My review from the FacebookFanpage
The album has so much stretching going on it’s been hard for me to take it all in. The main thing that stands out to me in these first few hours is that this is an album that showcases Ian Thornley’s vocal capabilities more than ever.
Ian says that the song has to be the biggest ego in the room. I agree. My first impressions were that the ego must have dictated that there would be almost no guitar solos taken on this record. (Remember, this was my FIRST impression) Coming from what we all consider to be one the BEST guitar players around, this was kind of a shock! I thought Ian took the record and shook down all the solos into one song: Skybunk Marche. And oh boy are there solos in that one! But, in reality the solos that are throughout the record are so superbly matched to the songs as to not really call attention to themselves. There’s not a lot of “listen to Ian solo” moments for the non-musician like myself to point out to new fans.
My taste runs more toward the obvious. Have I been spoiled by the herculean solos of the past records? This record has more subtle playing that reveals itself over many listens. Seasoned, tasty runs are found on nearly all the songs and there are all kinds of new sonic experiments and tones that emerge in due course. Maybe that’s just maturity and their true musicianship come to the fore. The more I listen, the more I hear.
I was listening to the radio the other day, and “My Old School” by Steely Dan came on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8OU-7JDFA Great song from the sonic wallpaper of my years. I LOVED Zep, Slade and more hard rock, yet I knew all the words and all the musical passages from this Steely Dan classic to a tee. The guitar solos are exquisite but certainly not epic like say, Stairway. The ascending, spiraling, tower of a guitar solo that would make my hair stand on end. But damned if years later, as I’ve grown to appreciate other styles, that guitar work by Skunk Baxter isn’t just a wonder. Upon repeated listening to Grace Street the majority of the guitar work is more of the exquisite type than the epic type.
In the Big Wreck/Thornley catalog, Grace Street, in a way, is a schizophrenic group of songs. At times it feels like a solo album. That is not a bad thing, it’s just that some of the compositions have an “Ian Fletcher Thornley” feel…. only with more polished layers.
I must say, I have hoped for some joyful tracks. To just bust out with some grooves and dance! Well there are examples in abundance!!!! The GROOVE is KING on this record, mores than any other BW compositions to date!!!! This stuff is going to be amazing live!!!
We all know, Ian has a penchant for wearing his influences on his sleeve. The ultimate fan, he LOVES to meld the music that has emotionally affected him in the course of his life into compositions that operate in that “feel”.
So in this outing, we have in the blender, Sting, Jeff Beck, Zep (of course), Asia, Rolling Stones, The Police, U2, Queen, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Bruce, Miles and MANY more obscure (I hear some Steve Morse and Bill Nelson) others. These are just the ones I recognize in my limited musical knowledge. So in all this sandwich making (ham/cheese/pepperoni - Turkey/bacon/avocado - etc) do we lose “Big Wreck”? My first impressions were yes, a little, but after many listens the songs carve out their own identity. These ARE Big Wreck!
The influences have always been there to find. Maybe more subtly on the earlier albums, but they were there. It is what THRILLED me about the band from the beginning! A bass line from this, a lead tone from that, a drum pattern from there, it all sounded so complex and original while being honestly derivative (like MOST music actually is)!
Ian’s compositions always placed unexpected elements together in VERY quirky ways. Eric Johnson, called it “left of center”. He was right. But, maybe those quirky ways were somewhat hard to digest. They were not easily accessible. Maybe that is why mass popularity has eluded them (although the DEPTH of fandom seems incredibly universal, more BREADTH would surely be appreciated). Even when an admittedly direct attempt to dumb down the music was made with Come Again, there still was enough inventiveness and intelligence in the music to keep it from mass acceptance, somehow.
Grace Street, under Garth’s direction, makes all the “right” choices. The songs feel more whole, not the sum of their pieces.
On a side note, in lots of places, it’s my impression, that it’s taking another swing at MANY of the concepts, licks and phrases from the past. As if Garth said, “F-it, I know you did this before…. you didn’t do it right… THIS is how you should do it!” And I’ll be damned if he didn’t get it right.
As for the uber fans who obsessively pour through each and every bootleg, every youtube intro, the ACTUAL sky bunk snippets, Suhr showcase and guitar store demos, we have seen and heard Ian’s sketchbook. I have not a musical bone in my body, but I spin these sketches into what I imagine to be the ULTIMATE Big Wreck song! The ONE that will FINALLY be a breakthrough! Sprinkled throughout the album, a phrase here, a lick there, a bass line, a melody…. I feel familiar with it all. The bones of many demo songs are scattered all over this record. Some whole songs have been dismantled like a lego set to live again as an entirely new composition! One day when the boxed set of unreleased material comes out we will be able to revel in it. Until then, like Ian has said to me in the past, “Don’t get demo-itis!” As an artist, Ian continually moves forward and reserves the rights to his own legos!