Customer Reviews

Exile & The Kingdom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a hardcore Tea Party fan since a casual friend introduced me to them back in '97. This is not The Tea Party, though. If you listen to this album expecting it to be, you're going to be disappointed. Yes, it is CLOSER to old Tea Party (Splendor & Edges) than newer, but it's still quite different. Jeff's vocals are still entrancing and he creates some of the most beautiful music on this planet. The darkness & negativity is pretty much completely gone from his lyrics. You can tell he's come to a place in his life where he no longer wishes to revel in some of the miseries of the past. He's playing this music because it's what he wants to do and he enjoys it (you can tell in his interviews). Who can criticize someone for doing something they want to do that brings them joy? It's not The Tea Party, but it still bears the creative mark of Jeff Martin... somewhat on a more mellow, relaxed note. Lots of acoustic guitars and still some variety of stringed instruments. I extremely love it!!.. it just falls into a different category than his previous band's music.

This album is poetic and his refrains will stick in your memory for a long time to come. Fans of The Tea Party absolutely must check our this product of his solo endeavor, it is magical. Gone are the industrial-inspired songs and what comes in its' place is maybe best described as organic and brilliant. He proves his genius here and delights the ear and soul with this undertaking. A must hear!!

If you liked Tea Party, Jeff's new CD is just as good. Vocally, he sounds like the second coming of Jim Morrison. Musically, his band is the second coming of Led Zeppelin. I always thought that this type of hard rock with it's middle eastern sensibilities was where Zep was headed at the end of the 1970's and Page/Plant could have been headed in this direction if only they had gotten right at it after Bonham died back in the early 80's instead of waiting until they were too old to do it right.
I saw Jeff Martin and his band live at thier Buffalo show on 7-13-06 and they were great. Go see them if they come your way, there's nothing like their type of music being played by anyone else, or as well as they do today.

Jeff Martin flushes more talent down the crapper every day then some bands have collectively between all members.

This album, to me, sounds a lot like early Tea Party. There are not a lot of electonrics, effects or synths used anywhere - It is straight forward guitars, with a few songs hinting at the eastern influences that were prominent on earlier TP albums like splendor solis and the edges of twilight.

Overall I think this album rocks. If you know who Jeff Martin is, then you are probably a tea party fan. If you remember early TP - you will love this album. I had almost forgotten what an amazing artist Jeff really is.

I'm a big fan of all 6 Tea Party albums and would recommend all of them to anyone who likes rock. That said I would only recommend this album to big fans of the Tea Party. The albums not bad, just not good. The opening track, The World Is Calling You, has power and gets it started off right, but then the next 7 tracks just roll along listlessly without enough punch, emotion, or inspired playing to really stand out from one another. A few of these tracks, if surrounded by stronger tracks would have been fine and good for the album. I'm not saying they are bad tracks, I'm just saying they are only descent tracks and there's too many of them in a row. The album does have an upswing at the end with the last too tracks. The Kingdom has strong emotion and is beatifully laid out, while Good Time Song is just that, simple and fun. So again, it's an OK album with a few great tracks.

It's too bad Jeff Martin had to leave The Tea Party to make music like this again. While this album is different in many respects to the music Jeff made with his former band mates, it is very much a return to his early sound. The Tea Party's last two albums, (especially the last album, "Seven Circles"), began to sound too much like standard radio fare instead of the wonderful, eclectic sound that the band had built their name upon. There are several great rock tunes on this album, along with acoustic/eastern-tinged songs that so many fans came to idolize The Tea Party for. Martin's voice has done nothing but get better with each album he has made, as well. If you love the acoustic sounds of Led Zeppelin III and Physical Graffiti, you can't go wrong giving Jeff Martin and The Tea Party a try.

While I thought this would be in the vain of early The Tea Party records, considering Martin has said in interviews that towards the end of the band's career their record company kept telling them to play in a certain way to be more accessible, this wasn't the case. This record is very passive in a way, with lots of acoustic guitar passages, sophisticated instruments that give it that Eastern flavor and songs that are actually memorable. If you were disappointed with the direction The Tea Party took during the last 8 years or so, this record might just help you once again appreciate the talents of Martin. And while the opening track "World is Calling" is the only song with an actual ferocious presence, the rest of the tracks, in one way or another, establish their own identity in their own quiet, peaceful way. It's a decent solo effort overall.

I have been a fan for numerous years, but could not help falling for this album.
It conjures my soul, and amuses my mind.
It is such a deterant from the harshnes of life, like chemotherapy.
I know that going this, has been made easier by this music, by this celebration, by this out-pouring of emotion and soul.
Jeff Martin is not only a genious, but someone who has shared himself with the world through his music.

When I heard Jeff Martin was putting out a solo release I was intrigued. After all as a Canadian rock n roll fan I have a couple of Tea Party records sitting around my collection and the band was always credited with lofty musical ambitions.

Jeff Martin as a solo performer made me wonder if the singer/songwriter would bring a less intense vibe to his debut. The music on Exile And The Kingdom is dominated with acoustic guitars and sweet sentiments from songs such as Daystar written about Martin's newborn son. But if you look under the immediate mellowness the sense that Martin can't or does not want to escape the Tea Party's shadow cannot be denied as the band's signature early influences are sprinkled and downright dumped throughout the record.

The World Is Calling is the first obvious example with its multiple instruments and attempted grandeur recalling the sounds of The Edges Of Twilight (Tea Party's second record). Then even mellower tunes are dominated by the depth and intensity of Martin's vocal performance that no matter how light the music always seems to add the intense sparkle of a rock n roll singer.

The end result can be described as a retreat to earlier Tea Party records that Martin in interviews has admitted to having a fondness of. It's an engaging record but one that does abandon new musical venues for Martin to travel. Instead it seems that for Martin his Exile is actually a return to the early music of his band.

The Tea Party are one of my favourite bands to come out of the 90s producing heavy alternative rock with eastern music influences (think Led Zeppelin's Kashmir). Over time they have continued to pump out first quality albums but still trying new things, so even though I still prefer their early stuff I have never been majorly disappointed with a Tea Party album. This solo album could have easily been just another addition to The Tea Party catalog - Martin's powerful vocals and guitar work, strong eastern influence with a dash of blues, and moments of heaviness and tenderness. Perhaps the main difference is that it feels a little more relaxed and fun than some of The Tea Party's work, esepcially the recent stuff. Overall this is a great album, that I will listen to on a regular basis, and is probably the best from Martin since The Tea Party's "Edges of Twilight" and "Tryptych". If you like The Tea Party, then you must buy this album.