Search - Civil Twilight :: Civil Twilight

It's good-don't get me wrong...

J. R. Borntrager | MN | 04/20/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lyrically, this album is amazing. I personally am always one to read the lyrics to songs and, as an aspiring songwriter, it's a treat to see the different styles of different artists. It always is fascinating to read what someone else wrote in regards to music, and this was no disappointment. It seems that the lyrics for this album are very well written and very poetic. Honestly, this is the highest point for me on this cd and is the main reason the album got three stars, because the other contributing factors to the cd didn't hold up as much.



The guitar work on this cd is very similar to that of Edge from U2. Setting that aside, the guitar sounds so similar in every song it's almost unbearable. After "Letters From The Sky", the band goes on autopilot for a while (which is roughly one half of the cd). Not until the song "Quiet in My Town" does the album change pace really in terms of guitar work (or anything else). This makes for a frustrating listen because so many songs sound so similar.



Okay, now that I've gotten the great things and mediochre things out of the way-let's talk vocals. Vocally, the singer for this band is impressive. Heck, to be fair-the guy is a great singer, BUT the vocals were something on this album I could NOT stand. Again, the first four tracks on this album are phenomonal, but once they get into that five or six song slump, the lead singer comes across as just enjoying how great of a range his voice has in the upper registers. He also has this method of singing I will tentatively call "Asthmatic Singing". It's as though he needs to draw in a huge breath before...every...woooooooooooooooooooord-every WOOO-ohh-oo-OORRRRRRRRRD... (If I could type the way he "sings" through most of this album, THAT'S WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE.)



Truly, I do appreciate his talent for singing. But the complaint here is that it's the same way for every song (for a majority anyways). Long, "breathy" notes that switch in pitch all over the place with him essentially murmuring the words. The worst part is, they have such FANTASTIC lyrics, but they get lost in the singers whiney (there, I said it) asthmatic singing. Maybe he does have asthma and I'm being out of line here, but until facts prove otherwise, it got old very quickly.



This band has a LOT of potential, they really do! This cd is a solid effort, but the formula they used for 75% of the cd goes like this:



1.Ambient intro

2.Light piano+ singer singing in lower register

3.Drums kick in with solid beat (vocals get a little louder)

3A.IMMEDIATELY after the 1st (or 2nd) verse, guitars come crashing in with drums and lead singer begins his long...LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOng NOOOOOOOOOOOOTES...in the upper register and just freewheeling wherever he wants

4."Crashing guitars and drums/lead singers breathy long notes" subside for 2nd (or 3rd) verse, then resume crashing after said verse

5.Light piano-ey outro



In conclusion, you have an alright debut, with tracks like "Letters From The Sky," "Next To You," and "Anybody Out There" carrying most of it, but the next album from them will hopefully be stronger and stray from the formula they used so much on this one.





"

Great stuff, but repetitive-ness makes it lose its power

Steven S. Belli | Greenville, SC USA | 06/10/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, I have to say when I heard "Letters from the Sky" on the radio, I immediately went to Grooveshark to hear the rest of the album. At first I was really impressed, the lead singer has great range and the guitar work was wonderful (always loved early Edge). However, by about half way through the album things seem to go south a bit. Songs drag on and begin to sound too much alike. The meloncoly, slow sparce instrumentation prevades through almost half the songs on the album with little change to the tempo. And most of these slower beats (and I like a lot of slow songs so that's not a bad thing on its own) go on far too long in the 6-minute range.



I think with a better producer who could have reigned in some of the album, it could have been great. If I could, I would have given it 3.5 stars. A good start, but a little bit more variety...or even just cutting of a few songs that sound the same could have gone a long way.



Either way, I'll be keeping eye on this band and hope to see even better stuff from them in the future."

Fantastic!

Brett | Texas | 05/22/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really hope these guys go far because they have a lot of talent. I heard Letters in the Sky on the radio one day and thought it was unbelievable so that night I looked them up and seemed to like their music and bought their CD. Then the next week I saw them perform live in Dallas. That was one of the best weeks of my life. This album is such a breath of fresh air amidst all the bad music coming out these days. I've probably listened to this album start to finish about 30 or so times in the last month or so and it still sounds just as good as when I first got it. The music is simply beautiful and then they throw in some twists like in Soldier that are completely different but are so good.



What really sold me on this band though is when I saw them live. It was a small little bar in downtown Dallas and a lot of the people were there basically just to drink and have a good time but when they went on stage the whole crowd changed. Few knew who they were but their performance was phenomenal. I love how Andrew plays his guitar, he does sound like the Edge but he has his own feel as well. Several songs he starts playing the guitar like a violin, it's pretty sweet. Then Richard is just amazing, he can jam and he makes it look so easy. Finally Stephen (who happens to look like the guy from Twilight a little bit) is just insanely talented, not only does he play bass but then he jumps on the piano and plays the coolest sounds and his voice is amazing. These guys just really get into it on stage.



Because of the small venue, my friends and I were able to meet them after the concert and we took some pictures and talked to them briefly. They're really cool guys. That's another great thing about them is that they are really laid back and you can tell they aren't there for fame or anything they just want to play and have a good time entertaining audiences.



You should buy this CD if you are having doubts, I promise you won't regret it."