When a band breaks through the way Grammy-nominated Fastball did with 1998's platinum All the Pain Money Can Buy and its two hit singles 'The Way' and 'Out of My Head,' it's easy for music critics and cynics to write the group off as a one-album wonder. However, with the expansive The Harsh Light of Day, Miles Zuniga (on guitar and vocals), Tony Scalzo (on bass and vocals), and Joey Shuffield (on drums) show enormous growth as musicians and songwriters. To release an album with rock songs this tight in a year of boy bands, pop rap, and teen nymphs is brave, but when you need to live up to the album's predecessor as well, the move might even be considered foolish, but Fastball pulls the trick off with vastly different songs that are able to stand on their own but also form a cohesive unit. With each multi-layered cut, the trio shows pop songwriting skills not often seen in such cookie-cutter times -- especially in the particularly staid field of alt-rock. Employing piano courtesy of Billy Preston (on You're an Ocean) and a mariachi orchestra courtesy of Jose Hernandez and guitar courtesy of Brian Setzer (on 'Love Is Expensive and Free'), this bold album takes you on an aural adventure of strings, guitars, and hooks paired with intelligent lyrics and taut instrumentation. It's nice to see a band that is more than a one-trick pony. Fastball may just be the harsh light of day the alternative market needs. Listen to songs from the album The Harsh Light of Day, including 'This Is Not My Life (Soundtrack)', 'You're an Ocean', 'Goodbye', and many more. Buy the album for $9.99. Songs start at $1.29. Free with Apple Music subscription. Buy The Harsh Light Of Day: Read 40 Digital Music Reviews - Amazon.com. About File Formats. MP3 is a digital audio format without digital rights management (DRM) technology. Because our MP3s have no DRM, you can play it. Formed in 1994 in Austin, Texas, Fastball combined a fondness for melodic, Beatles-inspired pop with the alternative aesthetic of late-'90s mainstream rock. Guitarist/vocalist Miles Zuniga, bassist/vocalist Tony Scalzo, and drummer Joe Shuffield -- all veterans of Austin's underground rock scene -- originally banded together under the name Magneto U.S.A. After signing with Hollywood Records, the musicians changed their name to Fastball (sharing the name with the title of their favorite baseball-themed pornographic film) and released their debut album, Make Your Mama Proud, in 1996. Solaris 8 support. The album failed to yield much commercial success, but it did demonstrate the band's synthesis of modern flavor and bygone pop hooks, a combination that would later launch Fastball into the mainstream. The follow-up effort All the Pain Money Can Buy appeared in early 1998, featuring a considerably tighter band and more pop flourishes. Although the bandmates were still working side jobs at the time of its release, leadoff single 'The Way' proved to be a meteoric hit, topping the American rock charts for seven weeks while enjoying crossover success as a pop single. 'Fire Escape' and the piano-fueled 'Out of My Head' did similarly well, and All the Pain Money Can Buy went platinum within six months of its release, earning two Grammy nominations along the way. Fastball celebrated their success with a considerable amount of touring, including shows alongside Marcy Playground and Everclear. The Harsh Light of Day arrived in fall 2000, featuring piano work by Billy Preston and an increasingly arty sound. Although 'You're an Ocean' cracked the Top 40, the album's sales were extremely slow, and Fastball eventually left the Hollywood roster in favor of a new deal with Rykodisc. A retrospective compilation, Painting the Corners: The Best of Fastball, marked the band's final release for Hollywood Records in 2002. Two years later, they resurfaced with Keep Your Wig On, having fully embraced their power pop roots with the help of co-producer Adam Schlesinger. While the album didn't yield any successful singles, it still strengthened Fastball's work ethic, with frontmen Zuniga and Scalzo writing together for the first time. That collaborative spirit helped fuel another album, Little White Lies, which appeared in 2009 to warm reviews.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |