.rod laver

Item: In A Perfect World
Author: D_Lister

In A Perfect World

(2001)

Reviewed by D_Lister

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Label BEC RecordingsDead Zine2001

alternative rock nu metal rap rock rapcore

Redemption. That certainly could have been the name of this new album by .rod laver. Let's take a trip back in time for a moment. First came Essence of the Game, a CD that was certainly ok for a first shot but not all that great. Then along comes Trying Not to Try, an album that made a .rl fan out of me by making up for their original release. Next comes the third album in the band's three album contract to Screaming Giant Records, No Toque El Toro, which wasn't all that great but after quite a few listens began to grow on me. In all honesty I almost feel the band threw their third album together just to be finished with their contract to SGR, after all it was only a few months later they announced at CStone that they were indeed on BEC Records. Hmmmm, you do the math.

Given this bit of history it's time to announce that In a Perfect World is hands down the best .rl album to date. I loved this album from first listen. The songs are extremely well put together songs, not just a handful of cool riffs that somehow make a decent song, no this album was thought out and planned. You can feel it in these songs. Take track 2, given the usual .rl song title that you don't really understand, '436.' This song is built perfectly and tells two tales within the song. One of a girl who can't see that she is beautiful when she compares herself to what this world tells her is beautiful, and one of a guy who only looks at exteriors for beauty. This is an amazing song and certainly contains lyrics that the youth of today need to hear. Kudos guys for creating this song.

I've been listening to this pre-release CD for over 4 weeks now and it just doesn't get old to me. I did play it for a friend who had never heard the previous .rl albums. He asked before what it sounded like and I told him it was straight up Limp Bizkit "if Limp Bizkit wrote good songs and had a good vocalist." His response was simply "that's a good description."

Now don't get me wrong there are no distinct LB rip offs here at all, they simply play this same style of aggro/rap/whatever you wanna call it music and have nailed the genre squarely on the head. There are so many songs on this disc that could be huge radio/MTV hits if only given a real chance. The overall quality of this disc is about the best I've heard from any of the T&N affiliate labels and the lyrics stay true to where these guys came from. They never get overly preachy, never the less they throw out lines like:

Never forget where your days come from
Never forget the dust we walk on

Never deny we are meant to die
We live to die.

Putting the wraps on this CD I can say that if you liked .rl at all in the past you will love this album. If you've not found much in the rapcore genre that has interested you but want to give it another shot, this is the CD to do it. Rudy and Co. did a fantastic job on this album, I love that guy's voice and their show last year at CStone ruled, I can't wait to see them this year and hear THIS material performed live, it's going to rock.

Oh yeah, throw in that they covered a Faith No More tune and you get one well rounded album. What song? Epic, and for those who don't remember the song by the name you surely know the chorus. "What is it? It's IT what is it. It's IT what is it."

9.5/10