{"id":20131,"date":"2012-05-18T18:48:36","date_gmt":"2012-05-18T23:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20131"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:03:11","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:03:11","slug":"fall-from-grace-the-romance-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/fall-from-grace-the-romance-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall From Grace | The Romance Years<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Fall From Grace have faced their fair share of adversity, but they conquered it by subscribing to the creed that whatever doesn\u2019t kill you makes you stronger. And \u201cstrong\u201d is a good adjective to describe this album\u2019s sound: part modern rock, part power-pop, part punk, and part hair metal, the conglomeration of elements all prettied up with a polished production that is slicker than K-Y Jelly on a stainless steel pole yet never crosses the line into sugarcoated crassness. <\/p>\n

Hooks are the heart and soul of this album; The Romance Years<\/em> has more hooks than a fishing derby. While Fall From Grace have their own identity, their brand of infectious rock bears more than a passing resemblance to acts like Marvelous 3 and 40 Ft. Ringo. The band is very fond of thick backing harmonies; there haven\u2019t been this many gang vocal \u201cWhoas!\u201d on an album since the \u201880s pop-metal peak. Most of the choruses are designed to be anthems, soaring addictively over the top, the kind of songs you can sing along to before your first listen even ends. <\/p>\n

But with commercial appeal comes criticism. Fall From Grace could catch flak for playing what some would dub a disposable form of rock, but odds are they don\u2019t care. The band refuses to chase trends or deliberately cater to a certain sound or style; they simply play what they want to play, critics be damned. Their goal is not to change the world; their goal is to simply rock your cochlea and hope you have a good time while they do so. 10-4, mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

The best example of this ear candy is \u201cHeart Attack Road,\u201d not just the best song on The Romance Years but one of the best songs of 2012, period. A well-suited heavier edge makes an appearance along with some spit-and-snarl attitude which is used to power the song all the way to a massive chorus. For modern rock radio to ignore this track is felonious, a crime against rock \u2018n\u2019 roll humanity.<\/p>\n

But that is far from the only great song The Romance Years has on tap. \u201cMaybe I\u2019m Outa My Head\u201d is so catchy that if your body doesn\u2019t move when you listen to it, you\u2019re probably riding in the wrong end of a hearse. Huge backing vocals hammer the hooks into your ears where they travel onward to penetrate and stimulate the sonic pleasure centers of your cerebellum\u2026or whatever part of the brain registers musical ecstasy. \u201cStand Alone\u201d is another killer tune. So is \u201cYour Majesty.\u201d And \u201cSo Long For Now.\u201d And the list goes on\u2026<\/p>\n

While they are the minority, there are a few songs that skew lower in the quality department. \u201cThe Resurrection,\u201d while not rubbish, pales in comparison to the three opening tracks that precede it. \u201cGod of War\u201d sounds badass, but in reality is just a brief instrumental that serves no purpose but to make you reach for the Skip button, and \u201cGreat Expectation\u201d is anything but. And the electronica remix of \u201cFade 2 Grey\u201d at the end of the album takes a good song and turns it into the exact opposite of a good song. It\u2019s like taking a succulent slice of prime rib and then pissing on it. Seriously\u2026why?<\/p>\n

But those are the only negatives, the only diminutive dollops of donkey dung on an album otherwise loaded with diamonds. There are so many great tracks on this release that anything subpar is easily overlooked. Anyone who avoids purchasing this album because of 3 or 4 duff tracks is as brain-jacked as a guy who refuses to sleep with a Swedish supermodel because she chews her fingernails. Even though Fall From Grace might not be perfect, they have created an album that you can easily fall in love with for years to come.<\/p>\n

Genre: Modern Rock<\/p>\n

Musicians:
\nTryg Littlefield (lead vocals, guitar)
\nBrian Olson (guitar)
\nJustin McDonald (bass, vocals)
\nTy McDonald (guitar)
\nJesse Smith (drums, vocals)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Your Majesty
\n2. 18 & Out
\n3. Heart Attack Road
\n4. The Resurrection
\n5. A Train Leaves London
\n6. Fade 2 Gray
\n7. God of War
\n8. Stand Alone
\n9. The Romance Years
\n10. Great Expectations
\n11. So Long For Now
\n12. Maybe I\u2019m Outa My Head
\n13. Fade 2 Gray (Jon Rook Remix)<\/p>\n

Label: Road 2 Hell Rekkids<\/p>\n

Web: www.fallfromgrace.us<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen Staff Writer — Fall From Grace have faced their fair share of adversity, but they conquered it by subscribing to the creed that whatever doesn\u2019t kill you makes you stronger. And \u201cstrong\u201d […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[5267],"class_list":{"0":"post-20131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-modern-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}