The Skyline Drive - The Skyline Drive EP Record Label - Unsigned
Occasionally I find my hard, candy outer shell melting in the presence of pop-rock’s eagle-soaring razzle-dazzle. The five Enterprise, Alabama gentlemen of The Skyline Drive and their self-titled EP have decided to play siren with me, injecting glossy and ballady choruses with ribbons of arena rock guitar. It’s certainly an infectious mixture, and the verses are used to boost momentum for the hook-tastic choruses. Always one to forget the words, I often choose killer riffs over killer one-liners, which is a good thing for the three-track EP test run. Burdened by the woeful loins of sensitive, dashing young men, singer Cliff Sims’ laments with the usual - women he had and didn’t keep. And I’m ok with that – pop rock with clean production and crisp musicianship hits enough marks.
A harmonious merge between the guitarist's classic and easygoing riffing and Sims’ lusty power chords is a simple equation for a voluminous end product. Frivolous and supped-up arrangements can be heavy on the instincts, but Skyline prefers comprehensible distortion, subtle bass lines, and cohesive percussion, leaving spacious fields for the vocals and guitars to really throttle in their simplistic beauty. A tight and ideal balance, really, and my reservations are minimal.
There are, however, a couple things I can’t push aside. While Sims’ Broadway styling is headstrong and ready for airy nightclubs, it is also primed for mainstream radio. I fear a switchover from harmless and rather pleasant pop rock to a top 40 alternative rock, which isn’t so far-fetched. A little less on the wine spritzer and a little more on the Jack Daniels, perhaps? Pump the rock to go along with the roll, especially on the gushy oooh’s and ahh’s of “The Takeover” or bouncy pre-chorus of “Change.” Three tracks are great, a small package for my short, bitchy attention span, but if these countrymen are looking for longer releases, I hope they invest in some harder liquor.
Well written. I mostly agree with your review; the riffs are good, and do add a lot to the band.
But I feel the score should be higher. It sounds like you think less of them because of.... what they might turn out to be? That doesn't make much sense. I do agree that the singer should try to sound more passionate as opposed to polished, if that's what you were getting at. I would've scored the lyrics much higher. While they aren't ground breaking, they do the job well and nothing about them stands out as sub-par.
Overall, I feel the biggest issue with the EP was the production. While the instruments sound great, the vocals could have been made to mesh with them a little better. (I think C and F is nearly flawless, I'm mostly referring to the other two songs.) A full length will be amazing, though. They sound like they could fill the spot in my heart that Acceptance has left vacant.
Seems to me you're questioning our "Sell-outability". Which I guess could be understandable...But don't worry, we're getting close to being done writing our full length and then we can talk...and come to a live show and decide for yourself if we go hard enough...
wait I'm giving a free interview here...this is ridiculous...Jason where's my check I've already given too much!
hahaha, thanks for your comments too everyone, we appreciate them.
Julia, first of all I think you should do a little more reseaching before you think you know what you are talking about... THE SKYLINE DRIVE is a Five piece band, and Brian doesnt play lead and Cliff doesnt play power chords, (Brian plays rythm and Cliff plays keys, and fill guitar). And only a deaf person would think that the bass lines are subtle and the percussion is cohesive, and one thing i can kinda agree with is that Cliffs voice doesnt sound like butt-rock bands (nickelback, hinder) but jeez they blow, and if you didnt have a attention span like a eight year old then you would have realized the messages in the songs... and maybe your the you who should lay off the bottle hun, but if your a comic then your freakin hilarious, so good talk and i cant wait to hear what you have to say
Well written. I mostly agree with your review; the riffs are good, and do add a lot to the band.
But I feel the score should be higher. It sounds like you think less of them because of.... what they might turn out to be? That doesn't make much sense. I do agree that the singer should try to sound more passionate as opposed to polished, if that's what you were getting at. I would've scored the lyrics much higher. While they aren't ground breaking, they do the job well and nothing about them stands out as sub-par.
Overall, I feel the biggest issue with the EP was the production. While the instruments sound great, the vocals could have been made to mesh with them a little better. (I think C and F is nearly flawless, I'm mostly referring to the other two songs.) A full length will be amazing, though. They sound like they could fill the spot in my heart that Acceptance has left vacant.
Thanks for the kind words and the positive criticism, I really do appreciate it.
Hmm, I guess I should clear this up. You're right, I shouldn't think less of them because of what they might turn out to be. What I meant by my mainstream radio comment is that the singer's vocals had a tone or something about them that was was very marketable. This didn't make them bad, in fact I thought the vocals were strong in exectution, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
Seems to me you're questioning our "Sell-outability". Which I guess could be understandable...But don't worry, we're getting close to being done writing our full length and then we can talk...and come to a live show and decide for yourself if we go hard enough...
wait I'm giving a free interview here...this is ridiculous...Jason where's my check I've already given too much!
hahaha, thanks for your comments too everyone, we appreciate them.
Thanks so much for commenting!
By equating the vocals to an almost mainstream alternative rock, I didn't mean to question your "sell-outabiliity." I think it was more a tone that I wasn't 100% down with than anything else. Nonetheless, I think you have something good going on.
Julia, first of all I think you should do a little more reseaching before you think you know what you are talking about... THE SKYLINE DRIVE is a Five piece band, and Brian doesnt play lead and Cliff doesnt play power chords, (Brian plays rythm and Cliff plays keys, and fill guitar). And only a deaf person would think that the bass lines are subtle and the percussion is cohesive, and one thing i can kinda agree with is that Cliffs voice doesnt sound like butt-rock bands (nickelback, hinder) but jeez they blow, and if you didnt have a attention span like a eight year old then you would have realized the messages in the songs... and maybe your the you who should lay off the bottle hun, but if your a comic then your freakin hilarious, so good talk and i cant wait to hear what you have to say
you are a toolbag
this was a fairly positive review
the attention span and the alcohol thing were just unnecessary
if you are angry, attack the review, dont attack her personally
Julia, first of all I think you should do a little more reseaching before you think you know what you are talking about... THE SKYLINE DRIVE is a Five piece band, and Brian doesnt play lead and Cliff doesnt play power chords, (Brian plays rythm and Cliff plays keys, and fill guitar). And only a deaf person would think that the bass lines are subtle and the percussion is cohesive, and one thing i can kinda agree with is that Cliffs voice doesnt sound like butt-rock bands (nickelback, hinder) but jeez they blow, and if you didnt have a attention span like a eight year old then you would have realized the messages in the songs... and maybe your the you who should lay off the bottle hun, but if your a comic then your freakin hilarious, so good talk and i cant wait to hear what you have to say
Fixed to five-piece. I missed that. And I didn't get a one-sheet with this release, I just wrote a review off the EP on their AP profile, so I didn't have very many details to go by. Fixed the member issues too. By power chords I wasn't refering to guitars but vocals. Sorry if your panties got in a bundle.
I'm no music major, I don't play an instrument, and I write about what I hear. Deal with it. And I'll lay off the bottle if you learn to make sense in your posts.
Every time I read a review of yours, I am thrilled, because you never fail to amaze me. You are seriously a great writer. I love reading your reviews, Julia. For serious.
I enjoy what I've heard from this band. They aren't anything stand-out in my mind, but I do like putting them on while I'm dinking around online, and I find them rather enjoyable.
Every time I read a review of yours, I am thrilled, because you never fail to amaze me. You are seriously a great writer. I love reading your reviews, Julia. For serious.
I enjoy what I've heard from this band. They aren't anything stand-out in my mind, but I do like putting them on while I'm dinking around online, and I find them rather enjoyable.
i love the way you write because i knew exactly how this band was going to sound...music like every mae / copeland wannabe without those two bands' ability to craft a memorable song with staying power....and the vocals are kinda lame....but hey with the right producer and financial backing (Ala T&N, Virgin, Warner Bros, Capitol) this band could be the next flash in the pan soft rock favorite...where have the balls in rock gone?
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