Archives for June 4, 2004

Rydell are a band doing the whole Emo/Hardcore thing and they manage to pull it off really well. This is a 13 track CD and each song is a masterpiece and is full of energy and enthusiasm. They seem to draw influences from the lovely band Hot Water Music and this is not a surprise as the band have actually done a split with them and also played gigs with them so they are bound to take some influence. They have toured with all the top American bands of the same genre so they know what they are doing and make melodic hardcore at it’s finest. This album effort from the band, I must say is a superb effort as there are songs that are verging on Hardcore and then there are others that are so melodic and Emotion driven that it is hard to believe it is from the same band. ‘Ad Astra’ for example is a melodic, instrumental tune and at first I thought that there was no song there, but on turning up the volume I found that there was a very light instrumental rhythm going on and it is such an ace tune as it is so melodic and the emotion of it is captured without them even having to use vocals! It is truly amazing how they manage to do this and I’m not sure how but they have pulled this off perfectly here! As well as playing these melodic Emo tunes they also have the songs that are more raw and aggressive like ‘Home’ as you can tell this is more aggression fuelled rather than emotionally driven and it just proves that they can go from one extreme to another and pull it off with tremendous style. Also, I feel that ‘Ghost Culture’ is a great tune and again it is rather aggressive while remaining melodic at the same time so you get the best of both worlds. I feel that it is probably the song on the CD which stands out the most as it is sure to please everyone with its melodic aggression. The guitar playing on this CD is extremely strong and is not overshadowed by the vocals like it can be sometimes so you can see that the band have chosen not to follow a trend but to do their own thing and this is pleasing as I like to hear bands that do things slightly different to what most people do and this is exactly what Rydell do. I think that this CD is great as it has everything you want, emotion, aggression, and guitar riffs to die for. Also, the vocals are extremely strong and they are what make the CD so original and exciting. This is probably the greatest Emo CD I have and probably will ever hear. I strongly encourage you to download this band as they are moving and contain as much excitement as you could possibly wish for in a band.

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This is a CD showcasing 5 more tracks from those wonderful blokes, Rydell and this CD showcases more great tunes that show off the bands great talents. The band released this CD way back in 1999, so it was long before ‘Per ardua ad astra,’ a great CD which I also happened to have reviewed on this website. It is of an extremely high standard and there is much to appreciate about this here CD. The band takes on many different styles in this CD with a very emotional take on track 3, ‘The Plot Is Lost.’ This track is an awesome one of extreme emotion and contains female backing vocals – it works really well with the two different sexes singing and a really great sound is created. I really loved it and thought that it was one of the strongest tracks on the CD with gentle guitar playing, slow paced drumming and extremely gentle vocals it really mellows you out and puts you in a good mood. Another track that I loved from this demo was the first track, ‘Nothing By Morning’ as on this track the band seem to take a heavier approach with more aggressive, raw punk rock. This track has come out really well and on this track there is an awful lot of stuff to take in like the aggression of the vocals, the fast drumming and then the mellow sounds of the guitar which seem to compliment the vocals and drumming and it all seems to fit together and works really well. They could easily make an album of tracks like this and this would be sure to please as this is a top quality tune and when a band can pull it off with such style, you know that they have a definite talent for it that is well worth taking note of. I love all five of these songs and feel that they have been done to a good standard and it just shows that the band have been clued up for many years now as this was written a whole four years ago and is still of an extremely high standard with awesome tunes.

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This is a collection of earlier Rydell stuff and you can hear the band as they were before the release of the album. There are 14 tracks here of emotional Punk Rock. The band on this CD still sound very Hot Water Music but on this CD they sound much more emotional and there are no more aggressive hardcore tracks like on the album. This is a good CD to chill out to as it is extremely mellow and so emotional that at times on this CD you want to cry but you just cant because at the same time it is so strong that it is unbelievable. You hear the band as they progress through and become better musicians and then you see how they arrived at the sort of style that they have now. It is quite amazing to see how much they have improved since they started out and a band that started off great have become legendary! If you look at the discography for this band then you can see that it is extremely impressive so this is not just a change that has happened over night, the sound of the band has been refined over a series of years and CDs. All of these songs are awesome in their own right and I feel that they have really managed to create their own unique style in the time that they have been around. Yes, it may draw many different influences but in taking these influences they have put them all together and added their own secret ingredient to spice it up a bit and they have emerged far greater for it and have the most original and unique take on Emo that I have ever heard in my life. I think that they are definitely the best in the UK at what they do and they deserve to be a famous band as by the number of CDs and shows that they have done you can tell that they are not a lazy band and what they have achieved so far has been through sheer determination and hard work. Look out for this band in the future and look out for their next album as I am sure that it will be a cracker with many nice little twists to take you by surprise!

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This is a new album from the emotional Punk Rockers Rydell and consists of 9 tracks showing off the bands great musical talents and amazing playing ability. Once again, Rydell have produced a fine CD of emotional Punk Rock with outbursts of rawness and aggression. Once again, you have got the harder tracks and then you have the more emotional, softer tracks so the band are still showing that they can do both Hardcore and Emotion to an extremely high standard and can do them both just as well as each other. There are some great tracks on this one with aggression such as ‘Know Now,’ ‘Shifter,’ and ‘Boys Of Summer,’ then there are the more emotional tracks such as ‘Fire At The End Of The Street,’ ‘Team Building Exercise,’ and ‘Untitled.’ The tracks on this CD that are emotional don’t seem to be as emotional as they usually are on Rydell records so the band seem to have opted for a more hardcore this time round with many more aggressive vocals than there are mellow ones.

The most mellow of all the tracks seems to be the last track, ‘Team Building Exercise’ and this seems to be done really well with a really chilled out feel about it. The guitar playing has a really mellow feel about it, the vocals are extremely melodic and the drumming is a good, slow beat. This is a great song and although it is an extremely slow track it is extremely interesting and is not at all boring like slow tracks can sometimes be. The band have a talent for hard edged songs but they also have a great talent for slower, more melodic songs and they are really showing this here with ‘Team Building Exercise.’

The first track here, ‘Know Now,’ is, in my humble opinion an extremely cool track. It has everything you could possibly wish for – raw, aggressive vocals, frantic drumming, and an awesome guitar riff. It is a really great track and has a great degree of rawness about it that really drew me in and got me hooked, I keep listening to this track over and over and never seem to tire of it as it is such a powerful and interesting tune to listen to that you can take so much from. The tracks ‘Shifter,’ and ‘Boys Of Summer,’ are also extremely powerful tracks with the latter of the two having some serious outbursts of power coming out at times and really grabbing at you. Even though they are aggressive, they still seem to have a great deal of emotion in them and it is really strange the way that Rydell seem to be able to do this without any serious difficulty and just by this you can tell that they are an extremely talented band that are very good at what they do and love what they are currently doing.

There are some great tracks on this CD and the band has put across 9 tracks of emotion, aggression and in some cases great rawness. If you are looking for something raw then check out ‘Know Now’ as it is possibly the rawest sound the band have ever produced and I love it! If you are looking on something a bit more emotional though check out ‘Team Building Exercise,’ as it is a great track with a really chilled out atmosphere. Whatever you are after, this band are sure to put a smile on your face as they have great talent and produce some fine, fine music.

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