Customer Reviews

America Town

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you have heard the two singles, Easy Tonight and Superman, then you know exactally what to expect. A pretty decent voice, good production, and a lot of piano. The album flows very, very nicely and really doesn't have too many spots where you want to skip to the next track, well just one I can think of.
Five For Fighting (FFF) has a knack for writing songs that were probably based on him sitting around a piano, and then adding other instruments in when recording. Well, "throwing them in" takes away from FFF's obvious production talent.
I believe that Superman and Easy Tonight are only the beginning of FFF's airplay. There are many, many other great tracks, with plenty of emotional, thoughtful lyrics to keep listeners happy. Other than the first two singles, the best tracks are Bloody Mary, America Town, Something About You, and Out of Love. My favorite song on the album is Love Song, which is the best song I have ever heard about coping with the divorce of one's parents.
I do have two complaints about the album. When I got this album, I happened to notice that their first album was also just rereleased. After falling in love with this one, I went back and purchased it. Love Song appears on both albums, but is much more powerful on the original recording. Partly due to the minimalistic production, but mostly because of the raw emotion in Jon's voice on the original. I wish they had put the original on this album, and not rerecorded it. That said, it is still my favorite on this album. The only other problem is Boat Parade. The end of the song gets loud and overbearing, which kills the mood of the album for about a minute. Small complaints though, for an otherwise excellent album.
I highly recomend purchasing this album for anyone who loves music. Not just Adult Contemporary, or Pop. This album has something for everyone. Great Songwriting, and relaxing, thoughtful music.

"America Town" is an album I thought would never happen. No offense to the band but the last album was so GREAT and SO dismissed, by their previous label, I never thought I would see these guys again. Good News, now listen up.

Step one buy this album if you.... a) enjoy Elton John, Counting Crows, & Toad The Wet Sprocket b) enjoy lyrics deeper than the ocean but manage to fill a small void in your mind. (most importantly) c) love GREAT MUSIC!

From beginning to end you move from one mood to the next beginning with "Easy Tonight" a tune dealing with a man/woman on the verge of leaving the planet "Shotgun fire, anybody home, I got two dimes in the telephone, alright It's not easy tonight". Optimistic right? Well, there is the inevitable hope in the music that carries you from depression into evolution.

The last track "Alright" is an optimistic number touting "Well I'm alright, alright, I feel alright I've never been better in my life". This song is actually a bit more complicated but point made.

Their first album, "Message For Albert" is just as good if not slightly less focused but more daring than this release. In fact, both "The Last Great American" & "Love Song", originally found on the first album, are retooled for this release. Better on the first(TLGA) and not quite as effective on the later(LS). I really can't recommend this album enough. I have had a pre-mix version in my possession for over a month and this release is even more engrossing. Trust me and the other reviewers here, You are listening to one of the finest budding musicians on the scene today. You go J.O.!

It's not often that a record inspires you to get on top of a soapbox and scream at the world to pay attention. Amid the songs on the radio that pass as "music" these days, Five For Fighting's "America Town" rises above the morass as redemption for artists everywhere. Simply put, Five For Fighting reminds us (the music lover) of the splendor of pop music.

Lyrically, songwriter John Ondrasik is a master of expression. Without exception, there is great depth to all 12 songs on the album. However, the depth does not detract from the fun. My favorite track, "America Town," has particular relevance in this election year. To me, it is a song about searching for someone to look up to as a leader or hero in a day where few are readily recognizable. The song is an interesting contrast to the tribute paid to another "hero" on "Michael Jordan."

While I have read a couple of album reviews that compare Five For Fighting to artists including Dave Matthews, Ben Folds Five, Elton John, U2 and Counting Crows, the total package is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you want to do something wonderful for yourself, pick up a copy of this album. It will outlast the best of your record collection.

I heard "Superman" once (that's right, ONCE) on the radio here in Baltimore and became instantly committed to buying this album. I think "Superman" is a fantastic tune, comprised of great songwriting and performance. Though I had never heard any music from Five for Fighting before, I guessed that the single song I heard on the radio was evidence of this band's potential for excellent music. My first listen to the album confirmed my speculations. Five for Fighting has compiled a set of great songs on America Town, all of which are accessible music on the softer side of rock. The songs on this disc were written with special attention to poetic lyrics, often poignant and moving, that combine with solid musicianship to deliver a highly entertaining musical experience. "Superman" continues to be one of my favorites on this disc, but a number of the other songs are also quite engrossing, including "Bloody Mary (A Note on Apathy)", "Jainy", and "Boat Parade". Interestingly, after I bought this disc here in Baltimore, I took a business trip to Salt Lake City, where I heard "Superman" played all over the radio! Quite different from Baltimore, but I was glad to see this band getting some radio play in another part of the country - they deserve it. I definitely recommend this album to you Amazon.com listeners!

Like many, I was drawn to Five For Fighting for the lyrically gorgeous Superman, and I was hesitant to buy this album based on past disappointments of loving just one song and hating the rest. But during an hour and a half car ride home, I found myself hanging on to every song on this album and not wanting it to end. John Andrasik's voice gives me chills in the best possible way. If you want to listen to some music that will touch your heart, that will get stuck in your head and will keep you coming back for more, I higly recommend this album to you.

I feel I must point out that this album is not for everyone. It seems that a lot of the comments here are from disgruntled buyers who would sooner criticize the artist's abilities than admit that maybe this particular type of music just didn't appeal to them. I think this only leads to useless comments that don't help anyone else decide whether this is a CD they should add to their collection or not. You'd be better off listening to the constructive criticism of people who gave this an average or better rating than the ones who didn't like it much.

The only song I heard before I bought this CD was "Superman" and so, like some of the critics, I was expecting a CD with more pop/rock music typical of the mid to late 80's. However, I think the music is more soft rock/late 70's/early 80's music overall, but that does not detract from the quality of the music in my opinion.

When I first listened to the CD I didn't really like it and only liked 3 songs, "Easy Tonight", "Superman" and "Alright". However, I listened to it a few more times anyway. I discovered that this is one of those CDs that can easily grow to your liking if you give it a chance. The sound of the music seems very original to me, and the lyrics are obviously well-written and different from similar artists out there. Sure, maybe they don't make sense at every point, but realistically, you'd have a hard time finding any artist who's lyrics always make sense to everybody. After all, music is art - you either appreciate a piece of art and "get it" or you don't. During my initial assessment of the music, I thought the songs sounded a lot alike, which you could consider a complaint. However, upon further listening I found the songs to be quite different from one another, but not so different as to disrupt the harmony of the CD.

The editorial reviewer's comparison between Elton John and John Ondrasik is quite accurate in my opinion, at least in terms of musical ability. Each song does indeed seem to tell a story. I'm not a fan of Elton John's music and can scarcely name any of his songs, but if you like Elton John then you may certainly like John Ondrasik. Even if you don't care for Elton John's music, I think many people could appreciate this album. It's true that different isn't always better, but I think John Ondrasik was trying to go back to the basics of music with understandable lyrics and well-played musical instruments. Still, I advise that you listen to the music samples a few times to get an idea of what you're buying, keeping in mind that you can't necessarily get the full effect from a 30 second sample.

Finally, if you're just looking for some of the better tracks from the WB's series "Smallville" (which is what led me to this CD), you might take a look at one of the "Smallville" soundtracks instead of this CD. Also, I wouldn't recommend buying the Five for Fighting "Superman" single because you'll only end up paying about the same price for less than half the songs that are offered on this CD. Aside for "Superman", the songs on the single aren't really the best ones.

The music of Five for Fighting is a blend of rich, vibrant guitar and piano rythms, well-written lyrics, and quirky, sometimes interestingly weird imagery: "Mr. Merry cries in his coffin, for the days he says he can remember". In other words, a considerable amount of talent. I first came across "America Town" four years ago. The only reason I bought it, to be honest, was "Superman", which was quite a hit at the time. For a very long while, it was the only song on the whole album that I listened to. I don't know why I didn't bother to discover the other tracks. It was my sister who one day dug up some of my old CDs to find some new music (music she hadn't heard, anyway), listened to it, and told me to give it a try. I started listening to it very gradually, the opening tracks at first, then slowly the whole album, and the more I did, the more I was amazed how good it was, the occasionally idiosyncratic words notwithstanding.

America Town is one of those rare gems that gets better with each listen. There seems to be a sort of dichotomy of meaning that permeates the themes of all the songs. Themes of love and hate, hope and despair and life and death all come interwined in the stories told by John Ondrasik's multi-layered, versatile voice. In "Easy Tonight", you have the story of a man tyring to come to terms with his girlfriend's suicide, which is pretty morbid stuff, yet it manages to end on a hopeful note: "Don't know where I'm going yet, but I sure am getting there". And of course, there is the now all-time classic, "Superman", written about the struggle to find the delicate balance between the heroic and the merely human. The Last Great American", a sleepy ballad towards the end of the album, is nostalgic, dreamy and superbly ironic. The tenth track, "Love Song", is not a love song at all but a very bitter one, written about divorce from a child's point of view: The mother and father throwing dirt at each other and each trying to besmirch the other's image in the child's eyes - "Put away your mommy, you don't need her", and nobody bothering to listen to the child crying 'don't go away from me!'. Its relatively fast beat compliments the inner sadness of the theme much better than the original piano accompaniment in Message for Albert. There's also "Boat Parade", an angry, in-your-face satire on war, and the last track, "Alright", is a heart-felt and remarkably honest rendition of life's trials: Bashing your head on chamber doors while yelling all the while that you're "Alright", about the times we smile a big toothy grin at the world while grappling with monsters inside our heads. I won't say more, otherwise this review will go on forever. Experience it for yourself. Also, I definitely reccommend their latest record, The Battle for Everything, and their debut album, Message for Albert.

This album is filled with some very emotional piano, acoustic guitar, and even a few tracks that have an elecyric guitar pieces. This is in no way a heavy band, so if your looking for some hard rock or metal look elsewhere. The piano and acoustic guitar are the primary instruments here.

There are songs about the insecureties (Superman (its not easy), and songs about relationships that don't work out (Easy Tonight, Bloody Mary), and other sad stuff. This is very emotional work, but this is not one of those whiny emo bands like Dashboard Confessional. This is a talented man just getting some stuff off of his chest in a non-whiny way that a lot of people can connect with and appreciate.

A+ stuff here baby.

A couple of weeks before this cd was released, I got my hands on a two-track sampler of it and was blown away. Great music -- great lyrics... this album has depth. Superficial comparisons can be made to Dave Matthews and Ben Folds... but the truth is that John Ondrasik (singer/songwriter) has produced a unique album of thoughtful songs that you'll want to share... It's mellow at moments and passionate at others. Easy tonight, something about you, love song, out of love and last great american are my initial faves... I love his falsetto. I listen to and review new music all the time -- this album stands out prominently. Check it out.

In America Town, Five for FIghting produces a piano based record with beautiful (and opportune) guitar accoompainments, that are complimented by a soft-sad voice in this second release which could easily be Satchel's pop-effort-third album, or a melodic contemporary release by Billy Joel's younger 30ísh alter ego.
Most tunes are composed un a melancholic manner where remembrances and memories play an important role. The happy-sad combination tends to surprise in the first half of the record.

"superman" and "america town" deal with issues of nationality and american ideals as well as the humanizatiooon of a great popular american icon.
Then when you least expect it comes "Michael Jordan," a song where the subject is refered to as "god," and where the character would give anything to be like "him."
"Boat Parade" and "the last great american" continue with the records melodramatic tone, using the help of a very filling string sectioon, that mellow the distortioon of the fuzzed guitars and tend to reminensce the likes of an acoustic performance.
John Ondrasik's voice resembles a warm and tender version of Shawn Smith's, Brad's lead singer. His high toned vocals give the music that extra punch that an acoustic piano lacks, and that the percussion does not contribute to the album.
America Town has great production, and features sad songs with a twist in a soft-rock effort that we have heard before in the likes of Ben Folds FIve. Even the album does not come off as innovative, the music is of its own class and needs a well deserved applause for its pureness and somplicity.
Hopefully this could be the album that turns more of todays youth to less comercial actas and finally lead the back into the essence of rock music.
I salute this album... and classify it as a "must hear it!"