As vocalist Shane tells us in the booklet, his voice was pretty messed up during the recordings of their first EP, Summer’s Stellar Gaze. Fortunately he also admits that he hates to listen to most parts of this EP because of his voice. Good for me ‘cause I won’t piss off the band by saying that this doesn’t sound too well. Music wise you do hear that this is definitely Silverstein, even after having been a band for only a couple of months but seriously, you won’t miss anything when you don’t listen to this material.

 

The second EP already sounds a bit better but still it’s a cheap sounding recording. If you really like to hear what progress the band made after their first EP, then just compare track 1 and 12 (‘Waiting Four Years’). Another song you can compare is ‘Wish I Could Forget You’ (track 2 and 9).

 

Then there are the acoustic tracks. Very well done and definitely the best songs on the entire disc if you’d ask me. They were recorded in only one day during a tour and I can definitely appreciate these soft versions of ‘My Heroine’ and ‘Call It Karma’. The acoustic tracks are followed up by three live tracks and again: fortunately vocalist Shane tells us these are by no means ‘polished songs’. They’ve been put down on this record just to give an impression of the energy that comes out during their live shows but certainly not by any other reason than that. Too bad, ‘cause I can’t really say I like these songs. And to be honest, the songs do not make me wanna see this band live. (I still want to check ‘em out live but certainly not because of these three songs.)

 

Last but not least there is a remix of ‘Smile In Your Sleep’ on this album. Well ladies and gentlemen, this can be called ‘trance’ or ‘dance’ music. And that is so NOT Metal(rage)! But you know what? I like it! I think it shows that this band certainly have the balls to do something different. Not a track you would very often listen to, but a nice addition for sure!

 

All in all I can tell you that this certainly has to be in your collection if you’re a fan of the band. If not, just try to get your hands on a copy of their previous release, ‘cause this disc isn’t gonna give you the right impression about the current Silverstein.