Customer Reviews

Instinct

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

 

 

I am in love with her voice, i love when a women sings like this different ranges, volumes etc, the band has a really cool sound too, very creative. It can be a little haunting and spooky at times though so be prepared.

This album kicks. It rocks harder than the first, but the songwriting is unbelievable. Track 2 is incredible. one of my favorites of all time. Maura's voice is incredible.

The Instinct, believe it or not, is even more riveting than the band's first release, since the mixes are more "up front" and you get the satisfaction of hearing their songs while feeling as if you are seeing them live. This album is evidence that if you give a strong band time to perfect their sound, they can become great in no time. Denali's commitment to the beauty of the song is what sets them apart from most other "indie rock" bands...Brilliant.

The only people I've heard that gripe about Denali are the ones who say the girl's voice is too loud. I love it. She can go from a loud mournful wail to a smooth, breathy voice that sends shivers up your spine (especially if you hear it live.) The band's tunes range from fast and intense to dark and haunting. As for the band changes, I heard absolutely no difference in performance when I heard them at Alley Katz- the crew did a fine job, and with two new people I think?

Lucky for me their band is from my hometown.

I've truly loved Denali since I first heard their first album. This album is amazing and has stayed in my CD rotation since it's release. Also, Maura Davis' voice is beautiful, alluring and relaxing.

I first heard of Denali through their first CD and was blown away by the quality for an independent CD. There was so much emotion behind the words, I would almost go out on a limb and compare them to Portishead. Enter the second CD, Instinct. I picked up a copy of this a couple of weeks before it came out at a concert and the first listen, none of the songs really hit me. However, subsequent listens have shown me that this CD is very different, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There aren't really any of the slow "ballad" type songs that I think help make the first CD great, such as Lose Me or Relief. With the word that half of the band has quit, it will remain to see where the music goes from here, but with a voice like Maura's, like the sky is the limit.

Despite what ROCKETSREDGLARE has to say about this record...it's very hard to resist! Stop being the comic book store guy from the simpsons and lighten up, or go bury your self in a cave with your Roky Erickson records. Considering these kids are on a record label that still doesn't have printed barcodes on the sleeves means they most likely aren't angling for Evanesence's throne! More aptly, I hear Bjork, Beth Gibbons, Shirley Bassy, and Alison Goldfrapp backed by DJ Shadow and Pretty Girls Make Graves mellower tendencies. I purchased this record yesterday and have listened to it four or five times since, and keep hearing more things i like about it with each listen. Seeing as trip hop's moment came and went about three years ago, i don't think this will be on TRL anytime soon. If you are interested in stepping out of the indie hipster huddle, pick this up and take a nap with its beautiful vocals and lush textures. If not, buy more Cat Power albums, shuffle down to the cafe and complain about how this isn't as good as Broadcast's last record!

Bleeeaagh! I guess I thought that, with its second album, Denali would be going in a kind of "trip-hop" direction and be a little more off-beat than the general mainstream bands. But on this release they drift into that vague, wailing, watered-down, bombastic metal-light that Evanescence and its ilk have made all the rage. The little girls seem to eat this stuff up, with its teen-diary laments and its alternating "I'm so alone"/"I'm gonna be myself no matter what" philosophy that was tired back when the Spice Girls espoused it. It doesn't seem to matter that Denali is still on an indie label; the cred is gone, if it was ever there at all. Yeah, Maura can sing, but what she's singing and the whole presentation are just so very bland. These kinds of bands remind me of a Seventies band from the Northwest called Quarterflash, who had one hit called "Harden My Heart" and who were a watered-down imitation of Fleetwood Mac back in the day when the Mac was on the top. Quarterflash flared up and disappeared like a brief fireworks display, and they're barely remembered today. There is very little original in this new Denali album, and that's very disappointing.