Published on Jan 27, 2006
Today, the modern music scene is littered with
copycat artists. The 90’s were all about finding a sound and
playing it to death. N’Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears,
Christina Aguilera — they all defined that pop sound that swept
across the land. In terms of rock, you had bands that played off
the style of Nirvana or Pearl Jam.
Now don’t get me wrong, this phenomenon is only
natural, and has been going on for quite some time. The problem is,
when a sound gets played to death, interest begins to wane.
I’ve never a big fan of Creed or Nickelback. They
were just more mainstreamed Pearl Jam ripoffs, along with so many
other bands out there. Much to my dismay upon listening to
Metamorphosis, I heard more of the same. You line up these
songs from Sonic Bliss with others from the band I’ve just
mentioned and God knows I’d be hard pressed to tell a
difference.
Everything on Metamorphosis screams
cliché, from the Eddie Vedder-influenced vocals, to the
banal guitar riffs that get churned out to the incredibly lame
lyrics. This is the first time in a long while that an album has
struck me as being completely uninspired. From the opening notes of
“Human Race,” I knew this was going to be rough. One can sum up the
album with just that song, there’s no need to go through the rest
of it. Even better is the single half-assed attempt at a ballad,
which sounds so out of place given the rest of the disc. “After
All” comes off as a freakin’ Journey cover.
So much goes wrong on the disc it’s tough to pick
just a few moments. There’s the two six-minute snooze fests of
“Weep Of A Madman” and “Free Of The Noose,” which reaffirm that
fact longer songs do not equal good songs. I would be remiss if I
didn’t mention that the guitar effects on “Weep Of A Madman” are
cool, but it’s nowhere near enough to save the song. “Free Of The
Noose” starts off as another wimpy ballad but degenerates into
standard alternative fare.
In terms of performance, I cannot really fault the
band. They aren’t bad musicians; they just don’t make good music.
There’s a big difference. There are no ear-bleeding moments to be
found, or cringe-worthy solos. It’s all carried off professionally
and without any feeling whatsoever. How can I say that? None of
these songs moved me, or sound that drastically different from the
others. I’ve read reviews say that you can hear AC/DC in the band’s
sound, and to that I say AC/DC should be offended. The closest
Sonic Bliss gets to AC/DC is “All Night Long,” but whereas AC/DC
would have fully embraced their cock-rock style, Sonic Bliss come
off as posers.
Metamorphosis may be many things, but it most
certainly does not take after the band’s title. Sonic Bliss?
Whatever you say, boys…