Moments In Grace has a lot going for them. In a time where watered down rock bands are releasing music upon the listener like a plague it is refreshing to hear albums like Moonlight Survived, their debut full length on Atlantic Records. They are not reinventing the wheel but there is still something special about this album that I haven't been able to put my finger on.
Rising out of the Florida independent music scene Moments In Grace has created rich, textured, radio ready rock. This is most evident in the album's opener "Stratus" a soaring mid tempo rock song that starts out pretty typical until the verse begins and it's just the melodic vocals of Jeremy Griffith and a beautiful string arrangement. "The Patient" reminds me of something Sparta would do, with distorted guitars and driving drum parts. "Broken Promises" and "My Dying Day" are both huge in sound and melody and easily pull the listener in.
The band doesn't change pace until midway through Moonlight Survived with "My Stunning Bride" which starts out softly with just clean picking and Griffith goes into falsetto that is more Chris Martin than Thom Yorke, but I am not making any comparisons whatsoever to Coldplay here. "Monologue" and "Distant Longing" find the band going back to the same mid tempo formula found in the first half of the album and then pick things back up with "The Blurring Lines Of Loss." The album closes out very strong with "The Past" that starts out softly with lush guitar parts but slowly builds until the breakdown where it just features keys and vocals, before the rest of the band comes back in finishing out the song in a moving fashion.
The ultimate theme to Moonlight Survived is hope and the lyrics are positive and inspiring without sounding trite like in "The Patient" Griffith sings, "You stand there and wait for your life. It's an easier solution. You're getting old and losing all you love and proving your will is gone." Brian McTernan who has also done production for Cave In, Thrice, and Hot Water Music produces the album.
Oddly enough, one thing that hurts Moonlight Survived is the opener "Stratus." It is so good that the other material is hard pressed to step up and rival it. "Broken Promises", "My Stunning Bride", and "The Past" all attempt to, but to no avail. Nonetheless this is a very strong album and one that will probably garner many top ten lists this year. If this is the future of radio friendly rock then I am more than happy to turn my stereo back on and give it a listen.
3/4
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