Band:	VAST
Album:	April
Style:	Rock
Release date:	2006
A review by:	jupitreas

01. You're Too Young
02. Sunday I'll Be Gone
03. One More Day
04. I'm Too Good
05. Be With Me [Acoustic version]
06. Tattoo Of Her Name
07. She Visits Me
08. I Am A Vampire
09. Having Part Of You
10. I Can't Say No To You

What the hell is this stuff??

I have to admit that by now, Jon Crosby has totally lost me. I simply have no idea what the hell he is trying to achieve with his weird new way of distributing music. Let me enlighten those who don't know what I'm talking about - 3 years ago, the VAST frontman has decided that instead of releasing one LP at a time, he would flood his fans with alternate takes and re-recordings of old songs in the form of albums made available online first, and then as proper CD releases. Turquoise appeared first, then Crimson, and then the two put together into one 2 disc release. Now, we are given April, yet another collection of seemingly unfinished songs that may or may not eventually end up on a proper VAST release later this year.

Confusing, eh?

Herein lies the problem with an album like April. If it's a collection of rarities, why is it not called a compilation? If it's a proper album, why does it sound so unfinished and inconcise? In the end, there is no better way to listen to these songs than as some sort of sneak preview of the next proper release. If this is the case; however, why am I supposed to pay for this album? It should be made available free of charge on the band's website?

The music on April is actually not that bad. For the most part, it is a significant departure from the band's industrial rock/alternative metal sound. Recorded using mainly acoustic instruments, the music here is quite introspective, calm and beautiful. At the same time, Crosby still uses the same vocal melodies and familiar song structures that he has been using since his debut and by now they are becoming quite overdone. For someone with such an enormous amount of talent, it is a shame that he doesn't expand into more varied terrains.

If you are an absolute diehard and hardcore VAST fan, you might consider buying this release. Otherwise, I'd advise to ignore it. Artists should decide what material to release instead of putting every track they ever recorded onto a confusing number of albums and asking people to pay money for them.