Hopeless Records - Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol 5, Various Artists
Hopeless records / Sub City compile us this 14 track CD featuring their up and coming heroes, some with an already strong reputation, others lesser known. 14 songs, only 9 bands is a little disappointing, but at least it’s giving us a blast of some previously unreleased material by all the bands, including Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold.
The CD opens with the up beat and summery sing - a - long pop sound of “New Day” by Melee who also contribute the beautiful “Francesca,” an unreleased track later on. Melee are one of the more melodic bands to feature on this record, and one of my favourites. “Francesca” has hints of violins breaking through and soft vocals combining dainty acoustic guitars. Following Melee are Amber Pacific with “Always You” taken from “Fading Days” one of Hopeless’ newer releases. This song has similar melodies to Melee, but has more of a pop punk edge to it. The band add “Leaving What You Wanted” another consistent and impressive track.
Thrices’s tracks on this CD are both very contrasting, “Motion without Meaning” is more melodic than anything I’ve really experienced by the band and rarely breeches boiling point. Obviously it carries aggression, but the razor sharp riffage isn’t as edgy as it is in their second track, the awesome “To Awake and Avenge the Dead” which is as hardcore as you like when it comes to riffs and lead guitar work. “Motion without Meaning” only lasts 1 minute 50 seconds, which is how long the Metallica style intro on Break the Silences’track “Comfort in Cold Blood” lasts. This song also contributes to the aggression of the CD with spat out vocals and unidentifiable lyrics. Avenged Sevenfold keep up the aggression with the first of their tracks “Chapter Four” from the “Waking the Fallen” album. Superb lead guitar and lyrics and vocal combination slot it slightly into the Metallica style bracket. However the screaming brings it into its own. Solid tracks on the CD from Against All Authority and Stairwell pad up the middle order and are enough to do good jobs. However, they are not really anything special.
I imagine people will only buy this CD as fans of one of the bands, and say if you like Thrice, then there’s a good chance you will get into a lot of the other bands playing on the CD. Most companies are getting into this sort of thing, a pleasing thing about this album is too see interactive features such as bands videos, and also the inclusion of a few live tracks to change things round about.
Pete
