Customer Reviews

Above the Noise

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Revolution Smile caused quite a comotion when Fred Durst kidnapped them from his sworn enemies in Buddyhead (an independent label), who constantly tease and taunt Durst in the Gossip section of their website (they even snuck into his office and stole one of his red caps). Obviously since they share the same label as Puddle Of Mudd, people will assume there are similarities, but to the contrary, Revolution Smile possess a far more interesting sound. Lead by former Far guitarist Shaun Lopez, Revolution Smile's first (and only) album for Durst's imprint Flawless is a nice change of pace for rock music. Bringing back the melodic hard-rock style of early Filter, the gritty, start-stop of Helmet, and with enough weird song titles to make the Deftones jealous, Revolution Smile have created an album that will please just about any fan of (dare I say) nu-metal. The fact that this can be labeled as nu-metal does not make it bad at all; It is one of the best nu-metal releases of 2003. Surely with all of the wretched clones out there, it's refreshing to hear a band do the genre justice. Fans of Far might feel a little alienated, as Lopez has a far different singing style than that of his former boss Jonah Matranga and the music in general is a little more rough around the edges. But all in all, Revolution Smile has an engaging sound. They know how to rock and they do it well and with some great hooks. It's a wonder why this disc never got it's fair spin when it came out. Unfortunately, they have been dropped from their label not even a year after the release of this album. Too bad. Fred Durst had a gem here. I guess he can fill up his Flawless roster with more Nirvana impersonators instead?

It's damn near impossible in music now a days to inspire people or get them to be honestly excited about something. These are people that haven't heard The Revolution Smile. What I find so interesting about this band is their sheer talent. I mean for a brand new band to come out with such an incredible debut is damn near impossible to the level that Above the Noise is. This band brings the rock, simply put. Forget all that "return of the rock" crap. Forget all those "the THE" bands that are being labeled as saviors of rock music. It never went away, it just got really horrible. I honestly believe a band like the Revolution Smile could bring rock music outta the stump it's been in. This is no bull to this band, just honest and whole hearted music. Standout tracks on this album include I Wish I, The Gift, the Ride of Los Angeles and my personal favourite - Payday. I urge anyone to get this album, it floored me and it'll do the same to you. It'll be one of the most pleasent breaths in the music air you'll take in all year. Why you may ask, Above the Noise is just that: above everything else medicore and bland in music today. This band has guts, balls and heart. The Revolution Smile is the REAL DEAL.

This Band is pretty good i think it had potenial to become better "BoneThrower" is prob the best song on here but i could be wrong all of the songs are worthy and could be hits its alot better than Limp Bizkit and Puddle Of Mudd which come from the same record company as these guys.....but i put this band in the standards of SoundGarden which is saying alot if you like SoundGarden

This is the guitarist from Jonah's (yeah, yeah, yeah; Jonah's this, Jonah's that) former band Far. This is a really good footing for the radio in it's current state. I have a question though: WHEN THE HECK IS THAT QUICKSAND TRIBUTE ALBUM SUPPOSED TO COME OUT?! K; bug the heck out of this band if you ever see them and ask them about the Quicksand tribute album that was supposed to come out like 5 years ago (it was also supposed to have Ray Cappo from Youth of Today and Shelter, Chaka Malik from Burn and Orange 9mm, Glassjaw, Biohazard and a bunch of other incredibly talented people). Ta ta.

Forget all the trendy bands (ie The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives, etc, etc) being lumped into the media-friendly terms 'The Return Of Rock or 'The Rock Revolution'. That is all bollox. Instead, get yourself 'Above The Noise' by The Revolution Smile. The band contains one-time Far guitarist Shaun Lopez (now on vocals, guitar) and deserves to be heard by many. From opening track and 1st single, 'Bonethrower', right through to the atmospheric final track 'I Wish I' this is an album that will appeal to fans of ROCK MUSIC all over the world.

My only gripe (and it is a very small one) is that they chose not to include the track 'Perfect Form'. This song is my favourite Rev Smile track.....but it is available from Apple's iTunes store for 99c. You should definitely buy this track AS WELL as the album.

The Revolution Smile has the goods....I just hope their label gets behind them in a big way.

I admire this CD because it sounds like Nu-Metal but it doesnt Suck Ass like Nu-Metal the singer has a perfect voice for the music it matches it perfectly........the guitar work is Nu-Metal with a unique splash to it....somewhere along the way you will notice a guitar riff here and there.........anyways get this album because its better than the cover puts it out to be.......my favorite songs are (Payday) and (Future of an end)

The old saying "never judge a book by its cover", really hits home on this CD. The name of the band and CD pics do not apply to whats inside. I thought it would be LOUD-ANGRY-HATE music. WRONG! Its not.. nowhere near that.

After hearing this CD 3 times, it is definitely one that I will go back to again and again. Musically, it wont break any barriers, but the way they mix up the tempo between songs helps make the music seem less like every other cookie cutter CD out there. It may not appeal to everyone out there, but IMHO there are at least 8 very good songs on the CD. The rest are somewhere in the filler range, but they dont suck either.

I guess i am a little bit behind in the times, I just bought this album yesterday after hearing people tell me how great it is and of course it's links to a great band called Far. This album is amazing, I wish I bought it sooner. Every song on it is well written and great. The guitars are crunchy and the vocals are clean. They have a sound somewhere between Foo Fighters and Staind...But they are in no way just another mainstream rock act. "Above The Noise" has it's crushing moments of anger, "Bonethrower" and "The Ride Of Los Angeles" and it's slow jams "The Gift" and "Looking Down The Barrel". This record is a must have for fans of meaty, guitar driven hard rock. I just hope they put out another album. The best songs "Bonethrower", "The Gift" and "Payday". Check this album out and the band Far, if you can find them.

I recommend buying this for the hard rock tracks only. Great testosterone driven grunge dabbing in the arts of metal occasionally on this one. However, on the slower tracks like Payday, Looking Down The Barrel, etc.. It seems they overproduced and made it crappy. Find the demo versions of these songs to download (its incredible how much better the demo of payday is) along with some rarities like New Light, Come Together and make urself the perfect rock mixer cd.

I bought this album used, which is the way I think it should be bought. It isn't worth more then five bucks in all. I don't mean that overly negatively, it's just that this album doesn't have the umph it takes to make me fork over more then pocket change. I think the best way to sum up the sound of the Revolution Smile is if you were to take Josey Scott from Saliva doing one of their more mellow songs, on stage with Filter. Make any sense? How about this, if you are a fan of the Filter progression of things, meaning sweet vocals over acoustic guitar that blends into heavy yelling over distortion. In fact, now that I think about it, this album really does sound like a Filter album...huh? Anyways, there really aren't any standout tracks I can point you towards, "Cadilliac Ass" is cool and "Alien" ain't bad. Of course you'll want to sample the single "bonethrower" before you buy this used. If you want to understand why I keep comparing them to Filter listen to "I wish I" that about sums it up. Listen, if this sounds interesting or you like one of the samples, buy it used for a couple bucks, just be prepared to listen to it for a week and then lose it.