Here's an interesting post. I will attempt to discuss two albums of the same name by two bands who could not be more musically different. The first, a 90s/00s punk band. Second, a 60s/70s psych rock band. Interested?
For Full Circle by Pennywise, read on.
For Full Circle by The Doors, scroll down.
Pennywise
Pennywise's Full Circle has to be one of the best punk albums there is. Maybe it's not as highly rated as others such as Land Of The Free?, but it's my favourite by them.
Reason To Believe, their latest album, was available for free download on MySpace if you added some kind of promotion company as a "friend". How's that for buying friends? If you ask me (and I suggest you do), their promotion method was all wrong. It's saying to the world that they need to give an album away for free to distribute a large amount of copies, rather than relying on people buying it because they like it. Apparently it was downloaded 400,000 times, but how many do you think were Pennywise fans, and how many were just downloading it because it's free and it's there? Yes it most likely gained Pennywise more fans - and good for them. But surely they shouldn't have to buy fans if they're a good enough band? And they are a good band, which is why I'm writing a post about them.
But anyway, I'm here to talk about Full Circle, not Reason To Believe.
Full Circle has an energy to it possessed by few other bands. Obviously other bands have energy, but they can't seem to incorporate it with good music. Pennywise can. They keep this up all the way through the album, without it getting boring at the end like so many other punk albums do. As for the vocals... it's not exactly shouting, which we all hate, but then again it's not exactly singing. I'd call it tuneful loud exclamations (which doesn't exactly flatter it and makes it sound worse than it is). But Jim Lindberg is definitely a strong singer - he goes into some pretty high ranges at times but stays perfectly well in tune.
What I find listening to this album is that if you've just got it on in the background without paying too much attention to it, it can get a bit samey. I'm not saying that all the songs sound the same, because they don't. It's just if you've just got it on as background music it's hard to distinguish between songs, and you hardly notice a song ending and the next starting. A lot of the songs are the same tempo too, which does nothing for the variation of music.
Despite the unsuitability for background music, it's still a brilliant album and my favourite one by Pennywise. 7.5/10 sound fair?
The Doors
Obviously there will be some that claim that Full Circle by The Doors is far greater than Pennywise's Full Circle, as The Doors were a highly successful and influential band, whilst Pennywise are a moderately successful yet just as influential punk band. But let's remember that can work both ways. Others, however, will claim that Pennywise's Full Circle is better... because The Doors aren't punk enough.
Full Circle was released after Jim Morrison's death, and as Jim Morrison was the singer previously, Ray and Robbie took over singing. It's probably a sin in the rock community to say this, but I think it's a nice change. Jim Morrison's voice is boring. In fact, The Doors are boring (before you kill me, let me finish). They're boring - but good boring. What I mean is that songs on their own are good, but an album, especially a greatest hits album, is extremely tedious to listen to.
However, that all applied when they had Jimmy, because I reckon Full Circle is an amazing album. It's a lot better than any other Doors albums I've heard (and believe me, I've heard a lot, my Dad and sister are fans), it's far more interesting to listen to and they haven't insisted on putting an organ solo in every song. What is it with organs?
I actually picked up the promo copy of this a while ago, complete with an "airplay suggestions" sticker. Great fun trying to play an individual song on a record, I can tell you.
Full Circle was released after Jim Morrison's death, and as Jim Morrison was the singer previously, Ray and Robbie took over singing. It's probably a sin in the rock community to say this, but I think it's a nice change. Jim Morrison's voice is boring. In fact, The Doors are boring (before you kill me, let me finish). They're boring - but good boring. What I mean is that songs on their own are good, but an album, especially a greatest hits album, is extremely tedious to listen to.
However, that all applied when they had Jimmy, because I reckon Full Circle is an amazing album. It's a lot better than any other Doors albums I've heard (and believe me, I've heard a lot, my Dad and sister are fans), it's far more interesting to listen to and they haven't insisted on putting an organ solo in every song. What is it with organs?
I actually picked up the promo copy of this a while ago, complete with an "airplay suggestions" sticker. Great fun trying to play an individual song on a record, I can tell you.
As suggested by the sticker on the front, here's a track from Full Circle.
The Doors - The Mosquito (also known as No Me Moleste Mosquito) (mp3, 2.5mb)
What I said about organ solos previously... this one doesn't count. I like this song.
What I said about organ solos previously... this one doesn't count. I like this song.
. I'd be happy to feature your band! Just write me a quick note saying what type of music you play, maybe a link to your website/MySpace, and include a link to a few downloadable songs if you can (submissions without samples are usually disregarded).
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