Published on Jan 21, 2002
It was bound to happen, I guess. Some band was going to clone
the formula used by Linkin Park.
I have yet to warm up to the concept of merging pseudo-rapped
verses with harmonized choruses – and I recognize that Linkin Park
does about as much singing as there is pseudo-rapping. Now, from
the depths of Canada rises Headstrong, whose self-titled debut
album (scheduled for release in February) tries to capitalize on
that formula with more than a touch of Rage Against The Machine
thrown in. (I’m working from an advance, “radio-friendly” version
of the disc for this review.)
Musically, Headstrong is a tight unit who are able to pound out
a very solid melody which is catchy. However, vocalist Kinna
possibly does this band the greatest disservice by insisting on the
constant raps – a shame, really, since the harmonization is
excellent. Listen to the first track (and song which launched the
group on FarmClub) “All Of The Above,” and discover the absolute
power of the sung choruses. Admittedly, this track is a powerhouse,
and rightfully won the group a load of fans – but it gets
repetitive far too quickly on this disc.
I’m not suggesting that
Headstrong is a bad disc. Indeed, far from it. There are
moments on this disc which make me curious to see how far the group
will go, as on “Swing Harder” and “Open Season”. But Headstrong
isn’t able to keep the momentum going as long as they’d like to,
and a good reason this is so is because the spoken-word vocals just
don’t pack the same kind of power as even some of Headstrong’s
contemporaries, like Rage Against The Machine. Tracks like
“Adriana” and “Hoodies And Hoods” sometimes feel like they’re
trying to hold up the burden of living up to Headstrong’s early
hype, a burden which is proving to be almost Herculean in size.
I’m also not suggesting that the pseudo-raps be banished in the
future. I
will, however, suggest that Headstrong not rely on them as
heavily as they do. Sometimes, a message can be delivered with an
even sharper edge if the message is wrapped in a powerful harmony.
In Headstrong’s case, it’s something worth trying.
Fans of Linkin Park and Rage Against The Machine will
undoubtedly be drawn to
Headstrong, though after a while, the listener might get the
feeling that they’ve heard this all before. It’s worth hearing, but
I don’t think this disc has the power it could have had – and
that’s what would keep people listening to it again and again.