by John D. Bess
Daily Lobo
2 1/2 Stars
Echo 7 comes out of the gate with what appears to be some promising rock and roll. With stately guitars playing stout riffs and the hybrid sound of nu-metal chunkiness and grunge fuzz, it seems that band members may be on to something interesting, though not altogether new.
The first three tracks on the new In De Goot Recording's disc One Step Away, have the requisite parts for good heavy rock - churning stop and start riffs; deft, progressive drumming and vocals that provide both decent melodies and complex harmonies.
Unfortunately, this all begins to circle the drain around song number five, a quasi-acoustic number entitled "Masquerade." This is the kind of cheesy tune played by fictitious rock bands in after-school specials and made for TV movies.
OK, anyone can make a mistake, but instead of recovering nicely from this ill-conceived attempt at a radio single, Echo 7 lets pop sensibilities take over the rest of the tracks; to the detriment of what was shaping up to be a decent rock record.
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This departure into crybaby commercial pop leaves us to question the integrity of the rest of the album. From the hints of a foray into some heavy-prog-alt-rock of substance, we get an A&R guy-chaperoned field trip into safe, sterile radio fare, which all but cancels out anything cool they did early on in the disk.
The real problem with Echo 7 is the age-old conundrum that rock comes in two varieties: clean and dirty, and the listener must choose how they like it best.
For every era of rock music, bands have placed themselves along this continuum - the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Def Leppard and AC/DC. On one end we find bands who qualify as rock by default - they have electric guitars, loud drums, and songs about getting high. On the other end we have bands who are rock, with arrest records, paternity suits and members who drink themselves to death.
A dirty band can't help being dirty. Members are socially maladjusted and predestined to create the greatest rock and roll on the planet. The bands that are clean can't help that condition either, yet these bands often make the mistake of pretending to be dirty, as if strapping on a Les Paul and leather pants makes you hardcore.
This seems to be the case with Echo 7.
Maybe it's the oh-so-sweet harmonies or maybe it's the jangly Richard Marx chord changes - it could be the honey dripping melodramatic vocals. Most likely it's in their songwriting. Anyone can crank up a Marshall amp and make it sound rockin', but it's how you apply that sound that makes it worth listening too.
Real rock and roll comes to your house at midnight, drinks all your beer, makes passes at your sister and does donuts in your yard when it leaves. Bands like Echo 7 sit patiently by the phone waiting for you to invite it over for brunch with your parents.
This band is obviously more concerned with showing a sensitive side and making it rich in the process, than it is with rocking the joint. Which is fine, but don't give me half an album of decent rock and then leave me cold with your commercially sensible schlock.
If Three Doors Down attempting grungy nu-metal is your thing or your parents choose your music for you, this CD may make your day. If you've done any underage drinking, had pre-marital sex or frequently disobey posted speed limits, you may want to give this a pass. Echo 7 is currently on tour with Queensryche, enough said.
