Paper Empire
Better Than Ezra
Full of the great hooks and melodies that the band is famous for, Paper Empire marks yet another step forward in main BTE songwriter Kevin Griffin s evolution as a master tunesmith and builds on the great work Kevin has done writing with and for artists like Howie Day, David Cook, Train and Missy Higgins. Features ABSOLUTELY STILL, which is already getting spun at radio!
Longtime BTE fan, a bit disappointed...
First off, let me start by saying I am a true-blue diehard Ezralite. Their music is the soundtrack to my life as far as I'm concerned. I will never get tired of DELUXE and FRICTION BABY no matter how many thousands of times I've heard them already.
That said, it truly pains me to admit PAPER EMPIRE is not the kind of album I'll be wearing out any time soon. I get the feeling that they boys recognized the success of A LIFETIME and decided to make an entire album of A LIFETIMEs. Don't get me wrong, when Kevin Griffen writes a weepy introspective love song, they're some of the best out there. But a whole album's worth? They try to mix things up with BLACK LIGHT and NIGHTCLUBBING, but to be perfectly honest those songs come across as just plain... silly. They've gone from post-grunge rockers to something you'd hear on Dawson's Creek. I keep waiting to look up and see the end credits rolling on some chick-flick and see "Starring Bette Midler and Meryl Streep" every time I listen to this album.
On previous albums, BTE has been venturing more into the world of electronica and I gotta admit that's never been my favorite stuff of theirs, but it always worked because they had songs like BURNED and I DO to balance out JUICY and EXTRAORDINARY. Not this time, this whole album sounds like it was done on a computer. Look, I don't want an album that sounds like it was made in 1995 or anything, but there's not a single GOOD or KING OF NEW ORLEANS on this album.
I'm sorry BTE, I have always loved you and I will continue to play your other albums until my CD player won't read them anymore, but PAPER EMPIRE is going on the shelf. You've changed in a way that, while it may get you more play on the WB Network, it sells out your core fanbase. Sorry.
Survivors
First off, I have to say that I breathed a sigh of relief when I woke up Tuesday morning to the All-Music Guide's review having given the album 3.5 stars out of 5. The reviewer, well familiar with BTE's catalog, referred to them as being "survivors" in the music industry. I couldn't agree more with that statement, seeing as they've always been regional stars but not well-known nationwide. And it should go without saying that the changes in band members and record labels only perpetuate this feeling.
That being said, four years after BEFORE THE ROBOTS, the band has unveiled a mixed-bag in the form of PAPER EMPIRE (or PLAYS PAPER EMPIRE, as some retailers and reviewers have improperly listed it). When first listening to the album, I felt as though the band had lost a lot of its humor and fun...that is, until I got to track 5, "All In." From there the album delves into dance-rock ala The Killers for several tracks, then lovelorn mid-tempo songs and ballads, and then keeps bouncing between the extremes. This kind of inconsistency dizzies the listener and makes one ask, "What just hit me?" when the whole thing finishes.
It doesn't help that nothing is so catchy that it sticks with you when each new track begins. It also makes the album feel shorter than it actually is, which, in this day of age of playlists and portable music players, isn't so much of a problem, but what is an issue is the lack of hooks. Plus, let's face it, the band is heading into middle-age territory, so why the radio gloss and pandering to youth with tracks like "Nightclubbing" and "Black Light"? While the ultimate recent midlife crisis is owned by Ben Folds' WAY TO NORMAL, this album is thankfully a tinge more self-aware and not as immature.
Those who have seen the band live know that Kevin Griffin likes to engage the crowd and his playfulness is raw. It was that rawness that made CLOSER such a great album, stripped to rock's bare essentials and (mostly) free of big orchestrations, which have become so overused in music nowadays. If Griffin could channel more of his older musical tastes, he could have a looser, less-forceful album that would showcase his songwriting skills, instead of dressing them up in the wrong clothes. Sure, HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW was experimental, but overtly so, and it worked because it never let up. Whereas "Juicy" from the previous album was delicious (no pun intended) because the style change was so drastic from the other tracks. Griffin just needs to figure out how to walk these lines properly and realize that middle-of-the-road just doesn't suit him.
Fortunately, Griffin does always sing with passion, which makes the album's best track, "Turn Up The Bright Lights", really soar. It also assures the listener that the album wasn't just a toss-off; a lot of thought was clearly put into the production, even if it didn't get executed as well as it could have been. I already look forward to adding it to my Better Than Ezra queue and hearing these new songs mixed in with the old ones, which I know will better the songs themselves. And the bottom line is this: ANY new music from Better Than Ezra is better than having no new music from them at all.
Better Than Nothing
"Letdown" is a good word for this album. For me, "Paper Empire" was going to go one of two ways: 1. It was going to build on "Closer" and "Before the Robots" by successfully balancing pop, rock and experimental songs that blend well on the same album...and maybe (hopefully) even take it to the next level. 2. It was going to reveal that BTE is no longer a band and is instead now at the mercy of Kevin Griffin's ever-decreasing ability to craft songs that BTE fans actually want to hear. Unfortunately, it went with #2. That's not to say that this album doesn't contain some good songs, because it does. Several of the songs are very good, but there is a "B-side" feeling to almost all of them which make you wonder where all of their GREAT ideas went.
There isn't a single song that made me want to push "rewind" and hear it again before I moved onto the next one (that happened a LOT during their last two offerings). With each song, I listened eagerly and closely, desperately wanting (no pun intended) to hear something that would make me say, "THIS is my new jam!" Didn't happen. One of my favorite things about this band has always been that they never seemed to get comfortable or lazy within any given album. This one feels comfortable and lazy. The songs that try to "mix things up" ("All In", "Nightclubbing", etc.) just aren't that good. I was left with the feeling of "what was THAT???" after those songs instead of the feeling of "well THAT was an interesting song to put on the album...I think I like it!" I think that if this is their best effort, they're done. It pains me to say it, but it's true.
I love BTE and getting this CD at this point in their career is a gift, period...but I'm afraid I won't have very high expectations for them from now on. Please prove me wrong next time, guys.
