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Canvas - Lost In Rock
Canvas - Lost In Rock
Metal Blade Records - 2001
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The first time I heard this new album by Canvas, I thought to myself “What the hell is this?”. I have never heard anything quite like it and at first I really disliked it, but after repeated listens I began to enjoy Lost in Rock more and more. The style of music is psychedelic rock/metal. But that only begins to scratch the surface of the music. The band adds plenty of electronics, synthesizers, effects, drum kits and plenty of other sounds to create a tight and unpredictable musical experience. The singing (all the band members seem to participate in the singing) is very dissonant and at times whiny, talkative, whisper-like but the majority of the time it is harshly screamed. It took me a while to really get used to it but it is very well done.
Two of my favorite tracks, “And into the Long Grass” and “Australopithicine”, from Lost in Rock are actually instrumentals and really showcase what the band can achieve by adding a lot of different instruments and sounds into a song. The latter song is very futuristic and groovy sounding. There are parts when some of the sounds that are heard sound like video game noises from old Atari games. The drum kit plays a big role in this song as well as in “And into the Long Grass”. This song features highly distorted guitars but in the background you can hear some very cool sounds provided by the drum kits and synthesizers. By the end of the song the guitars begin to fade out and then a simple and sad piano piece ends the song. The song “Elephant Shoes” is definitely one of the heaviest songs on the album. The guitars provide a cool lead in the intro but when the rest of the band comes in, it just picks up the decibel levels. The vocals in this track are very harshly sung adding to the crushing pace of this track.
But Canvas can also play softly and they show that in “The Mature Artist and the Illuminating Experience”. Acoustic guitars dominate this track and it showcases the softer side of Canvas. “Hail the Sky” is one of the longest songs on the album (it is just over 10 minutes long) and it shows excellent technical and tight playing by the band. “To Spite Her Face” has some very freaky sounds at the beginning and there is actually a flute part that adds to the variety. The ending of “I am weak like a Kitten” features a violin but it sounds very weird and that is what makes it so cool.
This review really only begins to scratch the surface of what Canvas does in Lost in Rock. With each new listen, I can hear and understand better what they are doing in this album. I highly recommend this album to those of you who feel like listening to something totally different and unique. Lost in Rock is truly a cool album.
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