Adema


Adema was released in 2001

Track Listing:
1. Everyone
2. Blow It Away
3. Giving In
4. Freaking Out
5. The Way You Like It
6. Close Friends
7. Do What You Want to Do
8. Skin
9. Pain Inside
10. Speculum
11. Drowning
12. Trust

Genre: Nu-Metal

I bought this CD solely based on Everyone being on the Resident Evil soundtrack.  I loved the sound and was deep into Nu-Metal at the time.  

Everyone - A good intro to the album, some electronic elements, repetitive guitar riffs and vocals on display here.  A bit simple, but Adema were never a band to go crazy in their songs

Blow It Away - Similar to the previous track, a bit rappy-ier, bass definitely on display here (and you can feel the Korn influence with how percussive the bass feels).

Giving In - A nice slow down here, we needed a bit of a change of pace.  Definitely going for a more emotional feel and I think they nail it.  Also, solid guitar solo.  Nothing too technical, but just fun

Freaking Out - Speeding it back up here with some super cringe lyrics "And everything that my mom said made me mad / And everything that my dad said made me sad".  Nu-Metal was always marketed to the outcast crowd so I'll allow it.  Overall its a quality song. 

The Way You Like It - The centerpiece of the album.  I think this was the leadoff single (I'm not fact checking that, feel free to tell me I'm wrong).  Probably the most rap heavy song on the album tonight. But, the simplistic riff underneath the raps works really well.  The chorus is great, great vocal interplay.  My favorite this is 2nd verse, the lyrics are hilarious.  Feels like a Will Smith song.  I thoroughly enjoy "Fuck the fame, I'll stay the same".  They clearly thought they were destined for stardom and I wish they'd made it.

Close Friends - Chavez gets a bit more unhinged here and I'm all for it.  Can definitely get a bit of a Korn vibe from the vocals here (Side note, Mark Chavez is Johnathan Davis's half brother).  The intro riff is excellent and I love when it comes back in

Do What You Want To Do - Another solid song.  I love the vocal interplay in the pre-chorus.

Skin - A slowdown song, which is good, the album needed a change of pace.  On its own its one of the weaker songs.  Chavez isn't really a great singer and the slow bits showcase this weakness.  He tries to make up for it with jumping all over the place tonally and it mostly works.  The soft/heavy/soft/heavy pattern works well here too.

Pain Inside - The verse in this song is pretty crazy.  Driving Korn style bass with electronic elements over top makes it pretty cool.  I don't love the sequencing here, it feels like a miss to have right after Skin which is very similar in pattern.  Also not a fan of the breakdown section.

Speculum - Another slowdown song here.  Which, shouldn't exist.  This one feels half baked. Honestly would be a stronger album if they cut this.

Drowning - A well needed shift here.  Getting heavy again and that was a great choice.  A fun, very angry song.  Shit lyrics but we've talked about that already

Trust - A slower song, interesting choice for a closer, but I think it works better than Pain Inside or Speculum

Overall a great debut from a band that everyone forgot.  I wish they'd have had the staying power of some of their contemporaries (Korn, Linkin Park) but they definitely started out on the right foot.  3 green and 1 red

4/5




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Better Life

Image
  The Better Life was released in 2000 Track Listing: 1. Kryptonite 2. Loser 3. Duck and Run 4. Not Enough 5. Be Like That 6. Life of My Own 7. Better Life 8. Down Poison 9. By My Side 10. Smack 11. So I Need You Genre: Post Grunge / Hard Rock I'm pretty sure everyone had a copy of this album, Kryptonite was a massive hit and played constantly.   I bought this album from one of those "buy 5 get 10" album deals where they sell you 5 CDs for like 30$ each and then "give" you 10 more.  Either way it's a decent album, if a little simplistic.  The guitars are nothing special, although they honestly nailed the tone for post grunge.   One of the standout elements here are they lyrics.  They're more of the storytelling approach more common to country and I think it makes it a stronger album because of it.  But, Kryptonite is lyrically terrible.  Honestly, who signed off on that? Also, Smack is just not good.  The riff just doesn't hit well...
Read more

Selling England by the Pound

Image
  Selling England by the Pound was released in 1973. Track Listing: 1. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight 2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 3. Firth of Fifth 4. More Fool Me 5. The Battle of Epping Forest 6. After the Ordeal 7. The Cinema Show 8. Aisle of Plenty Genre: Progressive Rock And here we have it, the peak of Genesis's prog rock era.  Yes I know The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is next.  I said what I said. This one feels like a natural progression of Foxtrot/Nursery Cryme.  They've kept a lot of the heaviness from Foxtrot and interspersed some of the stupid shit  whimsy from Nursery Cryme.  The start of I Know What I Like and the middle of Thr Battle of Epping Forest are great examples of that. Unfortunately, their penchant for nap time music is still there.  Parts of I Know What I Like and the entirety of More Fool To Me are just boring.  I'm glad they keep Gabriel in the forefront, that helps a bit, but they still bring the flow of ...
Read more

The Autumn Effect

Image
  The Autumn Effect was released in 2005.   Track List: 1. Waking Up 2. Fault Line 3. The Recipe 4. Cast It Out 5. Wasteland 6. Seasons to Cycles 7. Half Life 8. Through the Iris 9. Empires 10. Prey 11. Insects 12. Paralyzing Kings 13. The Autumn Effect Genre: Alternative Rock This one is a bit of a strange album.  The band self released their first 2 albums and then once signing a major record deal they decided to re-record a couple of songs off of Killing All That Holds You (their 2nd album) and write a bunch of new songs.  Not surprisingly the two songs off of Killing are Wasteland and Through the Iris, probably the best songs on the album. I bought this CD from Best Buy in like 2005 after hearing Wasteland on the radio.  It can get a little formulaic after a while but is still a great album.  4 green songs, no red songs.  I still listen to this one like once a year. Rating: 4/5
Read more