RADIO HOSTILE

A diverse adventure over the mountains and valleys of the music industry.

Disconnect's Radio Hostile has some excellent tracks and some that simply did not resonate very well with me. It is a diverse album with many different styles to revel in due to the concept of a struggling band that shed their mainstream style to embrace a new style. None of the tracks are too lengthy so this is not a bad thing with such a range of styles on offer. The highlights stand out and there is some very well executed musicianship from O'Dell and Eschrich.

Temple of Rain is a definitive highlight. I like the quiet 12 string guitars of Tone Poem, and it ends on a powerful thunderstorm and rain effect which I have heard a lot on prog albums of late (Charlestown: Guy Manning, Honour Thy Drummer: Mike Portnoy Tribute Album). It may be turning in to a prog cliché but it still somehow works here. The lead break on A Fond Farewell is terrific, very melodic, though I didn't like the spiteful lyrics with swearing.

The tone of the album is quite light weight melodic prog with some darker edges. The guitars and electronic percussive instruments on Radio Hostile II is a prime example of excellent musicianship, with scorching lead guitars and ambient key pads. It is a very short blast of prog that is followed by a song Not Commercially Viable, with an odd time sig and strong guitars soloing. The clean vocals are performed quite well but once again are cynical and angry with phrases such as "I hate to say it none of that sh*t is true". I have never liked music where artists feel the need to curse their way through a song. However there is some King Crimson like time sigs on this and blazing guitars. There is also a crowd sound that enhances the mood as he asks the crowd why does he need to play this music for them, and they should not pretend they really care, a cool thing to sing in a crowded bar, so this is a scathing dig at those crowds who could not care less about the music.

The marching feet are backed by marching metal riffs on The Sycophantic March, backed by waiting screaming guitar breaks. This is a very heavy track that has become one of my fave instrumentals on the album. Pull The Plug is a straight forward rocker but good for what it is. Torpid Frost has ambient spacey effects with synth swells that create a chilling atmosphere. The song settles into a cool rhythm with sweet guitar passages. The instrumental reminds of King Crimson especially in their 80s era. Once again it is very well accomplished musicianship and makes a terrific track.

Second Soul has nice singing with harmonies and a pleasant melody, quite funky guitar driving it along. The lead break is delightfully chaotic with the improvised drumming. Another very good entry on the album. I also like the instrumental iciness of Radio Hostile I. The funky Red Hot Chili Pepper sound of The most sincere form of flattery, is interesting, and this has a terrific lead break also.

Overall the album has it's own valleys and mountains, highlights and lowlights, but enough here to keep the interest from a strong debut of crossover duo Disconnect.

DISCONNECT released two albums in 2010 including this 66 plus minute album with 15 tracks. They are a duo from the USA with a drummer and multi-instrumentalist who also sings. This is a concept album of sorts about the music industry but really focussing on the radio and the crap they choose play. It's been so long since I've listened to the radio, I would rather be in silence. Anyways the album opens with "You'll Hear My Name Again Someday" with someone changing the radio stations. The opener and closer have a Country vibe with the guitar and vocals. I actually have a top three this time. This is a band I've struggled to appreciate so to have three tunes on here that I like is a good thing.

Up first is the title track and it's only 2 1/2 minutes long but an instrumental with guitar over top. "Torpid Frost" is my favourite. Spacey synths rise and fall for 2 minutes the it kicks in with drums, guitar and bass. Love the melancholic guitar here. Finally "Tone Poem" rounds out my top three and yes all three are instrumentals. The guitar sounds beautiful on this one then it turns spacey 2 minutes in with thunder and pouring rain. Such a cool sound. We get some Funk on "The Most Sincere Form Of Flattery" and also it opens sounding like the guitar on an INXS album. There's quite a bit of variety on this album but I'm not big on a lot of this, especially the vocals that I find are hit and miss.