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Album Details
- Artist: Actionreaction
- Album: 3 Is The Magic Number
- Label: Equal Vision
- Year of Release: 2006
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: dadair on 2006-09-06
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RecommendThe first noticeable thing about this Jason Gleason (former Further Seems Forever member) led New Jersey trio, is that there's a quintessential British rock kick to their song building. The emotive rock base does not seem to be taken from this much talked about emo trend, but more from the aching and strolling rock that permeated the early 70s. 'Can You Hear The Sun', builds atmospherically to climb up to the aching chorus that highlights Gleason's forthright vocal style, he is always one step ahead of the blistering guitars. 'March On', represents an ability to slow down most of the accompaniment in order to reach out with a wandering heartfelt song, built around rattling percussion and Gleason's slower, more aching singing style. The later element is not dissimilar to the soul searching cry of Jonah Matranga and is coated by a calming backing range. The political animal in Gleason wakes up in 'Spark The Son', a focused and twanging snap at the oppressive nature of the world around us and them, as well as turning into a poetic dedication to inner peace;
"We all live in international fear, we've been dying since the day we were here I must confess I will go out again. I'll pass my memories up igniting flames, to call the ghost and share a glass with you."Whilst many critics are already dubbing Action Reaction an emo-core band, on this evidence they are just too ranging to shelve them under one category. The melody led darkness of intros to songs like 'Come See My Grave' and 'Contagious', facilitates the accessibility of this outpour of feeling. This is a Sonic Youth style debut, in the sense that it is something that will increase in meaning and feeling with each play.
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on 2006-11-01 Symphony Said:
I cannot, honestly, remain nonobjective. I'm a huge Jason Gleason fan. But first and foremost, in contemplating Action Reaction, you must keep two things in mind: 1) Action Reaction is a totally different sound than Further Seems Forever and, 2) It does live up to Gleason's potential. I won’t deny it. 3 Is The Magic Number is a relatively weak release. Three songs (nudging at the coincidental) appear on this album that appeared on the tour EP. That aside, the album ignites the question: Is Gleason running backwards?
The album starts off strong with “Sinner's Algebra,” which is a good, powerful song to lead in with. “Can You Hear The Sun?” with its country/folk tinge also impresses the ears with a amazing set of lyrics. But “March On” marches the album backwards in its progress. Repetitive drumming plague this album and beg the question of whether uniqueness will ever appear. Followed by “At The Moon” and “Come See My Grave,” these songs equally do nothing. Gleason, however, saves the album with powerful songs like “21 Gun Salute” with an interesting percussion rhythm and very steady vocals and heavy lyrics.
“Checks and balances,” as he sings, are what this album does. With its weak points, it is evened out and saved by its amazing strong points. Though the drumming can at times be repetitive, they are coated with unexposed talent. The keyboards add to this with making the album have an eerie, suspenseful feel about it that makes the hair stand on the back of your neck, but you don’t want pause. And you shouldn’t. Jason Gleason is too amazing to be paused.
Rating: 8/10
