Sunday 11 August 2013

Embers of the Autumn - The Fireflys ALBUM REVIEW

 Embers of the Autumn - The Fireflys ALBUM REVIEW - by Mal Keenan

The last place you’d expect to find a tribute to everything rock would be the small town of Runcorn in Cheshire, but a band was formed and now after producing a third album, seems to have set their gearbox to full speed. A lesson to all to show that rocks roots are deep and wide spread and The Fireflys seem to have made it a mission to bring it to the masses.

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Embers of the Autumn at first listen seems vaguely familiar, but at the same time had its own identity showcasing some top notch talent and deep and meaningful wisdom. The whole album is reminiscent of a varied range of rock spanning various decades, which is an accomplishment in itself. Unplayed Guitar kicks off with a great showcase of unique guitar, drums, and bass, which when the singing start are not overpowering allowing the vocals with meaningful lyrics to shine through. Every instrument adds to the song instead of subtracting as you find in some songs, making the song strong and great and easy to listen to. The vocals suit the song well, nothing too powerful but deep in emotion and range. A good choice to start the album, which if the audience listens to like an LP from start to finish, promises to be exceptional with plenty of experienced riffs, which is showcased in their second song Autumnsoul, which starts off with a deep strong riff, to set this song apart from the first and also to introduce you to the song. Like Unplayed Guitar, Autumnsoul has an amazing clean lead guitar throughout and is well balanced. Again with the deep riff, which is placed during a solo with the clean guitar, which rings true to me making me want more and more. The air guitarist in me likes this a lot. The verses and chorus incorporate a good blend of acoustic and sharp electric allowing the song to be powerful yet mellow. The haunting piano at the close goes hand in hand with the song completely. The vocals are more powerful then the debut song; Lee Wylding showing that he can warble like the best of them. Well done.


Hummingbird which starts with a bold acoustic and ukulele it think, not sure, but it’s adds a folk sound to the song and with the addition of the prominent simple drums further adds to this effect. It’s the kind of song that has you nodding your head in time with the beat; infectious mellow headbanging to the end along with the a simple kind of contentment inside hearing the happy light acoustic and soothing voice. Its easy to imagine you are audience to an intimate gig with friends, its that kind of song. The backing vocals beef up the main vocals, which is good to see and is what I thought was lacking with their previous albums. The song ends abruptly, unlike the previous two, making me want more, but ties in nicely with the start of Julianne, with its chorus of singers, drums and acoustic. The drums and acoustic set a nice tempo leading you through the song right up to the haunting Indian sitar style guitar, which you may think looks out of place, but kudos to The Fireflys for experimenting and showing that they are evolving all the time because it definitely works. Broken Pieces starts of with a John Frusciante (of Red Hot Chilli Peppers fame) style riff, which again showcases the diversity of Lee’s guitar playing capabilities. The chorus is a great song to sing-a-long to. At this point in the album, especially with this song, you get a feeling of long lost love and maybe perhaps unrequited love, which we all can relate to. The emotion is strong and is evident in many of the songs and again doesn’t like the tempo to carry it through.

The sixth song of the album Cemetary Song, whilst sounding a bit morbid, is far from it. Exceptional guitar riffs through the song and amazing vocals, the best of the album so far, bringing the album to a kind of crescendo, possibly leading up to a climax. This song sets itself apart from the others with its great lyrics, guitar and feel. I’d go so far to say it’s my favourite so far. Lee has unleashed his vocal potential with this song. I’d like to see an album full of Firefly’s songs just like this one. It has power and gusto. The guitar playing skills at the end are all kinds of “woah” and “wow”. Congrats for making a song worthy the charts. The pace doesn’t falter with Paper Plane¸ which comes across from the word go like a tribute to 80s rock, but is a great song in itself, with vocal effects added in for good measure. It’s a short emotional song telling a tale of unrequited love again. The song seems cut short towards the end where other songs in the album have been a bit overindulgent in their finales whether it be haunting pianos or major riffage. I’d have liked to have heard more then the 2.13 minutes offered, but looking at the prowess offered in other songs, its hardly a complaint. Theres more then enough great audio-lovin available to keep me satisfied. Saying that the album then goes straight into the “powerhouse” of the album, Der Riese. Meaty, powerful and amazing guitar set to a tempo akin to “Born to be Wild” it stirs the rocker in me from a coma brought on me by the middle road rock out in the charts at the moment. Its powerful guitar, drums and vocals marry very well. The chorus has me headbanging along with its drums which changes with the song showcasing the drummer, Andrea Packer and bassist Stephen Roberts to be very capable and experienced. This is the creshendo the album has been working up to from Unplayed Guitar seemlessley and it brings it ….. and then some.

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Hannah’s Song, the aftermath of the rock bomb that was Der Riese, comes in nicely and doesn’t seem out of place. The song is mellow but at the same time has enough tempo to bring the song through nicely. The backing vocals add to the vocals as they should bringing you into the song and its emotion and with its length just over six minutes, its one emotional ride, but doesn’t at all leave you bored. A clean riff in the middle Hank Marvin style breaks up the song nicely and chorus at the end has a great bearing on the whole song. Between the Tide the final song of the album brings a nice, low key, mellow sound like that previous heard from 90s bands like Goo Goo Dolls, but like other songs in this album, have taken the style and made it their own. The song is written well and the lyrics do not seem forced with words just to fill voids within the song. The main riff is strong and very easy to listen to, again showcasing the experience and prowess of Lee’s talent. He produces guitar to get lost in. I sit back and close my eyes whenever I hear riffs like this (fewer and fewer these days). Amazing effort all round.


The whole album from start to finish appears to be well thought out, from its amazing beginning, Unplayed Guitar, building up to its amazing peak with Der Riese and aftermath Hannah Said and Between the Tides. The Lee, Andrew and Andrea take you on a voyage of love lost and unrequited love which is majorly evident in all of the songs. A wholly enjoyable album to listen to and it will take pride of place in my collection for a long while.

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Tuesday 5 March 2013

Yesterday I sent an email to my son in the future….. How?? you ask?
 
Well… He won’t get it until he’s old enough to understand them, say 16 -18. The emails will contain special, funny and important memories which I would have no doubt have forgotten if I had not written them down.
 
imageI’ve created an email account for him with Gmail (thought they’d be around for a while.. its Google after all) and then write to it every week or so with memories from the past, things that have happened recently and include some pictures too. When he’s old enough I’ll hand over the details (if I’ve not lost them) and he’ll then read, reminisce and laugh over the good times that have happened in the past.
 
This all came about when a work colleague mentioned she had heard the idea of it from a friend and that she was going to do it for her daughter. It appealed to the creative and sentimental side of me and the ideas whirled about my mind.
 
With the first “introductory” email done and sent, I have to admit, its strange to be writing to my son and knowing he’ll be reading it in the future understanding hopefully, how much I am proud of him and how he lights up my life.
 
Thing with me is though, I have a short interest span. I pick up a hobby or task and after a while put it down again losing interest. With this however, I hope not to lose interest and carry on emailing for a while.
 
What are your views on this? Cool idea or waste of time?

Monday 4 March 2013

Movies I am looking forward to in 2013

Theres a few films I can't wait for this year. I've listed them below half to remind myself, because life sometimes makes me ignorant to good films and they pass me by and secondly, to share with you guys.

Oz: The Great and Powerful

Directed By: Sam Raimi Starring: Mila Kunis, James Franco, Rachel Weisz...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 8th March 2013

Parker

Directed By: Taylor Hackford Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 8th March 2013

Jack the Giant Slayer / Jack the Giant Killer

Directed By: Bryan Singer Starring: Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Stanley Tucci...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 22nd March 2013

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G.I. Joe: Retaliation / G.I. Joe 2

Directed By: Jon M Chu Starring: Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson...

Releasing in UK cinemas Wednesday 27th March 2013

Spike Island - A small budget film about a legendary gig in my hometown of Widnes - need to watch :)

Directed By: Mat Whitecross Starring: Elliott Tittensor, Nico Mirallegro...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 5th April 2013

Oblivion

Directed By: Joseph Kosinski Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 12th April 2013

Olympus Has Fallen

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua Starring: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 19th April 2013

Iron Man 3 - must watch.... no ifs and no buts...

Directed By: Shane Black Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 26th April 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness / Star Trek 2

Directed By: J.J. Abrams Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 17th May 2013

After Earth / 1000 A.E.

Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Sophie Okonedo...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 7th June 2013

Man of Steel

Directed By: Zack Snyder Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 14th June 2013

Pacific Rim

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro Starring: Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnam...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 12th July 2013

Kick-Ass 2 / Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall

Directed By: Jeff Wadlow Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 19th July 2013

The Wolverine / X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2

Directed By: James Mangold Starring: Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi...

Releasing in UK cinemas Thursday 25th July 2013

Red 2

Directed By: Dean Parisot Starring: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 2nd August 2013

The Lone Ranger

Directed By: Gore Verbinski Starring: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 9th August 2013

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters / Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters

Directed By: Thor Freudenthal Starring: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel...

Releasing in UK cinemas Wednesday 14th August 2013

The World's End

Directed By: Edgar Wright Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Rosamund Pike...

Releasing in UK cinemas Wednesday 14th August 2013

About Time

Directed By: Richard Curtis Starring: Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Domhnall Gleeson...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 6th September 2013

Ender's Game

Directed By: Gavin Hood Starring: Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 25th October 2013

Thor: The Dark World / Thor 2

Directed By: Alan Taylor Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba...

Releasing in UK cinemas Wednesday 30th October 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire / The Hunger Games 2 the first one was bad, soooo bad, but i'm hoping the second installment will be an improvement because I thought the second book was the best.

Directed By: Francis Lawrence Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 22nd November 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug / The Hobbit: Part 2

Directed By: Peter Jackson Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage...

Releasing in UK cinemas Friday 13th December 2013

Jack Ryan

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Keira Knightley, Chris Pine, Kevin Costner...

Releasing in UK cinemas Thursday 26th December 2013