Livesay - Awaken The Giant - review

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Livesay - Awaken The Giant - review

Cover image of the reviewed item
Band
Livesay
Album
Awaken The Giant
Style
Heavy metal
Release date
October 2010
Reviewer
7.0
7.3
Tracklist
01. Zero Hour/Awaken The Giant
02. The Burning Times
03. Aphasia
04. Flesh & Blood
05. Tower Of Silence
06. Dance Of The Egyptian King
07. The Agonist
A review by
Doc G.
November 15, 2010
There's something to be said about abuse of power; just because you're an amazing guitarist doesn't mean you need to remind everyone how good you are constantly. Seriously, it's like going to a house party and telling everyone in attendance one-by-one how cool you are. Sure, there might be a few drunk chicks that dig it, but everyone else finds you obnoxious. What is it I'm trying to get at? Frankly I'm not even sure, as I forget what it is I was talking about somewhere around 23 solos ago.

Livesay sound wise are sort of like an American adaptation of Euro power metal, with a more traditional heavy metal & progressive metal twist. An even more accurate description for Awaken The Giant I suppose would be 50 minutes of soloing with some traditional, and power metal parts sprouting up from time to time. Granted, the high focus on instrumentals seem to be an important part of this bands overall sound, and they do it considerably well. It's nice to zone out and get lost in the intense guitar work throughout, but the overuse of this aspect makes it lose all power by the end. Livesay definitely sound like a band for those people out there who live by the code of "more solos = better."

Once again, it's all in the approach. If you're looking for diverse chemistry and variation, it's going to be a little tedious. However, I can see this being a really captivating listen for guitarists above anything else, the same type of people who worship Michael Angelo Batio's Speed Kills, and have John Petrucci instructional DVD's mixed in with their porn collection. There's no doubt this is the angle they were going for, so kudos on a decent job of that.
Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 6
Production: 8
Written on 15.11.2010 by
Doc G.
Written on 15.11.2010 by
Doc G.
Former EIC. Now just a reviewer guy.
More reviews by Doc G. ››

Comments

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Comments: 3 Visited by 91 users

Posts: 289
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15.11.2010 - 15:50

Posts: 289


If it sounds like what I think it sounds like, I won't like this! Funny review by the way. I laughed my ass off when I read the introduction "I forget what it is I was talking about somewhere around 23 solos ago"
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16.11.2010 - 00:02

Posts: 168


From the review, I would say that I might enjoy this, but only 1 or 2 songs from time to time. Probably the kind of song I will not skip on random on my MP3 Player, but I won't be looking for it either.
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02.08.2011 - 01:01
Rating: 10

Posts: 1
I appreciate a good instrumental and was hesitant to listen to Livesay after reading your review. Having gone ahead and listened to Awaken the Giant, though, I have to say that if I were more cynical, I'd think the author of this review is a frustrated guitarist. But since I'm not that cynical, I'll simply say that we have vastly different takes on the album and appreciate music differently. I even went ahead and bought the album. Aphasia is a magnificent piece of composition. Even though the author embedded his recognition of the lead guitarist's tremendous skills within (albeit humorous) criticism, I'm glad he at least gives him due credit in that area.
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