Grace Hotel
  Overall rating: +++

Album Reviews

This much-anticipated six-song covers EP has been held up for months while the band was waiting on permission for use of the songs. The wait is now over but it’s kind of funny because the original idea was for this release to ease the painful space between the first and second full-lengths. I guess this Know Nothing Stays The Same EP has been floating over the internet for some time now, but Copeland trusts that their ever-growing (and mostly female) fan-base will go ahead and purchase a certified hard-copy. If you love and admire album artwork, the band has a little treat for you, providing a small foldout that you don’t usually see as something packaged as a single. I fell in love with the Buckley-esque Beneath Medicine Tree, and am one of those fans who would probably be content to hear Aaron Marsh sing the phonebook, so I already had butterflies before I put in the EP. So here’s the question, was I disappointed? No. Not at all. But why only 3 stars? Because the more I listen to this EP the more I see through its staying power. Face it; this is a good “novelty/covers” EP. It’s hard to make a sensational covers record. Denison Witmer attempted this feat not to long ago, and while he didn’t lose any artistic ground, he certainly had nothing to gain from it. Looking at it from the perspective of “We’re Copeland and we just wanted to record a few songs that inspired us when we were teenagers”, then Know Nothing Stays The Same is perfect. The vocals have never been swoonier, and the band even takes a chance and uses programming on their eyebrow raising Stevie Wonder cover. In other words, there’s nothing to fault. For “it is what it is”, Copeland gets 5 out of 5, but when we put this record in context of all the other records of the world, don’t let the 3 of 5 scare you away. Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” must forever be adopted by Copeland. The girls will be fainting.

~ Garrett

What a fun release! I wish more bands would do this kind of thing; that is, an EP of cover songs. For those of you who don’t know of Copeland, they sound like a less quirky version of Coldplay, with more indie rock guitars. On Know Nothing Stays the Same, the band pays tribute to a wide range of influential artists.

The album opens with a cover of Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.” It’s what you would expect, I guess. It’s essentially the same song with hard edged guitars. The next notable track is their rendition of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman,” which is simply gorgeous and incredibly well done. Their cover of the Top Gun classic “Take my Breath Away” is somewhat campy, but I like it nonetheless. Less memorable are their versions of Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover” and Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again.”

Bottom line: this is a nice little treat that will truly please fans of Copeland. With The Ataris becoming rock stars with their cover version of an '80's classic, I think that Copeland’s interpretation of “Another Day in Paradise” might do well on mainstream radio... really!

~ Daniel Mitchell