineup and a slightly more aggressive
song list. I would personally encourage a bit more experimentation. But what
do I know? I just listen to a little bit of music.
|
