Grace Hotel
  Overall rating: 

Album Reviews

Project 86 should be famous. These guys play the same kind of tough guy rock that's being spewed forth by bands like Hoobastank, Linkin Park, and Godsmack; the only difference is that Project 86 aren't getting nearly the amount of airplay as those bands. It may be though, that Project 86 are a few centimeters too tough on the "Safe Enough for Radio Play" meter. They're so close on Truthless Heroes though, that one can't help but root for them.

The album is incredibly heavy and pounding, with distorted and overdriven bass guitar, drums way out in front of everything (the way they should be), and guitars mixed perfectly with everything else. I don't really care for the vocalists in Project 86, but they sing in the same way that bands like 311 and other half sing/half scream mainstream bands do; very melodic, yet kind of tough. There are songs on here that should be getting some airplay, the most obvious one being "Little Green Men" -- that song kicks more butt than an entire day's playlist of my local "extreme" radio station.

My theory is, if tough guy rock is going to be a big seller, then established and hard working bands like Project 86 should be the ones getting the recognition. Project 86 has been kicking buttocks for many years now, and they're on a major label, so they deserve it! Their P.R. guy needs to get his stuff together, because Truthless Heroes is one ballsy record that should be shifting all kinds of unit.

  ~ Daniel Mitchell

Unfortunately, I thought I'd never say this, but I have to. Being perfectly honest, "Truthless Heroes", P86's 3rd release, failed to impress me. After their perfect Sophomore album, the change to this shocked me. They are a many times softer than before. It is still worth getting, but it is dwarfed by "Drawing Black Lines". Although, this CD is where Andrew stretches his vocals to a whole new level previously unheard. And through the entire CD, most of the lyrics are shakesperian, and beautifully poetic, but in some nparts, it is confusing and, for some part, unenjoyable.
Here is the song by song review:

"Little green men" is a cool song, and a good opener for the CD. It has neat guitar rifts and interesting vocals, and an easy-to-sing-along chorus. A pretty good way to open the CD.
"Caught in the middle" I found quite unimpressive.
It is for the most part soft. Here are the entire lyrics: [One side of me you love, one side of me you love to hate, and in the middle my head is spinning. Caught in the middle is my mind]. The song is 3 minutes and 33 seconds long...
"Know what it means" kind of surprised me. It is a fun, light, and entertaining song. It has light vocals at the chorus, and at some points, it seemed kind of pop-ish. But only at some parts. It still comes out as one of the songs that did something for the CD. It was one of the two songs they pre-released.
"Salem's Suburbs" was a soft, yet dark kind of song. I didn't really find it too enjoyable to listen to the lyrics, and the music was unimpressive. Overall an okay song, but it is pretty good at the chorus.
"S.M.C" is a neat, fast paced song with a chorus that is easy to learn and sing along. They played through with their new sound, but this song was closer to what they did in "Drawing Black Lines". One of the best songs on the CD.
"Team Black" seemed to continue what they did in "Salem's Suburbs". The lyrics are kind of depressing, yet somehow a dark poetic expression. This defines the lyrics to the CD: Frighteningly poetic.
"Your heroes are dead" is also a softer setting in the poetic manner of the previous songs. This makes up a large part of the CD, as it is an enjoyable song.
"Another Boredom Movement" starts out with a high voice background and screaching guitars, then is followed by Andrew's yelling. This is one of the harder songs on the CD. One of the great songs of this album.
"Bottom Feeder" is a slow, uninteresting song. The lyrics are kind of confusing, and mostly unenjoyable. This is a song I almost always skip while listening through. It is still okay at the chorus, and it has a female background voice singing along. It's okay as slow, poetic songs go.
"Shelter Me * Mercury" is good. It's okay to listen to, but I wouldn't call it hard rock. Andrew doesn't sing during most of it, the rest is the high background voices. It is unique, and something Project 86 has never done before. Lyrically, this is definetly poetic, and extremely thought provoking.
"Last Meal" is a song I did not really like. Musically, it is strange. The lyrics are unenjoyable, and kind of... uhh... gross. Although, singing along with Andrew is Mark Salomon from Stavesacre. This song would be okay to listen to, but the lyrics are just... weird.
"Soma" is a good song with a good beat. it is on the softer side, but it is enjoyable, and I liked it. The lyrics continue to be very poetic, and they did a good job.
"Hollow Again", one of the pre-released songs, is the song that makes this CD. The lyrics and music are perfect for eachother. It is a song you can sing along with, it isn't hard, but it isn't soft. It is poetic and thought provoking, but also okay for just listening to. If it weren't for this song, the CD might be only 2 1/2 stars.

Lyrically: If you think about the lyrics for a while, you can enjoy the thought put into the writing of the lyrics on the CD. If you are not a lyrically minded person, then you could probably still enjoy this song. In fact, Andrew himself said that the CD is a trajic shakespherian story about a character that goes through life's hardships, and how this character turns out.
Overall, the CD is worth getting. It doesn't set any records of greatness, but it is an intelligent and unique album. Although they completely changed their style and music and lyrics, Project 86 still pulled together a decent album.

               ~ Tim Becker

        Project 86 (homepage)

The Wherehouse

Decapolis

Articles

Zeebozine

Mp3 (Downloads)

gospelsite.net

amazon