SupaRed
Supared
Noise / Sanctuary
Get out the chalk and put another mark on the column for “potentially good band destroyed by pathetic, idiotic, talentless singer.” I think I feel especially bad for SupaRed, because their guitars sound so darn good. Let’s take a few moments and figure out where SupeRed made their missteps.
Obviously, choosing their current lead singer, who tries to sound like a cross between the lead singer of Queensryche and Bruce Dickinson doesn’t help. I’m not sure what the rest of the band was thinking. They had to have invested money, in addition to the countless hours of practice, why let some pompous moron and his terrible voice ruin all the hard work in one fell swoop? I’m not over-exaggerating. His voice is intolerably bad, and it makes me want to slit my wrists. When he’s not singing, the band sounds kind of like Dirt-era Alice in Chains, which is pretty cool. The guitars are absolutely crushing throughout the entire record (except for the corny guitar solos). The drums are okay, but they sound like they’re coming out of a can. Honestly though, as a band, the rhythm sections sounds really good, in an alternative rock, early 1990s kind of way.
Their second mistake was actually going on with recording SupaRed, even after hearing their lead singer’s voice! I counted at least ten times on this record when he tries to sound like Steve Perry of Journey, and it is extremely painful. Why haven’t his band mates staged a revolt yet? My God!
The final mistake is catering to every alternative rock cliché in the book. First, the megaphone on “Let’s Be Heroes” (sounds like bad Journey cover). Second, the clean guitar verse, distorted chorus: didn’t Nirvana and The Pixies break up eons ago? Third, the weird synthesizer noises championed by Nine Inch Nails, as witnessed on “Freak-Away.”
I guess it would be unfair to say that disc is embarrassing and a crime against humanity, but it borders on such; all because of poor judgment in picking a singer (not to mention the band’s inability to move beyond what has already been done).
Noise Records: http://www.noiserecords.com/
