Surprise! Beth requested a switch as my pick was not too Christmasy for the last pick of the year.
While continuously monitoring the A Perfect Circle website looking for a status update on their hiatus, I saw an update stating guitarist Billy Howerdel was putting together a solo effort under the name Ashes Divide. Billy’s reputation alone was enough to get me into Best Buy on release Tuesday to see what he was all about.
After a few initial listens, all I could think is the music is great, but he simply doesn’t have it when it comes to vocals. After several additional listens, I realized I came in expecting A Perfect Circle and not an Ashes Divide album. Billy’s vocals are the key separation between the two and give Ashes Divide their own identity.
Key tracks on the album are the radio single in ‘The Stone’, my very favorite in ‘Forever Can Be’, and ‘Sword’ featuring Devo Keenan, Maynard’s son, on cello.
Like any Maynard side project, Ashes Divide appears to be on a bit of a hiatus due to the prospects of another A Perfect Circle album.
Suggested Listening:
Keep Telling Myself It's Alright (2008)
Thank you all for your comments. While I agree with a few of the points, I was generally surprised with your opinions.
ReplyDeleteRight off the bat, “Stripped Away” sounds like something I would have liked a lot in high school. It’s loud, but not too loud. Strong vocals, but not screaming. It kind of reminds me of my Linkin Park/Hoobastank phase. The singing continues to sound pretty decent through “Denial Waits” which is a pretty tune. I like the little guitar inflections and the mood changes from verse to chorus.
ReplyDelete“Too Late” is a little dramatic for my liking, and the chorus is a little asburd. The unique beat structure on “Forever Can Be” seems intriguing at first... something I remember worked very well on “Bloodbuzz Ohio” during The National Week... but just doesn’t pull itself together quite right here. I do appreciate the effort to go beyond the simplistic 1, 2, 3, 4.
Something about “Defamed” drew me in immediately. The song seemed very radio-friendly to me, although I don’t know if it ever received any airplay. I quite enjoyed it. Same with “Enemies,” even though I thought it sounded like an Offspring song at first. I should note how I can really hear A Perfect Circle in there somewhere, which obviously makes sense.
“A Wish” has a very different feel to it - but I don’t think I like the brooding as much as the more... I don’t know if upbeat is the word... songs on the album. It seemed kind of boring to me at first, a little sleepy. Still fairly solid vocals for me. “Ritual” trudges on in that same sort of dream state-like music. And that can be cool sometimes, but I’m finding that on this album, these are the songs I’m liking the least.
“The Stone” is a solid effort and I liked the unique grinding guitar sound on “The Prey,” but things got a little eh for me again on the last track, “Sword.” I can appreciate the ambiance in the intro, but I’ve been listening to this album for quite awhile by this point so I’m looking for more of a big payoff with this kind of music rather than “deep relaxation.” I realize that after minute one, they attempt to bring it, but a minute is a little long of an intro for me. All in all the song didn’t completely bomb in the end.
If I can walk away from this week with one thought in mind - it’s that this music seems very radio friendly, and is fairly decent. I might even grow to like it quite a bit if I listened to it longer than a week - but it still doesn’t have that quality that grabs me and gets me excited about music. Thomas, if it makes you feel any better, music that does is few and far between. Anyway, this is probably one of my favorite weeks of yours. Sorry it took me so long to get to it. Finals, you know. People tend to slack near breaks as well - it could have been Beth just as easy as you had you not switched. Please do not take offense, in any event.
Having really enjoyed A Perfect Circles first few albums I was surprised to find out APC was Billy’s brainchild and not Maynard’s. Obviously Maynard was the identity that propelled the group to the spotlight, but Billy was the mastermind behind the sound and direction of the group.
ReplyDelete“Stripped Away” is great start to the album; it has elements of Jane’s Addiction, Deftones and Faith No More that had me hitting the repeat button. Billy’s production background lends to the extremely well layered guitars, piano and emotive vocals. The beginning of “Denial Waits” is eerily similar to Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes”; the lyrics from these first couple of songs has Billy working through what appears to be some pretty dysfunctional relationships. The words have heavy connotation and don’t come off trite; I’m finding myself enjoying the songs more after repeat listenings. I know the hang-up with Ashes is that people want to compare them to APC, which is completely unfair. Sometimes his inflection mimics that of Maynard, like on “Too Late”, but I feel it’s an homage to one of Billy’s major influences. You can easily say the same of Panda Bear from Animal Collective and Brian Wilson. You can take most current artists and dissect a part of their sound and compare it to a previous artist, for me the part that matters most is conviction, and Billy definitely has that.
“Ritual” is a terrific track that has a synthy/spacey Depeche Mode sound that makes me feel like I’m swimming in it; I really enjoy tracks like this that create a big atmosphere, it shows that music can be very tangible. Billy’s vocals don’t quite live up to the large picture that the music paints on “The Prey”; this song does push a more uplifting and happy feeling that has been non-existent on the album. I like the way he spotlights the piano on the bookends of KTMIA, everything feels like it’s been a lead-up to “Sword”. It sums up the album perfectly, with flourishes of heavy guitars and Billy continuing to work out his inner demons with self-deprecating lyrics. I had never heard of Ashes Divide before this week, I think it helped me to understand why I like APC and introduced me to an artist that suffers for his art.
I have to say I was very interested in this week’s pick. I used to love A Perfect Circle, and from time to time find myself in the mood for that sort of music. Having a high opinion on the group I was interested to see what Ashes Divide had to offer. “Stripped Away” starts with exactly what I would expect from a break off band of APC. Of course with the vocals being different it is hard for me not to compare that of Billy’s voice to that of Maynard’s. While Maynard has a much more impactful voice, I really have no problems with Billy’s. I really love the guitars in Ashes and APC, they always have a harsh edginess to them that is just what I am looking for when I am wanting to listen to this sort of music. “Too Late” is another good track, and brings on the epic anthem feel midway through. “Defamed” has more of an upbeat tempo to it that I am not used to from this kind of band. I like the fact that Billy is kind of adding his own twist on things, so that he is not so easily compared to APC. “Forever Can Be” I am already familiar with as Thomas has played this on a few occasions. It may be the fact that I am already acquainted with the song, but this is the best track yet for me. I love the use of the sitar, and I think Billy’s voice knocks it out of the ballpark. The next few tracks flow well with the album but don’t really warrant too much of my attention. “The Ritual” and “The Stone” are two good tracks and really get me back into the album. “The Ritual” is a very mystical/atmospheric track that really sort of takes me into a dream world, while “The Stone” gets back into the loud guitars and a heavier vibe. Overall I was not disappointed in this album, and I think Billy can hold his own if he ever decided to leave the group.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I apologize for the insane delay on my comments. I've had a few papers to write, and seemingly not enough time to write them. School ends soon, thankfully, and next semester should be a lot less stressful. Anyway, on to Ashes Divide.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I notice about Ashes Divide is how much Billy Howerdel really wants to sound like Maynard James Keenan. The second thing I notice is that it's obvious that Billy was the instrumental songwriter in A Perfect Circle, and really enjoying that band, I also really enjoy the sounds on this album. A Perfect Circle always had the ability to write a really pretty, soft passage, and then push things forward again and give you some nice, in-your-face crunchy guitars immediately afterward. This band definitely does the same thing, but I just find myself really missing Maynard's amazing vocals. I found myself constantly comparing the performances on this album to the others, and as much as I tried not to do it, I just found it really hard, and it hurt my enjoyment of the album, overall.
"Stripped Away" opens the album with the most Maynard-esque' vocal of the whole album, to me, but the guitars on the song are really good. "Forever Can Be" is a really good song, and one of my favorites on the album....I really enjoy the addition of the piano, and Billy's vocals really stand out on this one more than the others. "Defamed" is the oddball on the album, and it just sounds way too upbeat and radio ready-made to belong on here, to me. The next few songs pull things back to where they belong, though. "Enemies" has some really great guitars on it, almost having a sort of spacey, atmospheric feel. I like these really big sounding songs, and these guys do them pretty well. The drumming on "A Wish" remind me of The Cure in the early years of the band...kind of tribal sounding, and the addition of the electronic pulses is nice. It's a ballad, but once again the production makes it sound huge, and I really enjoy it. I definitely hear the Depeche Mode comparisons that Justin makes on "Ritual", and again, it's a very good thing. "The Stone" is definitely my favorite song on the album. Every little piece of each song that I've enjoyed seems to completely come together here, and it has a chorus that rivals Maynard's best. "Sword" ends things on a really hard note, and the guitars really remind me of Tool...and I definitely love that band. Overall, the album is really strong, and I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I wasn't unfairly comparing it to something else. At the same time, though, it's definitely a worthy alternative for the next time I want to listen to A Perfect Circle, which after listening to this band, I think I want to do right now. This has definitely been one of my favorites of the picks by Thomas, and you can probably expect to see this on my list of favorite weeks next year.
'Keep Telling Myself It's Alright" Album Rating: 59%