Customer Reviews

Even Heroes Need A Parachute

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

 

 

This is a wonderful album. Very catchy songs. It will grow on you the more you listen to it. Great job for a debut album.

Really good cd with some outstanding songs. Not quite as good as their sophomore cd, but very close. Overall very well written. Definately cannot wait for another cd to be made, its too bad their lead singer quit, but i still hope they keep a similar sound.

The title got me really exited and, consequently, extremely disappointed after hearing the conventional and extremely market driven sound emanating from the disc. It SOUNDS really great.....it just doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before, musically or lyrically.

I'm not sure I've ever heard a cd quite like this. Even Heroes Need A Parachute blows me away from start to finish. Talent like this is not commonly found. Every song has such great meaning, and they're so easy to relate to. It simply is amazing. I highly recommend this cd to anyone!

This Beautiful Republic is a fairly new band on the Christian rock scene, debuting in 2007 with `Even Heroes Need a Parachute.' The album has a few songs that rock hard and a few that do their job softly, and whether that's a good or bad thing depends on if the band can sound at home on both fronts. While This Beautiful Republic does extremely well on a few songs, there are also several pieces that are just average here, resulting in an album that's pretty good despite the disappointment that is the second half of the songs.

Even Heroes Need a Parachute starts with the song `Casting Off,' which has a very good sound and message. It's a song that I enjoy listening to because it just sounds great, but it also has a very good message about casting off your fears and burdens to you can keep going in life. The song transitions into a rock tune with a much harder sound: `Going Under.' This is another great song, though mainly because of the harder rock sound and driving chorus where the band really sounds at home. Unfortunately, this is one of the two songs on the album with this type of sound.

The album continues with a couple solid songs that aren't too slow and aren't too fast, both sounding very good. `Jesus to the World' is a pretty good song, definitely not the greatest song on the album but still a good-sounding one. It doesn't flow quite as nicely as you might hope, though. `Right Now' keeps a similar sound, only it works with it much better and sings out the fact that Jesus is there for you right now. Good stuff.

After `Right Now,' Heroes hits its peak with my personal favorite song off the album: `Black Box.' It picks up the pace as a quicker song with some very cool guitar riffs. It also carries itself through very nicely. There's something about the lyrics that make me think as well, especially the line, "When there's nothing left, who are we?" `Black Box' is definitely my favorite track off Even Heroes Need a Parachute, although `Casting Off' and `Going Under' are close seconds.

Unfortunately, `Black Box' is basically the end of the album's great songs. The remainder of the songs just has a somewhat average sound, and what makes them disappointing is that This Beautiful Republic don't truly sound like they're at home on most of the last half of the songs. This is evident because the songs just don't sound nearly as good and don't flow quite as nicely. `The Surface' is decent, `Let's Be Honest' is all right, `New Year' has some good lyrics but still isn't entirely interesting soundwise, `Something to Deny' is an average track, and `Fears and Failures' sounds kind of cool but doesn't flow as well as it should. The second half just doesn't measure up to what I came to expect after hearing the first half of the album. The songs are much slower and involve some softer vocals, and overall the style just doesn't work as well for the band when compared to songs in the same vein as `Going Under' and `Black Box.' Don't get me wrong, these songs are by no means horrible, they're all average or better tracks; they're just disappointing. I think the band is capable of pulling off songs like these, but the ones they have here just don't offer a whole lot. `Cloud Cover' is the album's closing song, and while it still isn't the best on Heroes, it's better than the five preceding it.

Overall, Even Heroes Need a Parachute is a decent album that just doesn't carry itself all the way through. The first half has a handful of great songs, and just as you get your hopes up you finish listening to `Black Box' and then wonder where that great sound went as you listen to some average tracks that just don't sound as good. This Beautiful Republic's debut is worth picking and choosing the best songs from, but I wouldn't say the entire album is worth a purchase.

Song Scores (out of 5):

Casting Off: 5
Going Under: 5
Jesus to the World: 3.5
Right Now: 4
Black Box: 5
The Surface: 3
Let's Be Honest: 3
New Year: 3.5
Something to Deny: 3
Fears and Failures: 3.5
Cloud Cover: 4

Should you buy it? Definitely get Casting Off, Going Under, Right Now, and Black Box, they're some pretty solid tracks. I don't recommend the rest of the album very highly, though.

SCORE: 6.8/10

THIS IS AN EXCELLANT CD FROM A GREAT UPCOMING BAND OUT OF OHIO. I HIGHLY RECOMEND IT. ALL THE SONGS HAVE A MEANING WE CAN ALL RELATE TO.