Quick The Word Sharp The Action,
Hundred ReasonsYou’ve got to hand it to Hundred Reasons as far as determination goes. In the lead up to this album alone, the band have had to deal with distinctive vocalist Colin Doran being told by doctors that he may never sing again. Couple that with the death of some close friends of the band, and it would have been easy and somewhat understandable to see them call time on their seemingly never-ending rollercoaster career. However, despite all these setbacks here they are with full-length album number 4: ‘Quick The Word Sharp The Action.’ So, was it worth the wait? ... well… erm… maybe not…
The problem, and I can’t begin to state this enough, is just how accessible HR have tried (or been told) to make this album. It’s almost as if they’ve made a conscious effort to try and appeal to everybody by including a bit of everything and it just doesn’t cut it. If every song were as strong as the first two tracks I’d be a far happier man, but they throw in pop (‘Sick Little Masquerade’), a lame attempt at post-rock (‘Pernavas Iela’), and an instantly forgettable “metal song” (‘The Shredder.’) On top of this there are some truly craptacular songs on here. Musically, ‘Lost For Words’ sounds like the kind of thing the opening band appearing at your local Dog-and-Duck would chunder up for breakfast. Then there’s the strangely familiar ‘Opera.’ First listen around I wasn’t able to put a finger on it. Then it hit me… the song is a horrendous rip-off of fellow band buddies The Campaign For Real Time!
But then, just when I can’t bear to listen to anymore, ‘Out of Time’ explodes as if out of nowhere and reminds me of the Hundred Reasons I once knew and loved some half a decade ago. After a little research I find out that it’s to be their next single…. So why on earth is it the last track on the album?! It’s the best song on the record by a country mile! And this demonstrates everything that frustrates me so much about HR. I wish they’d learnt their lesson second time around (like Hell Is For Heroes did) and gone independent. It could have worked! Especially with the fan base already created by them (and a load of expensive advertising paid for by Sony) after the release of “Ideas Above Our Station.” As it is ‘Quick…Sharp’ feels a somewhat forced, deliberately “accessible” and aggravatingly dry record that will almost certainly only see them facing the same sales problems they battled against 5 years ago. There’s a lesson to be learned from all of this and I feel somewhat inclined to include an adapted proverb here. If you’re part of an upcoming band then please take from it what you will…
…“A wise band learn from their own mistakes”
…“A very wise band learn from other bands mistakes.”
Rich Rowe
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