For several weeks I kept hearing about this new band named
Neurosonic who were supposed to change the face of rock as we know it. They hype went on to say that they had combined the aggression of metal with the innovation of prog. I resisted checking them out, despite the influx of positive press. Some time later a friend told me that he had bought their debut album and been blown away by what he heard. Finally I gave in, and bought Drama Queen.
That same friend is now bound and gagged in the trunk of an abandoned car I found on the side of the highway and is sitting at the bottom of a lake.
Drama Queen,
Neurosonic's first (and hopefully last) album takes the most generic aspects of rock music and mixes them with what could very well be ranked as one of the most pathetic vocal performances in recent memory. Musically the album leaves much to be desired. Now, I comprehend that they aren't supposed to be the most technical of bands, but good grief, a sign of talent here and there isn't too much to ask for. The musicianship is bland, and the riffs and rhythms off the album are borderline comical. Scratch that, they are comical.
The guitars are so stagnant and bland that they might as well not even be there, and in some cases really aren't. They plague the album with 4 chord progressions that reoccur throughout each song several times, and very rarely do they come up with anything interesting. If they are not pulsing on a single note riff, they are not playing at all. This is because
Neurosonic seem to rely very heavily on the usage of programmed beats. Unfortunately however, those beats follow the same progression as the guitars, and needless to say, they don't sound any better. I won't lie, the first time the guitars and programming trade off, it's pretty cool, but the line between accenting the music and overkill has been dug so far into the ground after the first two tracks that it becomes nothing more than annoying. The only redeeming qualities of the guitars and programming comes in the form of "Crazy Shiela" and "Until I Die," where they manage to create tolerable introduction and verse riffs, respectively.
The bass is non-existant on the album, not a note can be heard at any point throughout the album. The drumming off of the album is also very minimalistic, which wouldn't be too bad if there was at least something interesting happening at any given time. Without exaggeration, this album contains no interesting drum fills, and no drum worthy notes. For the most part, the drumming seems to take a back seat to the guitars and vocals and is really there only to keep a beat.
Wait, we've found something positive about the album! They're always on beat! A true testament to metronomes everywhere.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the main reason that Drama Queen fails: the vocals and lyrics. Have you ever stumbled across an artists that tries to hard to write intelligent lyrics? That is the case on this album.
Quote:
Everything under the sun going to Hell in an episode on SNL
Busted on the TV
You ugly girl you cannot sing, can't even lip sync
Apparently money can even buy you dignity
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That's right, they said it (Such badasses!).You can expect more lyrics like this even on the tracks that are meant to be taken seriously and deliver a message. The rhyming is cliche', the topics are recycled, and the delivery is unbelievable. The clean vocals are high pitched and sound out of tune, and the harsh vocals are neutral. They don't add or take anything away from the album. Overall, they are dissapointing, and mostly just flat out bad.
All in all this album was no where the hype it recieved, as a matter of fact, this album sucks. The ony real way to describe the album is stagnant, it never progresses anywhere. All of the instruments on the album are boring, and are perfect example of how not to make interesting music.
