Album Details

• Artist: Dan Giberman
• Album: Thrills Without Gills: A Celebration Of The Living Land
• Label: Sao Bento
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: digitalbath on 2008-05-02

I didn't really know what to expect from Dan Giberman as I inserted his 2008 release Thrills Without Gills: A Celebration of the Living Land into my computer.  All I knew about the man was from a press kit I received, which does only enough for someone to hype an artist and tell me how great they are.  Once I actually started listening to the album though, I thought it was going to be just as great as the press kit says, but I was wrong.

There are some artists that I'll listen to that are as mellow as Dan Giberman.  I keep listening mostly because either there is something interesting going on or I know that the current comatose concoction of a song is building towards something greater and more exciting.  Dan Giberman didn't ever get far enough to hold my attention through an entire song.  Granted, I got through an entire song, an entire album even, but it was definitely a forced listen.  Each and every song, even if its undertone is upbeat, is doused in a maple syrup.  Everything is slow and muffled.  I sat and listened to the first track hoping it was going somewhere worthwhile, but that song, and the rest of the songs on the album for that matter went no where.  

Yet again, another potentially great album starts and ends on the same disappointing note.  Had Dan Giberman taken his songs into a new direction instead of trudging through the same musical path, this album could have been something truly worth listening to.  It seems that in these days when indie music is progressing into something that is more and more out of tune and unstructured, artists feel it is their obligation to continually make poor excuses for music on purpose.  If you're one of those indie fans looking for music without structure or direction, just a long and dull lull; immediately purchase this album. 

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