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The 7 - Music - CRZ ADVANCE REVIEW: Tony C. & the Truth - "Demonophonic Blues"
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CRZ
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#1 Posted on 9.12.03 0013.13
Reposted on: 9.12.10 0014.52
Okay, here's the poop. A while back I got an email from some publicists asking if I'd review a CD for them on my message board, in return for which, hey, free CD. For some reason I thought this was a good idea and said, sure, why not.

(image removed) So last Monday I received an advance CD of the upcoming (2004?) Lava release by Tony C. & the Truth, "Demonophonic Blues." You might know Tony C. & the Truth from their contribution to the soundtrack of Project Gotham Racing 2 (xbox.com) - you might know them as the featured band in the BEATS section of www.coorslight.com. You might know them as the opening act on the Living Colour tour. Of course, you probably don't know them as any of these, because - well, why would you?

Tony C. is described over here (freezeonline.com) as "a young Joe Cocker with a DJ" - I don't know if I'm all in agreeance with that concept, but I *will* say that Tony does have a unique voice registering just a bit lower than I'm used to hearing. Also, there's definitely a DJ, and he definitely has that Hashim 12" everybody likes to drop. Musically, however, we edge away from "unique" and back into familiarity...but so many things seem familiar. Hip hop here, rock there, blues over there...and often all at the same time. Funk? Punk? Crunk? This dude, what webmasters the Encyclopedia Metallica (encycmet.com), reminds us that if you steal from one artist, you suck...but if you steal from MANY, you're a genius - I'm not sure I'm down with THAT concept, either, but then again, I'm stealing from an awful lot of people to put THIS review together, AREN'T I. And hey, at least it proves I'm not insane and all by myself thinking I just MAY have heard some of this stuff, or something just like it, before...

It got to the point where we would ask ourselves who we thought the song we were listening to reminded us of the most - Morphine here, Georgia Satellites there, G. Love & Special Sauce around that way, Sublime over yonder, and Everlast - always Everlast.

And then ONE of these songs I recognised because it was used in a car ad! Or was it a truck ad? I forget, but if YOU had heard the opening bassline of "Medusa," you'd probably know which one I'm talking about...and I wish you'd tell me later because it's driving me NUTS

Of course I have to mention the cover version of the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" that ends the disc - kinda sounds like how it might go if Van Halen mk.1 was performing it - think "Hot for Teacher" riffs and you'll get the mental aural picture. But even here, is this an inspired choice, an uninspired attempt to guarantee a hook (after all, didn't it work for Alien Ant Farm? Hey, ANOTHER band I'm suddenly reminded of for some reason) ...or is it both?

And I guess that's really the main problem I have with this disc - everything reminds me of SOMETHING, but taken as a whole, nothing says to me "hey, this - THIS is undeniably Tony C. & the Truth." Instead of forging a style of their own, we end up with a bunch of other people's styles. All that said, if you're a fan of ANY of the kinda stuff I've crammed into this short review, hey, you might totally dig this CD. And heck, you know I'm keeping MY copy, so...

Now then, if you find yourself intrigued enough to give Tony C. & the Truth a listen on your own, you should definitely head over to tonycandthetruth.com - actually, even if you aren't, I'd REALLY appreciate a click just so these publicists can see if what they're getting into with me is worth the two bucks they invested into getting a promo CD into my hot little hands. You never know, this might just be a test to see if I'll actually put up a review or not - or maybe they're testing me to see if I'll review any ol' thing they send no matter how good (or not) it might be. Or MAYBE I just wasn't cut out to write CD reviews. STAY TUNED

So that's my begging: If you got this far, could you please

Click Here (tonycandthetruth.com)?

(Warning: contains Flash - and one popup - and loud music that MAY remind you of Smash Mouth - if you don't want your coworkers to know you're helping me out, wait 'til you get home)

Thanks! I'm still CRZ! (as far as I know)

(edited by CRZ on 8.12.03 2224)
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Dexley's Midnight Jogger
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#2 Posted on 9.12.03 0907.08
Reposted on: 9.12.10 0908.49
Well, thank you. I heard the song from the website and I didn't think it was all that bad. Maybe you'll get your name on one of those little stickers they put on the front of c.d.'s.
CRZ
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#3 Posted on 9.12.03 1053.39
Reposted on: 9.12.10 1055.13
    Originally posted by Dexley's Midnight Jogger
    Well, thank you. I heard the song from the website and I didn't think it was all that bad. Maybe you'll get your name on one of those little stickers they put on the front of c.d.'s.
Somehow I doubt it.

Here's the tracklist, which I forgot to paste last night:

1. Who I Are
2. Good Lookin Out (I think this is the single?)
3. Little Bit More
4. Weight Of The World
5. Ball & Chain
6. Someday
7. Got It Made
8. One 4 The Road
9. Ain't No Pain
10. Gravity
11. Medusa
12. Round & Round
13. Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Dagent913
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#4 Posted on 9.12.03 1818.05
Reposted on: 9.12.10 1818.58
Well, I just clicked over to the website and heard the song. I actually kind of liked it, better than I thought I would after reading the review. I liked the singer's voice, and the song had a pretty good hook. It would definitely go over well at the pool hall I go to. I probably wouldn't buy the CD (based on that one song, anyway), but if I heard it on the radio, I probably wouldn't flip the station either.
PalpatineW
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#5 Posted on 9.12.03 2341.30
Reposted on: 9.12.10 2341.36
I'd just like to know what the hell kind of image they're going with, here. The logo is kind of amateur-looking. The name of the band is vaguely hip hop, but only vaguely. The album cover looks kind of working class white guy. And the music sounds horribly like Smashmouth. And the only place you hear Smashmouth nowadays is, weirdly enough, in all kinds of television commercials.
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