CD REVIEW: Cinema8
By Ben Ohmart - 06/02/02 - 09:28 AM EST
After a load of alternative rock coming in at every possible mail day, it’s great to hear a band like Cinema 8 getting back to the roots of what the Beatles began with modern rock. Nothing alt about this, it’s all mainstream guitar/vocal rock that believes that MELODY isn’t a word for porn videos. It’s an excellent idea: a bold and gentle little paint that deserves to be spread wherever it’s found. It’s found in abundance on 8’s debut album here.
My personal favorite song is probably the next to the last, ‘True Believer’ since it has one of the best guitar licks without ever pushing me away by too much of a distortion. I also love the big harmony sound of the backing voices singing the title. ‘Shackles of a madman / lay upon the floor / tried ‘em on to see what / I’d been missing.’
Some very tight songwriting – especially the music – on this album. No wonder they’ve already found success on a 2002 Winter Olympics album, and have grown up performing in bands from The Push Stars to Fighting Gravity to ebo.
Being in vaudeville used to be the training ground for new acting talent. For music people, you gotta be in a lot of bands to figure out what works, what sounds great, and what you want to sound like. Cinema 8 now has ‘the sound’ and frankly, they don’t need to progress any further. I guess all they really need is the big buck promotion machine of a major label. Cause the music’s already there.
