Open Letter To The Damned

As Fast As | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M / Octone
• ASIN: B000F8O4AY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,492 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Indeed, it's a strange name, but it really does capture the essence of this band. Whereas everyone here is adept at so many musical styles, and there's such a broad array of influences, a sentence fragment could be about the best name for it. Besides, the Who is already taken. What can you expect from Open Letter To The Damned? Well, expect the sound of a man's heart ripping in two, crossed with bouncing melodies and rhythm, and all beat senseless by the relentless fury of an unstoppable band.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every song is a winner, February 14, 2007

By 

George Dionne (Cape Cod, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Open Letter To The Damned (Audio CD)

The Good
"Blame it on the Drugs" kicks off with thunderous riffs that roll into a chugga-chugga progression. The chorus is full of melody and hooks. "Florida Sunshine" will captivate you with its infectious groove and harmonic vocals. "Gretchen My Captain" focuses on the vocal work of Spencer Albee, as he laments about the object of his affection. What I enjoy most about his vocals is that, not only can he carry a tune, but he has just enough edge to complement the hard rock sound.

Echoed vocals meet effects heavy instrumentation to create a Led Zeppelin influence on "Wasted Youth." Albee is a sucker in love and he's not going to take it anymore on the acoustic and synth heavy "Open Letter to the Damned." "Skin the Kat" has a hard rock blues feel to it, with powerful and moving vocals. "If I Only Knew" comes off like a long lost Paul McCartney song with the distortion cracked up a bit more. Great song, great melody.

The Bad
Nothing

The Verdict
Every song is a winner! As Fast As draw on a vast range of influence to create one memorable hard rock album. I see a bright future for this band as long as someone in the industry gives them a chance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great southern rock/synth/pop, June 14, 2006

By 

the eye "ride the spiral..." (west des moines, iowa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Open Letter To The Damned (Audio CD)

i really enjoy this band. the only thing i went off of was reviews, had never heard them. bought it on a whim and was well worth it. first track blame it on the drugs is the only disappointing moment, really not a good album opener...really could have left it off all together and this would have been a 5 plus star album. as it stands, just barely a five. i'm sure more listens will change my mind. really dig the keyboards, they set this band up quite nicely. very cool jamish mentality, plus some southern rock. not really understanding the comparisons to weezer, but whatever i guess. vocal harmonies done w/ taste, lyrics a little bit crude. well worth anyone's time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great band that hardly anyone seems to know about, January 5, 2007

By 

Electro - See all my reviews

This review is from: Open Letter To The Damned (Audio CD)

I found out about As Fast As after hearing their hit "Florida Sunshine" on my local alternative station, and I kind of liked the tune (especially for its rockin' chorus, which has a bit of a Southern Rock feel to it as well as some catchy lyrics). I eventually found the CD for only three bucks and decided to give it a chance since I liked "Florida Sunshine" so much, and this gamble turned out to be a worthy risk since most of the songs on Open Letter to the Damned were just as good if not better. My favorite track ended up being "Gretchen My Captain"; no idea what that's supposed to mean, but nonetheless I've been playing that song more than any other on the album. "Gretchen My Captain" is very commendable for the cool backwards beat that it starts off with, having a bit of piano in it too and then building up to a highly catchy chorus that isn't as loud as most of the album but still makes for a perfectly fine melody which definitely earns my approval. I also liked tracks #1 and #3 a lot ("Blame It On the Drugs" and "Special"), and since "Florida Sunshine" and "Gretchen My Captain" are tracks #2 and #4 this album is able to draw you in right from the start with its awesome opening four songs and hopefully keep you interested until the conclusion of track #11. Overall, Open Letter to the Damned is a good debut CD for these guys and ought to get them a solid fan-base for any future albums they release. I would give this album either four stars or four and a half stars; if I gave it four then it would be a strong four stars but if I gave it four and a half then it would probably be a weak four and a half. At any rate, it's a good album and apparently a fairly unique one too because I can't really think of any other bands that sound like As Fast As. If I recall correctly, the booklet has a section that will tell you what bands As Fast As believes their music is influenced by; it calls that section "the recipe for As Fast As" or something like that. Anyway, this band has a lot of promise and it would help to support them by buying this CD (plenty of good songs on it, I assure you).