fallout (fôlout) n.
1.
a. The slow descent of minute particles of debris in the atmosphere following an explosion, especially the descent of radioactive debris after a nuclear explosion.
b. The particles that descend in this fashion.
2. An incidental result or side effect: "Other social trends also have psychiatric fallout, and the people who suffer can't afford treatment" (Martha Farnsworth Riche).
If Fallout is as the second part of that definition states an "incidental result or side effect" then Faithbomb appropriately named this CD! The bomb being The American Jesus, an album that was amazing groove metal, but sitting here now a year or so later we still feel the effects of that music in Fallout.
In the insert it clearly states this CD is "a collection of Remixes, Live Bootlegs, Studio craziness, Demos, and the original version of 'The Down Road'" and that sums this CD up nicely. The only new song is a "Demo" version of 'Fear Within' which rips no doubt, but there are no vocal tracks mixed in at all. A nice listen once in awhile, but without the vocals I'll not come back too often. You also get 5 live versions of current FB songs in; This Book, The American Jesus, Blind, Come On Home, and Sin. These were recorded at the Texas Rockfest in 1999, and are cool, yet VERY low production value. It's hard to hear the music much through these tracks. The exception seems to be The American Jesus which is a very cool track indeed. I've listened to it several times.
The original version of The Down Road is the version that appeared on the Massive Frequency Overload comp. CD from Rowe Productions. For my money this remains the BEST version of the song to date. Yes I feel it even beats out the Remix of the TAJ version that appears on this very CD. This version they removed the vocal choruses which puts more emphasis on the violin. Nice but I just like the crunchy guitars from the Original Ver. thank you.
There's also a remix of Come On Home (one of my faves from TAJ) and this is pretty cool, because they put some nice distortion on Rob's vocals and made it meaner sounding. I like it. Finally the CD wraps up with a 1:01 version of Giant Steps, a song by Sin For Sin Rob's band prior to FB...well it's not really a version, it's more a parody. It's sub-titled "Studio Idiocy" and again the boys from FB have aptly named it! It's a pretty funny listen and lets you in on their humor, and ends the CD very nicely.
All in all if FB had charged anymore than $5.99 for this thing, you'd think they'd have lost it. As it is, if you dug TAJ, you should probably pick this up to support the band, and you'll get a kick outta it. It's only 6 bucks from MP3.COM, and that includes the shipping
5/10
