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THE GLITTERATI
www.theglitterati.com
Here we have The Glitterati's long awaited sophomore studio album, their first for DR2 Records after splitting with Atlantic. To be honest, I hadn't really checked out the band during their major label period which spawned their self-titled debut in 2005 but, if the press blurb is to be believed, they are back on the scene with "a harder, more aggressive sounding record". And aggressive, hard-edged rock is the order of the day with a collection of twelve melodically catchy, up tempo (except slower paced 'Shanty') tunes that are evidently written with the live performance in mind, aurally exhaling a raw energy that's apposite for the stage. And there lies a strength of the album in both the songwriting and production as it retains a 'live' feel throughout in its rawness. That is not to say 'rawness' in terms of a substandard production, rather instruments have been recorded to capture that live vibe but also with a nicely polished sound. In fact, production duties on 'Are You One Of Us?' were handled by Matt Hyde, whose previous credits include both Trivium and Slipknot, so perhaps that goes some way to explaining their self-proclaimed "more aggressive" sound (although some of this aggression is obviously a corollary of the song writing too). The Glitterati score few points for originality although to criticise them for such would be to miss the purpose of the genre within which they operate, for this is good old-fashioned, straight down the line, hard rock, and at this they excel. And frontman Paul Gautrey has a voice perfectly apt for The Glitterati's retro aesthetic, exercising power, screams, and smoother balladic tones at all the right moments. Time will tell if the band rise once again to the heights of their erstwhile success although, with the release of 'Are You One Of Us?', a sincere expression of where they're at in 2010 (albeit recorded last year), they certainly deserve it. Many of the tunes on offer here will have you humming the memorable melodies long after you press the stop button, and there can be no better praise or recommendation for an album written within the melodic hard rock genre.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
DR2 Records
Album
ARE YOU ONE OF US?
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Review by Mark Holmes
RUNNING TIME:
42:33
RELEASE DATE:
19th April 2010
TRACK LISTING
1) Right From The Start
2) Fucks Me Up
3) Can't Say No
4) Fight Fight Fight
5) Too Many Girls
6) Your Idea
7) Overnight Superstar
8) You Can Be So Cruel
9) Shanty
10) Keeping Me Down
11) Cashcow
12) Lola It's Over
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"...aggressive, hard-edged rock is the order of the day with a collection of twelve melodically catchy, up tempo (except slower paced 'Shanty') tunes that are evidently written with the live performance in mind, aurally exhaling a raw energy that's apposite for the stage."