I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of their newest CD EMBRACING THE STRUGGLE the other night at one of their shows; which, by the way, is due to be released on July 16, 1999 (hopefully) at a CD release party at Daytona's! I wouldn't say that I'm a 'groupie' but I have seen them LIVE IN CONCERT about 7 times and each time I attend, they sound better than the last…and Deanna's (female vocal) outfits get more, how would you say it, uh…more risqué! Is that the appropriate word for it? I guess you'll have to go see for yourselves!
So there in my hands was the newest creations by Rebel Amish Radio and I couldn't wait to listen to it…well, strike that, I did wait to hear it because other than loving music, I also love sleep! The next afternoon (yes I didn't wake up until the afternoon), I must've played the new CD on repeat 4 or 5 times so I could get a good feel for the music. The first few times I listen to new stuff, all I hear is the music…I don't think the lyrics kick in until way later. All in all, the new CD sounds GREAT! The sound quality is much better than their last album. The voices are crisper, the instruments are clearer. They really did a fantastic job on this new album. The only thing that bugged me was the feedback on their first song. Every time the disc looped around to the beginning, I'd be sitting there listening to this noise throughout the song wondering if it's feedback I hear and why it is there? At first I thought it was just me hearing things again but then I would only hear it on that first song. Then I started wondering why they didn't hear that or take it out. It was really driving me nuts not knowing whether it's part of the song or it's something they didn't catch or any other number of possibilities. It's kind of like when you're at show and all the sudden there is feedback and everyone makes a noise and squinches their face cuz the noise is quite unpleasant.
Other than that minor little thing, I love the new album. The drumming in the beginning of track #2 (since my CD didn't have song titles on it) is really nice. Track #3 is a really catchy tune with good sounding female vocal. Track #4 "See who I am" can be heard on Noise in the basement on 98 Rock and it's really good. Track #5 has a nice beat to it and after about 12 times listening to the song, I hear and like the lyrics! The 6th track on the new CD has heavy guitar sounds I like along with profound lyrics. I thoroughly enjoy the heavy sounds and fast pace of this pure instrumental piece on track #7. Again, after about 12 times listening to track #8, I started hearing words and really love the lyrics; it's as though he's writing about my life…man, how does he do that?Track #9 is a new version of my favorite song on their first album entitled "Doing Nothing". Incidentally, I took an instant liking to this song after listening to just the first 10 seconds or so (yes, I'm pretty decisive). I absolutely love the guitar part in the beginning. I can't help but smile whenever I hear it. It's like 'feel good' sounds if that makes any sense! I like the guitar here but I think I'd still prefer the original version because it's more emotionally charged, like the words have more meaning and power to them because it's sung with such emotions whereas the newer version doesn't have that emotional appeal to it. Well, that is just my opinion! Track #10 is a new version of the song "Pal" that was played on Noise in the basement many times. This version offers less power but more harmony in vocals. It's a nice change of pace!
The last song, Track #11 needs to have its own paragraph because I've got a freaky story of mine for it. Believe in Synchronicity? If this isn't a synchronistic event, I don't know what is! A few weeks back in June, I went out with a few good friends of mine for my birthday. We got to talking about life and how it would be cool to travel the world…NOW! Being the dreamer that I am, I told my friends that when I'm rich, I'll fly all of us out on my personal jet to……….(and I hesitate for a few seconds to think of a place)…….SPAIN! I've never had a desire to visit Spain but there I was sitting there talking about flying everyone out to vacation in Spain. "I hear it's a beautiful place" someone chimes in. "Why Spain?" another asks. So for the rest of the night, we've made "flying out to Spain" an inside joke. That night, I must've gotten home around 4:30am and stumbled into my room. I turned on the television and there was this guy on my tube saying, "Ever wanted to go to Spain?" Puzzled, I continued to watch, what turned out to be a commercial for travel packages and that particular one was to Spain! "How weird" I remembered thinking, "I'll have to tell my friends tomorrow about this". Days later, I was talking to someone about the new Seiko watch I bought myself for my birthday and he'd mentioned that he bought some nice watches when he was in Spain many years ago! This was getting really freaky! The next day, I decided to finally open up this calendar I bought for a friend. It was obvious he wouldn't want a 1999 calendar since it was already June 25th. I just never got the chance to give it to him so I opened it up and it was a "365 Bottles of BEER for the Year" calendar (hey, one can never have too many calendars). Curiously, I flipped back to June 20th, my birthday, to see which beer was listed for that day and I really don't know why I was still shocked to see it with all the "meaningful coincidences" that was happening. CRUZCAMPO LAGER brewed in Campo, Spain was the beer for that day…hahaha. The day before was some beer brewed in Texas and the day after was a beer brewed in Virginia so it wasn't like that whole section was imported beer. That night, I got the advance copy of Rebel Amish Radio's new CD and the music on track #11 totally struck something in me. Right from the beginning, it sounded so familiar but not like it sounded similar to another song but that somewhere in time, I've heard it. So I'm totally diggin' the music and then the lyrics kicked in. "I wanna go to Spain" is the first line of the song and I totally freaked! I think I started the song over again to make sure I wasn't imagining it and that IS what he's singing! By this time, I'm convinced that Spain is some how significant to my life…all I have to do now is figure out what it all means.
The next night, I went to see RAR doing a show at The Vault. After the show, I had the opportunity to speak with George Bold, the lead singer. If I knew there would be a quiz on their new CD, I would've paid more attention! George started asking me what I thought of their CD and all that came out was "I like it, it's good." Due to the nervousness and the "being caught off guard" feeling, I was a bit tongue-tied (I probably didn't give him the impression that I liked it but I do). Then I HAD to ask him about that first track with the feedback (cuz I'm blunt like that) and he said that he left it in purposely cuz it sounded cool (uh, alright…it's a good song but personally, I would've left it out). I then HAD to tell him about my freaky story with Spain and his song and he said something to the effect that Spain popped into his head too so he started writing that song. By the way, the first line of that song is the only time he mentions Spain so don't go thinking the whole song is about that cuz it's not! It's actually a really cool song about how there is time for everything. That may be the title to the song as well but don't quote me on that just yet. To this day, I still wonder about the significance of Spain in my life. Perhaps it's telling me to heed the words of the song. Since I AM getting older, I do feel as though time IS slipping away. Maybe George is right, there is time for everything even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes. Or maybe the whole Spain thing is a trigger for a past life regression. It's possible I may have lived in Spain in a previous life. Or maybe I'll marry the man of my dreams in Spain and then I would HAVE TO fly all my friends out there for the ceremony…hahaha. What ever it is, stay tune!
As for their new CD, it really is a great piece of work and for a good price! It's easy to relate to their songs because we've all had similar life experiences. That's the beauty of finding the perfect music…perhaps, perfect to our souls as well. Happy listening!
