GRANIAN

Granian
My Voice EP
Independent release 2004

When I got the My Voice EP from Granian, I did something I usually try to avoid. I read another review of his music. Because at that point, I hadn't heard of Granian at all.

In the review, there was a nice little history section and a breakdown of each song and things like that. The only point that I really took from it is that his last album was a solo effort, recorded live in Hoboken, NJ. That being the case, I took the perspective of this being a "post-solo-album" album. Would it be just the same music with a band following in the background, or would Granian treat this new band setting as a creative tool?

For the first track, "Contaigious," I was pleasantly surprised. Right from the get go, I was hit with an amazing groove, and the kind of soulfulness I thought died with the 60's. Granian's raspy, powerful voice is an emotional centerpiece to this work of art. I was truly impressesed from the beginning, yet I hoped this was a sign of songs to come, and not just a product of clever track order.

The next track, "Uncovered" sounded just like a Matchbox 20 cover. "Ain't That A Shame" begins and my heart is beating. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I am in fact listening to a Matchbox 20 record. The song continues and by the second chorus and beyond I am taken into another fantastic groove and an extremely apropriately placed slide guitar solo. I was finally in a realm of creativity! The record was saving itself with every passing beat, and I was quite thankful.

So by this point, I realized that I was being a bit tough on this record. It sounded like a collection of radio hits and not a record. I was positive that the rest of the album would follow suit. I realized that it was an EP, not a record. Just the fact that I was treating it like a record impressed me. This was supposed to be a collection of tracks from the upcoming full length album My Own Two Feet.

After realizing this, I was more mentally prepared to hear some more hits. But something surprising happened. The next two tracks, "Collide" and "My Voice", were musical and deep and emotional and incredibly well written songs. I usually can formulate my thoughts about an album after only the first couple tracks, but if I was ever wrong, it was on this EP. I was blown away by the end.

I think this EP fell victim to a bad track order, which is so incredibly important. But I am anxiously awaiting the full length album, which hopefully has a better flow, and is not sectioned off into categories.

It's only a matter of time before we start hearing this guy on the radio, but his true gift will be the whole album itself.

~ Daniel J. McNaney