Back in the day (I feel old for even thinking about writing that), I used to be into rock. Rock everything. Metallica, Korn, Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, Green Day, Offspring, Pantera... I like classic rock like Boston, Eagles, Journey, and so on as well as the more (at the time) modern heavy rock stylings of bands like Disturbed, Tool, Coheed and Cambria, Chevelle, Three Days Grace, and such.Over the years, much of that had pretty much fallen off. I still enjoy listening to classic rock, can still sing along to most of the songs, but I don't find myself listening to it very often. I dumped my liking of most modern rock like so much refuse soon after I started working at Burger King. Even more fell off when Randy introduced me to European metal, which puts most rock that comes out of this country to absolute shame.
So, it's a pretty big deal when there's a rock outfit that comes out with a new CD and it's actually good. I haven't heard a new band that I have been any bit impressed with since I met Chris Townsend on MySpace, and he's from England anyway, and he sings what would most likely be classified as adult alternative rather than rock. There were a few holdouts from the BK years, and it's really these bands that keep me coming back to rock from time to time.
One of the most consistent of these bands is Chevelle. I fell in love with Chevelle when The Red off Wonder What's Next started seeing a lot of airtime on my local radio station (94.3 KILO, baby!!!). The song so thoroughly captured what I felt most of the time I was working there, it was truly remarkable. I've been a devoted fan ever since - I once saw them in concert twice in the span of a week. Once at a place in Denver called Cervantes where I got to meet the band (back when Joe was the bassist) and where my car was broken into at some point during the show. The second show was at the World Arena in the Springs where they were "co-headlining" with Korn. Co-headlining really meant everybody was there to see the decidedly inferior Korn. Colorado doesn't have the strongest Chevelle fan base....
Once every 2 years-ish, they come out with a new album, and there are few bits of news that can get me quite as pumped up than hearing "New Chevelle album out xx/xx!" I generally get more excited about hearing about a new Tool album, but that's only because it takes forever for them to release new stuff.
Anyway, Sci-Fi-Crimes. I downloaded the album on Friday (thanks to the spiffy early digital release for folks who pre-ordered) and have been listening to it regularly since then. The album is... different for them. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Chevelle is constantly evolving their sound. Wonder What's Next doesn't sound anything like Point #1, neither sound like This Type of Thinking, and so on. And I love that about them. Rather than pulling, say, an Offspring and just writing the same music over and over and attaching new lyrics, these guys are always pushing their sound.
But this was... way different.
Like I said, I love that they evolve constantly, but there are certain expectations that I have for any Chevelle album. Mostly, all their albums up until this point have 2 things in common. Polish, and a heavy sound.
With the exception of Point #1, every Chevelle album has come through with this extremely polished sound. With Sci-Fi Crimes, that polish has been stripped away, leaving this more weathered, rough sound. It took some getting used to, if only because it defied the expectation I had that it would be polished to a nice shine. This new, not-so-shiny Chevelle is actually really great once I got past the initial "not what I was expecting" shock. Make no mistake, it is still Chevelle, but it is obviously not the same thing that we've heard on their previous albums.
This album s also a lot less heavy than their previous outings, as certain iTunes and Amazon reviewers have decried. Lyrics aside, one of the things that attracted me to Chevelle was Pete Loeffler's voice. The man has one of the most amazing and versatile voice in rock history. It was that contrasted with the heavy, driving guitars and in-your-face beats that really set Chevelle apart from everything else that was coming out at the time and what has continued to set them apart from most of the crap that rolls out of studios to this day. With Sci-Fi Crimes' less hardcore approach to the music, it seemed some of that dynamic contrast was gone. But, I quickly discovered that that doesn't really matter. Loeffler still has an amazing voice, like I said before, versatile, and there are many new ways to appreciate how well it works with their new musical tones. Besides, lighter isn't necessarily a bad thing. This album feels more rhythmical than their previous outings, and that suits me just fine.
One other expectation I always have of Chevelle albums but neglected to mention earlier is deep lyrics. This album delivers in spades. Nothing new there, Pete Loeffler writes wonderful, deep, thought-provoking lyrics, and that's all there is to that.
So, after first listen, I was on the fence about the goodness of the album. However, after each additional listen, I kept finding more and more things that just worked on the album. So, here's the song-by-song.
Sleep Apnea - I think I must have missed this song on my first run-through, because the song caught my attention as soon as I started my second listen. Chevelle really as a knack for writing powerful and harmonious choruses for their songs, and that talent is on full display here.
Mexican Sun - The rising and falling guitars are awesome.
Shameful Metaphors - Yet again, the chorus is what really shines in this song. Top to bottom, though, it's one of my favorites on the album.
Jars - This was the first single released for the album, one that I wrote about on this very blog a couple of times. The song is just wonderful, and the video for it lives up to Chevelle's knack for creating very awesome music videos!
Fell Into Your Shoes - I like this song, a lot. The guitar work here is not like what I'm used to hearing from Chevelle, and the change is a welcome surprise.
Letter From a Thief - This was the first song I really started digging into the lyrics.
Highlands Apparition - This was the surprise sleeper song on the album. On my first listen, I was pretty ho-hum about this song, but the more I listened, the more I really, really started to like the song. One of the best on the album easily.
Roswell's Spell - This is a much slower song, and it very much reminds me of some songs off Point #1. I like the song a bunch, but if I had to pick a "least favorite" song on the album, this would be it.
Interlewd - One and a half minutes of some guitar stuff. Cool, but far too short. I wish, just once, that Chevelle would whip out a long instrumental piece. I know they've got the talent. Pete is a rocking guitar soloist (check out Point #1 if you have any doubts), Sam can kick some serious behind on the drums, and I'd love to hear Dean get a bass solo.
A New Momentum - What else can I say? I'm running out of adjectives! :) Another great one with a particularly interesting chorus.
This Circus - This song came as an instant download when I preordered the album. At first, I severely disliked it. Yet, as was the story of the album as a whole, I came to love it the more I listened. Now, it gives me chills and ranks as one of my most played songs on the whole disc.
All told, I couldn't be much happier with this album. It defied my expectations, and it succeeded brilliantly while doing so. It is very different from what they've put out before, but I continue to insist that in this case, different is a very good thing.
Score: 9.5/10.0
On an aside, my favorite Chevelle song has long been The Clincher off the This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In album. While I think that Sci-Fi Crimes is better on the whole than TTOT, The Clincher remains their best song.
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