Remember Maine - The Last Place You Look
Record Label: LLR Recordings
Release Date: December 17, 2002
I'm sure many of the users who frequent this site are familiar with the pop-punk band The Academy Is..., right? So that would mean that you're familiar with their lead singer, William Beckett, right? Well, have you heard his teenage era solo release? If not, you really need to.
When William Beckett was just seventeen years old, he set out to record an all acoustic solo album. What he got out of that was The Last Place You Look. All it took was young William, an acoustic guitar, and the occasional help from friends to record a stellar solo album. Beckett's whimsical vocal style is what fuels this album. He shows his skills as a songwriter, guitarist, and definitely as a vocalist throughout the entire album.
The opening track, "East Bound Traffic," is a happy, energetic song about (guess what) a girl. This entire album relies on predictable, high school themes, and is the albums biggest flaw. Nearly every song is about some sort of relationship or teenage problem and "East Bound Traffic" is definitely not an exception. Beckett starts the song by softly singing "Could we make up our minds tonight / Will we open up our eyes / Burning pages I’m pouring out on / Will your innocence contest / Will you be like the rest," which is when the vocals and guitar both speed up and the direction and overall feel of the song changes. "East Bound Traffic" is a solid song and a great opener to the album.
"Don't Mess With Texas" is a fast, energetic song about, well, another girl. The song is about a nervous guy/girl relationship and "making the move" on the girl he likes. The whole song is basically William as the narrator, telling the story of a boy and a girl's relationship, telling the male "Come on kid, you gotta figure this out / Just act stronger, you got her number." The narrator questions the girls motives as well, with lines like "Shouldn't she just take the chance / like she took holding his hand." Basically, this song is about the struggle and immaturity of high school relationships, and how they come and go.
The follow up to "Don't Mess With Texas" is "Waiting Up." This track is less of a showcase of Beckett's vocals, and more about his guitar playing. While it's nothing more than your standard acoustic guitar work, Beckett does it well enough and creatively enough to keep the listener interested in more than just his vocals and lyrics.
"Forever Ended Today" starts with a ringing phone, and a girl's voice calmly saying "Hello?," which is when you hear the smooth, calming guitar work, and then not long after that, the voice of Beckett. The track is about a break up, which is pretty obvious based on the title of the song. It's a 6 minute, 30 second ballad of hurt feelings, and being back together again. This is the strongest song on the album, lyrically, vocally, and instrumentally.
While all these songs are ridiculously catchy, fun, and interesting, there is still one big flaw: predictability. Every song has the same theme, similar lyrics, and you can easily guess what the oncoming song will be about. However, the fact that they are catchy and fun is what saves this album. Beckett provides solid vocals all the way through, along with better than expected lyrics from a seventeen year old. If you are a fan of any type of acoustic music at all, I would highly recommend this.
Where did you get this? I'm pretty sure this isn't on iTunes and it was a very limited printing. I like what's on the MySpace, but he's definitely a lot stronger on Almost Here and everything TAI's done.
Where did you get this? I'm pretty sure this isn't on iTunes and it was a very limited printing. I like what's on the MySpace, but he's definitely a lot stronger on Almost Here and everything TAI's done.
I couldn't find it anywhere so I just downloaded it
You can get a free download of "Waiting Up" at the purevolume site. I haven't heard the whole thing, but I kinda want to now. "Waiting Up" is great. Good review.
You can get a free download of "Waiting Up" at the purevolume site. I haven't heard the whole thing, but I kinda want to now. "Waiting Up" is great. Good review.
If you like only one of the songs you will most likely love them all. Thanks.
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