Me VS Them VS You VS Me

Lately I have listened Finger Eleven’s album Them VS. You VS. Me a lot, usually in my car, on my way to the office. While listening it I had a lot of ideas crossing my mind, because, you see, at one moment in time, we (me and my band) also tried to find another approach to out classic pop-rock music, and we started to play alternative rock.

I can tell you that it’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you come from outside that area. It is not easy to do because your creativity works in the cultural area you were educated in, meaning that if you listened a lot of hard rock, well, you will have a lot of musical ideas in that particular area of music while trying to compose a song in another style, jazz, let’s say, would not be that easy, because your mind does not have the habit of thinking the jazz way.

It’s the same with alternative rock. Even if for a classic rock musician alternative rock may sound simple, or simpler that the heavy riffs or the complex bluesy licks he’s used to, it is not this way. Try to cross the border and come up with a song in a style that you are not very familiar with. Oooh, trust me, it ain’t easy. I know because when we tried to cross over to alternative, we struggled to put up a few songs, even if in the end, some of them are quite good, I’d say (I am also a modest person)

So, I took Finger eleven as a case study of an alternative rock album from a band that has roots somewhere deeper than this and I was surprised to see the variety of ideas that I haven’t thought about.

I can tell you that personally I enjoyed listening this album, even if in the beginning I had the idea it has a bit too many acoustic songs. After a short while I’ve got used to it.

While listening a record for more than one time, you will come to like some particular songs more than others. Personally I’ve got hooked by Paralyzer, but that’s no surprise because it’s the main song of the record and it is supposed to hook up the listener, but also by Them VS You VS Me and Change the world.

Change the world is a beautiful song that I found myself searching on the CD almost every time I was driving home in the evening. It is, I guess, an evening song. Not something to make you happy, but clearly something to bring a bit of peace to your heart. Clearly can be played on acoustic guitar cause well, it is an acoustic song, after all.

I can also tell you I liked the bass sound and the drums, but I consider the acoustic guitars a bit too tensed and dry, but probably it wouldn’t fit any other way, cause it’s alternative rock with hard rock influences, after all, it’s not 80’s hair rock, so an acoustic guitar like in To be with you (Mr Big) would not be appropriate for this.

Bottom line, I liked it, and even if it is not something that I’d listen at home everyday, I would recommend it as a window to a brand new world.

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