Customer Reviews

Threes (CD+DVD)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here's the sound of passionate rockers turning into professional musicians. The playing is competent and skillful, but the Sparta sound is becoming bland and unmemorable. It has definitely been difficult for Sparta, and especially Jim Ward, to escape the band's history and to build a unique musical vision, but Sparta were well on their way to doing just that - until this album. While it's not quite as dire as some of the most negative reviewers here have claimed, Sparta seem confused about their identity and direction. Wiretap Scars was tentative but strongly emotional aggro-grunge, and then Sparta really took a quantum leap forward with Porcelain, in which excellent songwriting and passionate playing nearly vaulted the band into their own new genre - a more mature and less whiny brand of screamo. Here on Threes, the band certainly sounds more solid. Jim Ward has added some subtlety (or subtracted a lot of screaming) from his vocal style, and new guitarist Keeley Davis delivers smoother accompaniment than the departed Paul Hinojos, who was always a much better bassist than guitarist.

This album does show development in a few places, like the insistent rockers "Taking Back Control" and "The Most Vicious Crime," plus the very effective power ballads "Unstitch Your Mouth" and "Atlas." Unfortunately, the professionalism of this album outweighs the passion by a mile, and other reviewers are correct in making comparisons to late-period U2. This is horrendously evident in "Erase It Again," "False Start," and "Without a Sound" among others. Striving to be as talented and accomplished as your idols is commendable, but Sparta have made a crucial wrong turn in trying to sound like their idols. And overall, this album comes up tragically short on memorable songwriting and passionate playing. Sparta once displayed those strengths in abundance and were ascending toward their own kind of greatness. You really have to hope that the absence of that magic here will only be temporary. [~doomsdayer520~]

...all these things about using piano, sounding like the Beatles, Radiohead, and U2, re-defining their sound, etc.

When was the last time you actually listened to Wiretap Scars? I listened to it yesterday, as well as Porcelain, as well as Threes (went to see them last night so was gearing up for the show) and I must say I think Threes is great. Personally, it feels like an expansion of Wiretap Scars for me - almost a more complete sound. The songwriting seems tighter, the arrangements better, they seem to be better musicians. I guess if you like something more raw and unrefined then you might not like Threes, but I don't think it's good enough to not like something just because it doesn't sound like something you've already heard. If you want to hear Wiretap Scars, listen to Wiretap Scars.

LONG LIVE SPARTA!!

I didn't buy the new Threes album for a while after it came out, I actually bought it yesterday. The reason for this hesitation was from all the negative reviews I read online about it. After listening to it for myself, I can't understand why people are having such a hard time with it. Threes is a GREAT album, and I'm glad to own it. People can't be comparing it to Wiretap Scars or Porcelain, it just isn't those albums. It sounds like Sparta, and it's just a collection of new songs that people don't recognize yet. But only listening for a day or two, I have found many songs that I KNOW I will love. It's a great album. You should own it too! And defiantly see them in concert! Tons of energy and Jim Ward is hilarious!

I must agree with doomsdayer520 & "David Smith"...Their reviews basically say it all...Sparta need to quit redefining and find their soul within...This is a band that has the capability to say something,but they haven't said it yet...Until next time...

Honestly, I was pretty bummed about Porcelain. It had a few good tracks ("Breaking The Broken", "While Oceana Sleeps") but something had seemed to be missing. There was no extra step taken.

On this album, Keeley Davis (formerly of the very underrated Engine Down) almost single-handedly has given Sparta a much needed facelift. Either that or Jim Ward finally got a new muse in songwriting and is just killing it. From Davis' backing vocals and dissonant guitar lines to the rhythm section of Hijinos and Hajar finally hitting their stride, "Threes" shows Sparta finally taking the next step and making a much more emotional and creative album.

Now I realize the reason why I liked this band more than Mars Volta. With absolute respect to Volta (who I still like) Sparta's writing songs you can actually connect with on an emotional level without posturing behind 15 guitar solos.

Pick this album up, you'll be surprised.

Fans of this album should check out Davis' previous band Engine Down's self-titled album and "Demure".

It certainly isn't their BEST as far as I am concerned, but I agree with the guy who said you dont want to hear the same stuff over and over.
Their are a few songs such as Red, Right , Return that rock as well as Untreatable Disease and Taking back control. They do have a bit of U2ishness to this Album but I hate to think they Tried to do that.
It just makes me want to see whats up after this CD. Cant wait to see them in a few days. If you have NEVER heard a Sparta Cd, maybe buy Wiretap Scars first, but this is Worthy for sure.

Sparta is such an unappreciated band with so much talent and it's a damn shame that they are overshadowed and compared to Mara Volta when they are far more superior. Jim Ward puts passion into his songwriting and songs. He doesn't make weird sounds and turn them into words (cough. cedric) Starting to ramble, anyway, This is a very good album. It sounds a lot different from previous albums but you can still tell it's sparta. Definitely give it a chance.

If you've heard anything about this rising bunch of rockers from El Paso, then you might know that they're half of what used to be known as At the Drive In, those now-defunct sorcerers of distortion-soaked hardcore punk. But don't let that fool you. Sparta's sound boasts as much testosterone but less of the angst of their forefathers. And if the only thing At the Drive-In is remembered for is Cedric's big hair, they've got Sparta to thank for it. Trading the angsty abandon of ATDI's "Acrobatic Tenement" for the softened but still-present edges of "Threes", Sparta has found a way to risk the leap from ATDI's adolescent mania to a sound that some might be tempted to describe with the word that has poisoned many careers in music--hold your nose now--"mature."

But that's just the thing about Sparta-if we must call them "mature" in our useless comparisons with their predecessors, they find a way to do it without sounding so bored you think they're just singing along to their grandpa's record collection. In fact, the lush, sonic roller coaster of "The Guns of Memorial Park" or the many searing rockers here on "Threes" burst from the stereo like exploding stars, the blistering hooks of Keeley Davis's guitar riding Jim Ward's soaring vocals into the unexplored reaches of your dreams. "Threes" is easily their most focused work yet, and it sports a more cohesive and muscular rock sound that boasts an identity and voice they hadn't found until now.

Visit my blog at culturespill.com

I was like "OK" to this the first time I heard it. Good stuff but nothing crazy. HOWEVER, after a few more plays... this is a really good album! Definitely the best Sparta CD yet. Probably the best "unheard of" album in 2007.

After the moderately disappointing Porcelain, there was some doubt over whether Sparta would push on as a band. While Threes arrived with the sort of fanfare absence that would suggest that this might be the last gasp of a disappearing dream, the result is anything but a wheeze. This third album still sounds markedly different than their startlingly strong debut; it combines the elements that worked best on their last album with some of their strong techniques honed so well on Wiretap Scars.

Eleven of the twelve tracks are very good (only "Without a Sound" is lacking, but even that one probably won't have you reaching for the skip button). The epic "The Most Vicious Game" is basically a blueprint of the sort of stuff they do best, notably transitioning the whisper to the thunder, "Taking Back Control" is a solid rager, and "Crawl" is gloom and grind in a tidy but electrifying package. Although it seems for certain now that they'll never top their first album, at least they're progressing in a direction that promises success. In a year full of disappointments, this one actually meets and even exceeds the expectations.

Best cuts: "Crawl," "The Most Vicious Game," "Taking Back Control," "Atlas," "False Start," "Untreatable Disease," "Erase It Again," "Translations," "Unstitch Your Mouth," "Weather the Storm," "Red.Right.Return (Straight in Our Hands)"