Nashville based band Seventh Day Slumber's debut record Picking Up The Pieces is out now on WEA/Word Entertainment. The band plays grunge styled modern rock in the vein of bands like Nickelback and Puddle of Mudd. I'll be totally honest; I tried to like this. I listened to it at least half a dozen times over the course of the last two weeks and I can't bring myself to like it.
Seventh Day Slumber brings us rock music that's easily in the vein of (and sure to please fans of) bands like Creed and Kutless. Lyrically, they're superb. Chief lyricist Joseph Rojas crafts poetry in such a simple and poignant way that's sure to touch the hearts of the hurting and the broken. The music itself is excellent (think a more mellow 12 Stones) and could simply be classified as excellent guitar rock. Songs like "I Know" and "Candy" are just that, pure ear candy.
"My Struggle" jerks more tears than Whitesnake while allowing one to brandish a lit cigarette lighter in the air along with a million other screaming fans in an open arena. The riffage is excellent in it and definitely lends its sound to the classic rock of old. "Running Away" begins with a crushing riff before going into acoustics that bring to mind deep vocals and a full on audio assault ala vintage Pearl Jam. "Spiraling" opens with all the sweetness of a sugar rush via tasty guitar harmonics yet comes off just as predictable as everything else that's being peddled in the pop/rock candy shoppe these days. "Innocence" has bone shattering riffage that's slightly reminiscent of Alice In Chains and even later Metallica.
It's a good record. I'll give it that. But I can't bring myself to like it because it's so predictable. Granted, it's not shallow by any means and they're obviously having fun at what they're doing, but every other band in the market these days is doing it too. I suppose these guys would have been more enjoyable six years ago before that one band with the lead singer who does those Jesus Christ poses on stage came out. Great music from the grunge rock class of '97.
C-
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Josh HurstLike the all-seeing eye of Sauron in Tolkien's Middle-Earth, hard rock bands, following in the footsteps of Creed, POD, and Incubus, are inescapable in today's music scene. Youth-group-friendly bands bent on ministering to kids struggling with drugs or broken homes aren't exactly anomalies, either; they hop around like jackrabbits in the contemporary Christian music world, especially. One listen…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Zik JacksonFor as short as it is, (just over 37 minutes), Seventh Day Slumber rocks hard and rocks well. Picking Up The Pieces, self-produced by the band and mixed by Guardian's Tony Palacios, is the band's breakthrough album. With fearless abandon, the quartet belts out cuts like "Innocence" and "Candy" with an earnestness that is convincing. Opening track "I Know" delivers a solid message with lyrics like…Similar sounding releases
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