Vampires (The Light That We Are)              

Nobody

Little Suicide

Can You Hear Me?

Fading Roses

My Soul

Runaway

The Angel And The Rain

The Chauffeur

Dark City

Francesca Chiara - Vocals

Tank Palamara - Guitars

Simon Dredo - Bass

Iakk - Drums

review  by Matthew Haumschild___    

This CD made me create images 

I didn’t think that were there.

My review of this CD is a long time coming. I discovered this band by pure chance. I was hoping from one myspace page to another, then I run into this band: The Love Crave. What drew to them initially was my quest to discover more music from Italy. As I was discovering where they were from, “Vampires” kicked in on their mp3 preview…thing. After sitting there, with my jaw on the ground in just utter amazement, I immediately decided to get this CD. Not even 20 seconds into the song I had decided it.  I literally counted the days until the CD came. I felt like a teenager again. I had gone home at lunch, running to the mailbox and opening up hoping it would be there. In about a week’s time, it arrived. In the mean time I had gone to the band’s website dozens of times just to listen to the clips of all the tracks. Still, at that point, “Vampires” was my favourite track. When that CD arrived, I listened to it at full blast on my home theater! Then, it remained in my car for about a week, as that was the only thing I wanted to listen to.

            This was back in January. I knew that with the digi-pak, it came with a story contained within the linear notes. Until today, I hadn’t even glanced at them. Up until now, this is how my CD review would have went had I written it at the time that I got the CD:

            “Vampires (The Light That We Are)”

            From the keyboard intro, straight through the guitar hooks, and those alluring vocals, this track was like a drug and I couldn’t get enough of it. This song has so much radio potential, I wouldn’t know where to begin! The lyrics are so easy to listen to, that by the time I received the CD, I was singing lyrics as I’m driving 80 miles per hour on the freeway. It’s gothic, it’s catchy, it’s heavy, It’ll get you to scream, “I WANT TO LIVE LIKE VAMPIRES!!!!” It’s a song that you will not regret listening to I promise!

            “Nobody”

            “Nobody,” isn’t nearly as catchy as the first track. However, it’s got a great guitar riff that would get anyone to bang there head to. The lyrics are catchy too but in a different way. They’re catchy in a rock sort of way. This is still a metal song, but it has a lot more hard rock influence than the others. I really like the chorus to this song as well, if we had permission to reprint them, we would. Take my word for it, this is another great song!

            “Little Suicide”

            I really don’t like the beginning of this song. It starts out with a simple line from some guy saying, “Thank you God, Thank you for the darkness…” and it really sounds cheesy. The song almost sounds too sappy. It sounds gothic yet, it has an urban feel to it. What I mean is, I have a hard time listening to this song outside an urban environment. It’s heavy, but it’s a sad sounding song. It feels like it’s raining outside when I listen to this song.

            “My Soul”

            This is the other major catchy song on this CD. It didn’t sound like this at first, but just before it goes into the chorus, the singing of the lyrics get me to just want to listen more and more. The guitar riff is mid-paced as well as the drums. The chorus itself is something that I think anyone who is a fan of rock music would dig the way it’s sung. Whenever I listen to this song, I always end up having a smile on my face. I want to comment on the awesome arrangement of this song as well, the parts are easy, but it’s arranged far different from the other songs on this album. Towards the end of the song, just before the guitar solo, there is this awesome string arrangement that is an absolute joy to listen to.

            Sound quality:

            This CD has pro tools written all over it. It’s so clear it’s too perfect. Although, I thought the CD lacked some bottom end. As I sit and listen to the CD for the 100^th time, I hear the bass but I don’t feel it and this is only when the guitar isn’t being played. I can hear the kick drum perfectly as well as the other drums. They are mixed well but they lack some depth. The overall mix of the CD is perfect; just a little minor things like drum depth and more bottom end are the only things I would change. Otherwise, it’s perfect.

            Overall:

            The songs I mention above are just spectacular! But the rest of the album is a little boring to be honest. But I still recommend buying this CD. You won’t be disappointed.

            Now, that what it would have looked like if I had turned this in. I have now read the story within the linear notes and I have added feelings about this CD.

            The story that was within the CD is about a 22 year old young man who is absolutely in love with a singer of his favourite band, “The Dark Tones” and to make it short, the singer dies in a plane crash. He had worshipped this woman and the band with every ounce of his being. Fansites, fan clubs, and every spare time dedicated to her. The story outlines various things about his life at that age. The metal band posters on the wall, saved concert tickets, concert photos, everything that makes up a young metaller’s world. He had a girlfriend that he loved at the same time and the story goes on about their relationship. Eventually the main character grows up, gets a job at a corporation and lives his life the best way he could. An, angel appears to him in the rain in the form of his favourite singer he grew up worshipping in his youth and brings back all the memories.

            I won’t give away anymore, it’s a lot more detailed than that! And there is much more to the story than this! To be honest, the story touched me. I no longer see the CD as being just music, I see that there was an actual story behind it and I can feel the emotion that went behind creating this magnificent record. To me, this is more than just a concept album; it feels like a movie soundtrack that is extremely touching. Now I hear every track as being essential to the album. I wouldn’t leave off any of it for any reason and I have nothing bad to say about any of it! I certainly don’t think any of the tracks are boring! This CD made me create images I didn’t think that were there and that’s what makes this album stand out against all the others. This is what makes a CD great.

            Up until this, there have been very few bands that could pull this off. Dream Theater has done it and King Diamond is famous for it but this is the first time that I know of, that a gothic band has done this. I cannot compare this band to any other. The best way to describe this band in comparison to another band is a across between Drain STH and the last three albums of Lacuna Coil. I would have to say that The LoveCrave is a truly original band and it’s very hard to compare them to anyone else.

rating: 10/10  

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