Pick Your Poison: Oleander Rocks Out
Written: Jun 12 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: hard rock from hard rockers... a great album for 2001
Cons: some stuff doesn't always work, but that's my minor quibbling
The Bottom Line: Oleander is the best hard rock band that nobody knows, yet has a major label contract. Go out and get this record if you haven't already!
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| fixxxerny's Full Review: Unwind by Oleander |
Oleander is one of the best hard rock bands nobody knows. Whenever I mention them, most people gasp and go 'who?' Meanwhile, they have two albums, have toured extensively, and even appeared on the Stoned Immaculate tribute to Jim Morrison. So who are these guys and what do they do? Glad you asked.
Oleander is a quartet from California and they sing hard rock songs. If you've had the good fortune of seeing them live, I'm sure you bought an album or at least downloaded an MP3 of these guys.
Their second album, "Unwind," features twelve songs in the same vein as their major label debut, "February Son." It starts off with "Come To Stay," which features upbeat guitar licks. It is about indecisiveness and the state of affairs between people, specifically adults in relationships, evident when singer Thomas Flowers says "I hope that you can see / Nobody loves you more than me."
"Yours If You Like" follows it up with a song about foolishly opening oneself up to an undeserving person. While it is shown in the stupid boy-using girl mode, it's quite a universal truth.
"Are You There" doesn't have that much meaning behind it, which could be why it was chosen as the first single for this album. You might not know this because you might not have heard this because I think only one radio station outside of California, possibly in Peoria, plays Oleander.
"Halo" shows the versatility of this group by their breaking it down and playing a slow song. (This is shown even more by my underrated song of the album, "Champion.") This is the second closest love song/ballad on here, and with mushy yet workable lyrics such as "There's an anchor around my heart / Dragging me down / Behind the waves in silence I fall / There's a halo above my head / Spinning me 'round / 'Cause I don't know if I'm alive or dead," it works better than most would think.
"Benign" is a song about utter uselessness. It's about the aura of deceit and not being true, with oneself and with others as well. The chorus of "only heaven knows / only heaven shows the way" is questionable, but that's one of the few times you can say this about this album.
The title track, "Unwind," is the hardest song on the album. It's fast and brutal, and maybe a good title for the album, but it's slightly out of place amid the more thoughtful rock songs on this album. No stanza has more than four lines in it, but in the realm of simplicity, this is close to not working well at all.
As much as I like this band, I feel that some lyrics were wasted/misplaced. Take "Goodbye" for a spin. The opening is almost a clear rip from a Roy Orbison song, and the chorus is magnificent: "And it's more than I can take / It's just about to break / All these feelings that we fake / Goodbye." The chorus works, except for the "goodbye" line, because of the subtle rhythm change, which changes back as Flowers wails the name of the song. The change does not this song that good, as the stanzas are less remarkable than most on this album. At the end of the song, when the first three lines of the chorus are repeated without the "goodbye," it shows a nice what if for this song.
"Jimmy Shaker Day" has great potential, but doesn't reach for the brass ring until the first stanza, full of short, stark phrases ("come on / everyone / grab a gun / Run / Oh yeah / but try not to be yellow") is over. It reaches this potential when you hear Flowers moan "We sit around together / Talk about how much we love you / And how much we'll miss you." Ahh, yes, my favorite band named for a poisonous flower makes songs about children and gun violence. The message is harsh, but it makes the song touching.
"She's Up, She's Down" is a break up song about a horrible person - and it's not the person breaking up with the girl!. "It's easier to cry / When there's someone there to hold you / Who hasn't had a chance to know / the bitter and the cold you" hits the bone with its chilly nature, but who hasn't had this kind of feeling at least once in the past? The final aggressor isn't necessarily the villain, and for many of us, we appreciate this logic.
"Back Home Years Ago" isn't a stand-out song. (If you've read recent reviews, I'd call this a 'slick' song.) The only noteworthy parts of this song is the guitar once it reaches the chorus. Ultimately, I am left asking how much differently this song would sound if Matchbox Twenty sang it. It's not that complicated a piece, and it could be mistaken if ever released.
"Tightrope" is a wanna-be power ballad. Maybe if it didn't have such a great song following it in "Champion" it would succeed. As stated earlier, "Champion" is my choice for most underrated song on the album, primarily because you'll never hear it on a radio unless the wrong song is queued up by an inexperienced DJ. Whereas simplicity didn't work at the beginning of "Jimmy Shaker Day," it is apparent throughout this piece, and is what makes it so good. The first verses are the stuff power ballads wish they could be: "Thanks / For everything you are / For everything you were / For always taking care / For always making sure / For never giving up / For never giving in / You are the champion." Kick in a guitar and it only gets better from there.
So despite my quibbling about this album, I recommend it for all hard rock nuts who like obscure bands. Seeing how I heard "Are You There" on the sole hard rock radio station in New York a total of three times, I would say the boys in Oleander remain stuck in obscurity. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, because if/when they make it big, I'll know I was a fan longer than most.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: At Work
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Epinions.com ID:
fixxxerny
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Member: Nick
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Reviews written: 206
Trusted by: 55 members
About Me:
college graduate/all-around know-it-all :)
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