Spring Break
Fallen Hero Will Rise To Fame
CD Review
Kaylah Baca
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Focus
On their Web site, the band Fallen Hero claim that their goal is to create music that will nod heads, pump fists and tap feet in cars. After listening to the band's first official album, "Tales From Mianus," it can be said that their determination will soon pay off.
The New Jersey band consists of Luke Cisco on lead guitar and vocals, Brett Wiese, a UConn alumnus, on bass guitar and John Quigley playing drums. Fallen Hero was created not only for the three friends to jam, but also so they could have something to be proud of showing a girlfriend on her birthday. They have been playing shows since last spring here at UConn and have already played at Carriage House this semester. The band should have no problem gaining a strong base at UConn considering the lyrics off their album are words that most college students will be able to relate to.
"Tales From Mianus," a title the band chose after seeing a road sign, has 12 tracks. The album starts off with "Count Me Out," a fast-paced song that almost makes them sound like an early version of Blink-182. In the first track the singer tries too hard to hit a higher octave. Throughout the album the vocalist repeats this mistake, fluctuating between hitting the notes and not quite hitting the notes. However bad his singing can get though, it isn't enough to turn the volume all the way down. Luckily, Cisco's ability to play guitar so well saves most of the songs. The guitar solos are not obnoxiously elaborate and the melodies can be differentiated, so putting the CD on repeat won't cause too much of a sound blurring problem. Occasionally a change in the sound of the guitar can be heard thanks to the use of an effects pedal. Overall, Cisco does a fantastic job rocking out on guitar.
It is almost expected for a new rock band to have a drummer who rocks the same beats in all the songs the band plays, but Quigley does a great job mixing it up. Listening to the songs doesn't get boring because the drummer changes the rhythm frequently and nicely enough. Even Wiese, the bassist, has some good melodies by himself, especially in the song "Captain Fantastic."
The lyrics are mostly about the typical boy/girl situations found in a majority of the songs made by newly formed bands. Nevertheless, the lyrics by Fallen Hero are more unique because they actually sound mature as opposed to the juvenile lyrics of many other bands that might be at the same skill level. An exception to this is heard on the most ridiculous song on the album called "Richard Song," which basically consists of the singer yelling that "Richard is a (insert crude word here)."
Overall, the album, soon to be on iTunes, is a great debut CD for Fallen Hero. Punk rock fans will definitely dig the fast-paced songs while the more emotional listener will love the lyrics behind the more acoustic sounding songs. Fallen Hero should, without a doubt, only get better with time.
Contact Kaylah Baca
at Kaylah.Baca@UConn.edu.
The New Jersey band consists of Luke Cisco on lead guitar and vocals, Brett Wiese, a UConn alumnus, on bass guitar and John Quigley playing drums. Fallen Hero was created not only for the three friends to jam, but also so they could have something to be proud of showing a girlfriend on her birthday. They have been playing shows since last spring here at UConn and have already played at Carriage House this semester. The band should have no problem gaining a strong base at UConn considering the lyrics off their album are words that most college students will be able to relate to.
"Tales From Mianus," a title the band chose after seeing a road sign, has 12 tracks. The album starts off with "Count Me Out," a fast-paced song that almost makes them sound like an early version of Blink-182. In the first track the singer tries too hard to hit a higher octave. Throughout the album the vocalist repeats this mistake, fluctuating between hitting the notes and not quite hitting the notes. However bad his singing can get though, it isn't enough to turn the volume all the way down. Luckily, Cisco's ability to play guitar so well saves most of the songs. The guitar solos are not obnoxiously elaborate and the melodies can be differentiated, so putting the CD on repeat won't cause too much of a sound blurring problem. Occasionally a change in the sound of the guitar can be heard thanks to the use of an effects pedal. Overall, Cisco does a fantastic job rocking out on guitar.
It is almost expected for a new rock band to have a drummer who rocks the same beats in all the songs the band plays, but Quigley does a great job mixing it up. Listening to the songs doesn't get boring because the drummer changes the rhythm frequently and nicely enough. Even Wiese, the bassist, has some good melodies by himself, especially in the song "Captain Fantastic."
The lyrics are mostly about the typical boy/girl situations found in a majority of the songs made by newly formed bands. Nevertheless, the lyrics by Fallen Hero are more unique because they actually sound mature as opposed to the juvenile lyrics of many other bands that might be at the same skill level. An exception to this is heard on the most ridiculous song on the album called "Richard Song," which basically consists of the singer yelling that "Richard is a (insert crude word here)."
Overall, the album, soon to be on iTunes, is a great debut CD for Fallen Hero. Punk rock fans will definitely dig the fast-paced songs while the more emotional listener will love the lyrics behind the more acoustic sounding songs. Fallen Hero should, without a doubt, only get better with time.
Contact Kaylah Baca
at Kaylah.Baca@UConn.edu.
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