Artist: Number One Gun
Album: The North Pole Project
Street Date: 1/15/08
1. The Massacre
2. Million
3. The Best of You and Me
4. Wake Me Up
5. Bad Habits
6. I’ll Find You
7. Thank You Ending
8. Find Your Escape
9. The Different Ones
10. This Holiday
Rating: 6/10
Summary:
Let’s be honest here. We all thought Number One Gun was dead and gone for a while. And for those fans who fear such, redemption was brought with the announcement of the old band coming back. Well… kinda. In some strange twists, and even sometimes confusing turns, we learned that this “band” wasn’t the same as before. This confusion might have even brought a few flashbacks of a similar situation a few years ago (yes, I am speaking of the whole Watashi Wa/Eagar Seas thing). But with all that aside, an album finally submerged out of the band- or “project” if you will. Now the question is this: How does Jeff Schneeweis’ new project hold really up?
Here’s the play by play. The album starts off with the hardest track on the CD, The Massacre. It actually proves to be a great intro. A strong beat starts off the beginning until Jeff’s strong vocals lead the way with most of the song. The next song Million is another popular song that hosts a growing amount of synths and pianos, while still keeping its poppy sound. The chorus is also a catchy one. Best of You and Me becomes the climax of the synths, as he sings a slow song to change things up a bit. From here on, unfortunately, songs seem to blend together. While Wake Me Up has become the apparent single for the band (thanks to the new music video), it slowly becomes something too simple and bland. All this despite attempting to make the song one of the most upbeat tracks on the album. Another honorable mention, Thank You Ending brings some acoustic guitars in the backdrop along with the typical pop beat. Along with some cool piano and vocals effects, it makes out for a good listen. The Different Ones strips down the music to straight acoustic. Jeff again attempts to bring it down a bit and take advantage of this being his own solo project. The North Pole Project ends with The Holiday as Schneeweis, one again, pulls a more upbeat acoustic number, that doesn’t quite make it as a steller “album ender”.
All-in-all, this album was a decent rebound from a band that had already called it quits. But the fact is, it wasn’t quite the hit that Schneeweis was looking for. Despite the lyrical value, and props for actually making this happen, its just an average listen that offers little replay value. The few great songs have a hard time holding up the rest of the “average” album.
Rating: 6/10