Adam Salsman [dot] com

Have I mentioned I love BSG?

I don’t think there’s a whole lot that I can say about season 3’s score that I haven’t said about season 2’s. It’s good music, solid orchestration, blah, blah, blah.

Oh. Wait. This was Season 3. This had the greatest cover song/musical reveal I’ve seen in years.

All Along the Watchtower.

That’s right. In the alternate universe that contains the Battlestar Galactica and all the survivors of the 12 Colonies, someone managed to write the same song Bob Dylan did.

Of course, in our world, Jimi Hendrix took and it made it even better.

In theirs, it just turned on four of the final five Cylons. Not a big difference, sure, but still.

My excitement over the release of the score was almost exclusively wrapped around getting Watchtower in a listenable format. But after listening to the album, as a whole, I found I was ever so slightly disappointed.

When Bear McCreary did things right in the season 3 score, he did them very right. Of course, the converse feels very true, too.

The first 5 tracks, Violence and Variations, The Dance, Battlestar Sonatica, Dirty Hands, and Heeding the Call all do it very right. They convey, better than most, the tone, the energy (or lack there of), and a bit of the scene.

Under the Wing, Kat’s Sacrifice, Someone to Trust, and Deathbed And Maelstrom all feel like they fall flat. Maybe it’s just that they can’t manage the visual as well, and this makes them weaker in my mind. In any event, these are often missed when listening to the score because they get mentally passed by. Mean, I know, but it’s what happens.

In the end: Bear’s score did exactly what Season 3 did, when it got it right, it got it very right. The rest of the time, it felt lacking. This may just as well be the fault of the story writers. In any event, all the things done wrong on this score are strongly obscured by the many, many things done quite right.

Album of the year? So far, it is my book.

While I cannot lie, and will say that I rallied against Aloud in last year’s WBCN Rock N’ Roll Rumble (mostly because my favouritest local band, Baker, was also in the competition), I cannot deny their talent, skill, and rockitude.

For those who don’t know, Aloud is a four-piece Rock N’ Roll band straight outta Boston, with a little more emphasis on the “rock.” The group consists of Jen (vocals/guitar), Henry (vocals/guitar/being henry), Roy (bass/making stoic poses/silently owning the world), and the other guy (aka Ross, the Drummer. No one ever remembers the drummer. Ok, Except Phil Collins. But he was in Genesis. Or famous for being in Genesis. Either way).

Now. The album. It’s good.

No, that’s not right. It’s great.

No. Still not right. What was it I said? Oh, yeah:

On a final note, I wish to buy dinner for and then make sweet sweet love to Aloud’s new album, Fan the Fury. It’s that good. And better. (from my LJ)

But then I updated that statement to read:

I’d like to update that statement to make sure it reads I’d even be willing to wake up next to said album in the morning and make it breakfast. (from my LJ)

Overzealous Livejournal statements aside, the album is rock solid rock goodness, and thanks to some editing genius, the album maintains a wonderful, cyclical nature.

If I were to pick my favourites, and I’m wont to do, you’d have Sometimes I Feel Like a Vampire, leading off the album, like a bat outta hell (no relation to Meatloaf), the title track, Fan the Fury, the (as I hear it) politically-charged Nero, and then the much softer, but beautiful Hard Up In the 2000s.

Of course, none of those are the song, that for some godsdamned reason, I’ve woken up with stuck in the back of my head for 4 days straight. No, that honor goes to Julie, a track leaning on the weaker side for tunes on the album, but with a painfully catchy hook and wonderful harmonies by Jen & Hen (I’m assuming).

In the end: Boston Rock, I love you. If Aloud isn’t consider local rock pantheon, I don’t know what would be. They’ve got a solid sound, amazing skill, and enough staying power to keep us enthralled for years to come (if they’d like to, that is).

Technorati Tagged: Aloud | 2008 | Boston Music | Best Of

Post Script: I knew the drummer’s name. It was just an opportunity for me to make a big long joke at Phil Collins’s expense. I mean, who wouldn’t want to mock the guy who gave us Sussudio?