Chevelle
Point #1


4.0
excellent

Review

by Victor Silveira USER (22 Reviews)
October 19th, 2014 | 85 replies


Release Date: 1999 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Back off peer, I'm on the top of this.

Every band has a past. Shows for 15 people with poor equipments, without earning any money. They're there for one reason: the love for music. Everyone that someday made a show, knows how the feeling is, and there's nothing better than feel your own music and show it to the world, even if it sucks. But isn't every band that sucks in the beginning, and one of those is Chevelle. From their first demos, you can see their talent, even if it's a little derivative from the band's influences.

In 1999, after some time doing little shows and recording some demos, Chevelle signed to a Christian label(but their music wasn't really religious) and recorded their first album, produced by the legend Steve Albini, which produced some of the best albums of the decade. A band that showed so much potential before, with a great producer like Steve, is a recipe for success.

However, like I said, the band's sound still is derivative from their influences. Songs like Skeptic and Anticipation sound just like Tool, and SMA and Prove To You sound like Helmet. But, these songs are so well constructed that you ignore these things. The influences flow together in the rest of the album, and Chevelle start to craft a sound of their own. The album starts with Chevelle's best song, the title track. There's nothing too much technical or complicated with the song, but there's so much emotion flowing with the track that it's hard to dislike it. Some songs like "Dos" and "Peer" come close to the same emotion, but they don't reach the high bar that the title track set in the beginning.

There's some other gems here too, like "SMA" and "Blank Earth", that are highlights of their career(even if they're from the beginning). But, the album is flawed by its repetition: almost every track follows the same formula, and while it works almost every time, it can be a thing to turn off some people from it. Its sound quality isn't too good compared to their later releases too.

The band's chemistry is undeniable, and every member has place to shine, thanks for the Albini's production too. Pete's vocals can be soothing or chaotic in some tracks, and it can remind you of Maynard James Keenan of Tool, but for me they're two different beasts. Pete rely too much on the same type of riffs here, but all of them are great, even if a little repetitive.

Chevelle's first album is just as great as their latter material, and it shows some of the band's best songs, and how bright their future can be. And it is.

Recommended tracks:
Point #1
SMA
Peer
Dos



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user ratings (796)
3.5
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Supercoolguy64
October 19th 2014


11850 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The grammar could use a lot of work, I'd recommend spellcheck.net to help out with that. PS Steve Albini is production god

StKiyo
October 19th 2014


385 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Yeah, I was a little afraid that some parts of the review

were wrong. Thanks for the advice.

trackbytrackreviews
October 19th 2014


3469 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Chevelle's first album is just as great as their latter material




nah

PistolPete
October 19th 2014


5306 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I like Blank Earth the best off this probably. Prove To You and Skeptic come close though.



This album is far too overlooked.

Relinquished
October 20th 2014


48973 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

this has their best production



they never got close to Dos's warmth

Tunaboy45
November 16th 2016


18562 Comments


Can we make it a sputnik campaign to get this to 3.8?

trackbytrackreviews
January 19th 2017


3469 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

eh, imo it's their weakest so it doesn't even deserve that 3.8

Storm In A Teacup
January 19th 2017


46395 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

you rated it a 4

suppatime
September 13th 2017


1855 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

lmao

Drifter
September 13th 2017


21008 Comments


Lmao

jmh886
December 16th 2017


2945 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

this is worse than i remembered

Drifter
December 16th 2017


21008 Comments


Has some great songs though

random
March 28th 2018


3174 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

"I'm made of peanuts, not of shells."

Drifter
March 28th 2018


21008 Comments


m/

Storm In A Teacup
July 14th 2018


46395 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

you know....there are some similarities between this and Hum's You'd Prefer An Astronaut and I'm just now seeing it for the first time.

WillieD
January 8th 2019


367 Comments


Even though this album wasn't mastered well I still find it more enjoyable to listen to than their others thanks to Albini's sparse production. Everything after this has a hyper-compressed sound, though I still think their music is consistently good.

Ecnalzen
February 4th 2019


12167 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Been listening to Chevelle for years but never heard this album. Picked up for a buck today. Hope it doesn't suck.

Relinquished
February 4th 2019


48973 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

it riffs, that's all that matters

Larkinhill
February 4th 2019


7934 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

It’s alright. Not as good as their later albums but definitely has some great songs on there.

Ecnalzen
February 24th 2019


12167 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This is starting out pretty promising.



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