Ever since I heard "Anysound" I was hooked on The Vines. They've released three albums and all three are fantastic. They're the closest any band has come to the greatness of Nirvana.
June 27, 2007 |  | A great album, good stuff taht brings back garage rock! (4.5/5) |  |
A lot of people don't care about rock and punk, and alternative music anymore. Rap is the big fad. I just wish people could realize how great some of these bands are though. Rapping isn't even music; it's just talking fast to a repetitive beat. The Vines are a great band that you should definitely look into. They have a varied style. Some of their songs sound extremely mellow and were obviously influenced by the Beatles, but there are some much harder songs with some screaming, etc. I don't like screamo music, but this is good yelling on here; it's no overdone. All of the songs are very catchy, some of my favorites include "Don't Listen To the Radio", "Vision Valley" and "Gross Out." My only complaint is that the Vines tend to have extremely short songs; most of them being little over 2 minutes in length. Although the album has 13 tracks, it is barely half an hour.
February 19, 2007Short and sweet -- some would say too short, but in a world of shortening attention spans and sound-bite news, the Vines may be onto something. This CD delivers without lingering. Check-out the first two tracks and the pop-sounding "Don't listen to the radio." Yes, the lyrics are sometimes ridiculous, but it's pretty clear that Craig Nichols has always been more about the sound. He's not penning manifestos; he's writing great-sounding songs. I liked this CD better than "Winning Days" though it lacked that CD's monster hit, "Ride with Me" as well as the beautiful title song. There's enough genius in Craig Nichols to produce a truly complete CD that meets all the promise of his first 3 CD's. Hopefully, he'll overcome his personal challenges and demons to realize that prospect.
November 13, 2006I have all of The Vines work and generally buy it without hearing it because I consider them to be one of the better bands recording today. After Vision Valley, I will have to reconsider. I don't have a problem with the length of the songs or the album, as a whole, but the quality is lacking. If "Spaceship" had not made the album, there would be nothing redeeming about the album, whatsoever. None of the other tracks would even compete for space on either of the previous two albums. Its like an album of studio filler to keep the record exec.s happy.
I wish all of them well, but in the unlikely event of another album I wouldn't buy it until I can preview it and see that they have returned to form.
July 3, 2006The Vines have to be one of the most overrated bands out right now. I'm not saying they're talentless, but I've never been able to give any of their albums higher than three stars. And Vision Valley is no different.
Don't get me wrong; this is better than Winning Days, but there just isn't enough there. I mean, look at the album as a whole: thirteen tracks in 31 minutes? There's not even time for songs to go anywhere. Many of the songs seem as though they're building up to something, but instead, they just end. The only song that even surpasses the three-minute mark is the final track, "Spaceship", but the thing is that it's six minutes long, and only the first two minutes is singing; the rest of the song is just music.
While it's good that Craig Nicholls overcame his Asperger's Syndrome (although he sounds the same way he always did), he and the rest of the Vines need to take time to expand their material so that they can produce a truly listenable album. They have the talent; they just need to broaden it.
Anthony Rupert
June 30, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
