Here it is! Element101's debut on Tooth & Nail
Records, called 'Future Plans Undecided'. Being a devoted MxPx-fan, i found out
about a year ago that Mike Herrera of MxPx had been busy producing an album for a girl-fronted,
New Jersey pop punk band called Element. So i visited their homepage and found
these 2 amazing songs that could be downloaded. These songs were 'A Galaxy
Apart' and 'In My Heart And On My Mind'. They immediately struck me as original
and fresh, so i kept playing them on my computer on and on.
A few months later, Tooth & Nail spread word that they had contracted a band called Element101 and that they would be re-releasing their debut album 'Future Plans Undecided', which was produced by Mike Herrera. I couldn't believe it! Great! So immediately after the release, i got the album and boy, it was worth waiting for!
I have to admit that the first time i played the album, i had to get used to their style, since Crissie Verhagen (lead singer) has a really sweet voice and the music gets so loud 'n' fast that her voice appears to be kind of on the background. Since i got used to her voice and the production of this album, i haven't had this problem anymore, the voice is really great and fits with the music!
The rhythm section (bass, drums) of Element101 is really tight. Take for instance 'In My Heart And On My Mind', which has this really fast beginning. Or the amazing song 'Some Chances Are Worth Taking', which is a very fast song. The guitars on this album are great as well, with some fantastic licks and even a solo or two. 'Leaving Me Before The Spring Semester' for instance begins with a nice riff. 'Only In Pictures' gives us not only a nice guitar riff, but also a great piece of bass and even some hand-claps! 'So Unpredictable' has this great piece of guitar which seems to 'guide' the sweet voice of Crissie through melody-land.
All the songs on this album (12 songs) are very original and they're all catchy, so you can sing along as loud as you can! The lyrics are very realistic in my opinion. They deal with themes like friendship, love and homesickness. In 'You Never Cease To Amaze Me' Crissie shows us in a non-revealing way how she thinks about God:
'all the special things we can't see with our eyes,
they're the underlying meanings in our life,
even though i can't see you with my eyes,
God you are the meaning in my life'
I think it's great they're not afraid to hide their beliefs, they deserve respect!
My favorite song on 'Future Plans...' definitely is 'Some Chances Are Worth Taking', a song which can also be found on the 'Cheapskates - Harder Side' Tooth & Nail sampler. This song is an excellent combination of the best features of Element101: great voice, nice guitar licks, sing-along pieces, superb backing vocals, changes in speed, fantastic drumming... need i go on? Once you've got this song in your head, you can't let go and i guess i am kind of addicted to this song now.
In short: this is one of the best albums i have ever heard! The production could use a little improvement though. Therefore, my final judgment is 9.3 out of 10 points!
Martijn
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