America Town

by

Five for Fighting

Edit

If you have heard the two singles, Easy Tonight and Superman, then you know exactally what to expect. A pretty decent voice, good production, and a lot of piano. The album flows very, very nicely and really doesn't have too many spots where you want to skip to the next track, well just one I can think of.

Five For Fighting (FFF) has a knack for writing songs that were probably based on him sitting around a piano, and then adding other instruments in when recording. Well, "throwing them in" takes away from FFF's obvious production talent.

I believe that Superman and Easy Tonight are only the beginning of FFF's airplay. There are many, many other great tracks, with plenty of emotional, thoughtful lyrics to keep listeners happy. Other than the first two singles, the best tracks are Bloody Mary, America Town, Something About You, and Out of Love. My favorite song on the album is Love Song, which is the best song I have ever heard about coping with the divorce of one's parents.

I do have two complaints about the album. When I got this album, I happened to notice that their first album was also just rereleased. After falling in love with this one, I went back and purchased it. Love Song appears on both albums, but is much more powerful on the original recording. Partly due to the minimalistic production, but mostly because of the raw emotion in Jon's voice on the original. I wish they had put the original on this album, and not rerecorded it. That said, it is still my favorite on this album. The only other problem is Boat Parade. The end of the song gets loud and overbearing, which kills the mood of the album for about a minute. Small complaints though, for an otherwise excellent album.

I highly recomend purchasing this album for anyone who loves music. Not just Adult Contemporary, or Pop. This album has something for everyone. Great Songwriting, and relaxing, thoughtful music.

Five for Fighting has created a sweet mix of sounds on "America Town." "Easy Tonight" starts slow with piano & guitar and then blasts loose on the electric chorus, "Shotfun fire -- anybody home? I got 2 dimes in the telephone." "Bloody Mary (A Note on Apathy)" is a midtempo track with churning guitar. The blockbuster track is "Superman" with a distinctive melody that builds from ballad to anthem, "I'm only a man in a phony red shirt; I'm only a man looking for a dream." The title track starts midtempo and ends with thundering lead guitar. "Something About You" is another distinctive melody; guitars wash over the arrangement. Another favorite is "Jainy," a slow tune with piano, strings and a beautiful melody. "Michael Jordan" has a piano-driven arrangement, "I would do anything for you." (Especially in North Carolina, most would agree!) Rhythm guitar and organ drench "Out of Love" with its sputtering beat. "The Last Great American" is a ponderous melody, "for every daughter, every son." "Love Song" has an unusual lyric, "Put away your raincoat & make you bed; take another bullet right to the head." The thing I like best about the storm of electric guitar called "Boat Parade" is that at 2 minutes 46 seconds, it's short and ends abruptly. "Alright" has a nice pop chorus and seems like a Peter Frampton deja vu. The hidden track "Do U Mind" is nice, although, I really wish this fad would stop and they'd just list it as the last track. It's annoying when you try to copy to your computer. All in all, this is a very good CD. The songs are sweet. If I were to suggest improvement, I'd want a bit more sense of a whole. The parts are mostly good, but the overall effect is a bit disjointed. That said, 5 for Fighting is very enjoyable.