Let me add that free doesn't mean bad. Four artists got into this years Platinum Vinyl Awards doing the free download or pay what you want route (Jehaziel, The Ember Days, Miss Angie, The Rocket Summer). Not this one, however, and it has nothing to do with it not being eligible (It would be eligible for consideration for the 2012 awards, but no on that as well. Read further for why).
I saw the album as disjointed. Some songs were rock, some folk, some rap, who knew what would be next. Now a lot of artists highlight multiple styles on a single album, but at least it all comes off as a cohesive unit. I never got that feeling here.
More disturbing to me was some of the language. There were six instances of the Christian F-bomb being used (Freaking or frigging). You're not fooling anyone. Everyone knows what the substitution is for.
On the too cute by half front, there was a song that added hisses, pops and scratches to make you think it was an old vinyl song. Everything is digital these days, so we know it's a gimmick. Perhaps in the same vein almost all of the songs used a mike trick where the vocals were "fuzzed". It was very distracting. A final criticism, or nitpick, whichever you prefer. Though I am not a musician, it appeared to me that at times the instruments were either out of tune or played in the wrong key. Don't ask me why, it just appeared that way to me.
Perhaps I was a bit harsh. It's not that it was a horrible album. No that was reserved for Andrew Greer. It's obvious that Heath McNease has talent, it is just that it is marred by intentional amateur gimmicks. I was toying with the idea of titling the post Holding Out For Wal-Mart Jesus, but thought that would be too low a blow. I am giving Thrift Store Jesus by Heath McNease 3.25 Emeralds (which is still 1 full Emerald above Angel Band). I was expecting better, but I guess I did get what I paid for. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
P.S.- The Dove Awards were Thursday Night. Due to the volume of the entrants to this years Platinum Vinyl Awards I totally missed making predicitons, so there will be no official scorekeeping this year. I will do a post with some comments in the near future. More time to get it right for the PVA's.
What's up? This is actually Heath McNease. I really appreciate you giving the album a listen. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion...and i would never begrudge anyone the right to dislike a work of art...i just thought that you should know that this album was in no way meant to be a Christian album. I said freaking because i say freaking all the time. not because i wanted it to be a substitute for something else. also...i sample tons of vinyl. over half the album includes vinyl sampling. all of my albums have vinyl samples, and the pops and fuzzy noises are absolutely from vinyl. in fact...with some of the songs, a great deal of effort was made to take the lion's share of the record pop out of it. finally...there were no mic tricks used to make the vox distorted. many of the songs had the vox recorded on a tiny commando mic that was fed through a distorted amp. not a mic trick. a familiar 60's studio practice. this has been my most successful album release to date. the reviews have been oustanding. while your review is the first one i've seen that wasn't positive i do appreciate you giving it a listen. thanks so much for giving it a chance.
ReplyDeleteheath mcnease heath.mcnease@gmail.com
Thank You for your response, Mr. McNease. I must say I was slightly surprised by your comment, as it was the first from "The Artist" and not just an average reader. Having been a DJ back in the Vinyl Days I well remember hiss an pop, and was a bit surprised by that, seeing as I said, things are almost entirely hiss free in digital, except, in this case, where it is in the sampled music. Thank you for the explanation.
DeleteThe f-word use was the most disturbing to me, though not for perhaps the expected reason. In its current usage it hardly is profanity anymore.
Thank you for including your email, as I would very much like to address the matter in more detail, and I feel that a comment is not sufficient for the purpose. Again, thank you for stopping by the WENC Night Beat.