We have albums laying around all over the office here at The Collegian. We’ve decided to review them. Pick up a random album and decide to review it — that’s all there is to it. This is the first feature in what we hope will become a recurring series here at The Collegian Online.
A black canvas with a broken, bleeding heart below a red halo. I thought to myself, “This artist might be too intense.â€Â I mentally prepared myself for what I thought would be an hour of a screaming voices and bad melodies. What I didn’t realize was that Luna Halo was actually a band that I might listen to.
Luna Halo is an alternative rock band that was formed in 1999. Lead singer Nathan Barlowe started the band after moving to Nashville to further his music career. The original members — excluding Barlowe — are no longer apart of the band. The current band members include Barlowe’s younger brother, Cary Barlowe, on guitar, Aaron Jenkins on bass and Chris Coleman on drums. Luna Halo’s self-titled album was released Oct. 30, 2007. This is their second album released since the reconstruction of the band.
The first song, “Kings and Queens,â€Â really caught my attention. There are different elements of a song: the rhythm, the vocals, the instrumentals and the lyrics. All of these elements came together well. More specifically, the vocals impressed me. One observation I have had of alternative rock bands is that the vocalists tend to sing off-key. The songs are out of their vocal range and they are straining to reach the notes. Luna Halo definitely did not fit into this category. The songs really fit the vocalist’s capabilities. Another thing I found interesting was that this song was used in the TV show “King of Queens.â€Â I thought this was quite an accomplishment for a band that is not very well known.
So they got my attention. What about the rest of the album?
I have to say I was a little disappointed after pushing the “nextâ€Â button to track two. The melody and sound were almost identical to the first song. I felt like I was listening to a broken record that was playing over and over again. OK, it wasn’t that bad, but I could see a pattern emerging as I listened to each track. I reached forward to push the “nextâ€Â button again; I was on track six by now.
Finally, I hit a song that mixed it up a little. “On Your Sideâ€Â was my second favorite song by now. It was much slower than the rest of the songs, and it brought a nice change to the fast-paced, guitar-driven theme. I really liked how this song incorporated the piano in parts of the melody. The lyrics brought a darker tone to the album. The lead singer was pouring his heart out, telling his significant other how he will defend her and fight to the death for her.
Now this was what I wanted to hear. It was unique, powerful and just plain good music.
The rest of the album sounded pretty similar to the first half. If alternative rock is all you listen to, then I am sure you would easily be able to hear the differences between each song. If that is the case, then this album would be something you might enjoy. If alternative rock is not your music of choice, then this CD may seem unoriginal with each song indistinguishable from the next.
After listening to the album, I thought I would look up the band on iTunes. I was a little surprised to see that the actual album released had different cover art than the advance one they gave The Collegian. The art reflected a milder tone with the four band members’ shadows in a distant window. Maybe Luna Halo felt like they were giving the wrong impression. Maybe they felt they weren’t as “hard coreâ€Â as they were portraying themselves. I think this was a smart move on their part.
Despite the faults I found in the music, I still liked some of what I heard. I didn̢۪t love it, but I liked it. I let my 18-year-old sister, a fan of Amber Pacific and All American Rejects, listen to a few songs, and she really enjoyed them. Either way, if you like alternative rock you might enjoy listening to Luna Halo.