Terry's Reviews
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OSI –
Free Inside Out Records – 2006 |
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| OSI’s Free is good. What, that’s not a sufficient word count? Ok. OSI’s Free is really good. The CD opens fantastically with "Sure You Will"; a hard-hitting track with stellar dynamics. It all starts out with this creepy horror-flick organ riff and then the bass joins to let you know that this song, and entire album, means business. Once Kevin Moore’s vocals kick in, the atmospheric noise on the track cleans up a bit, leaving a void that you easily fall into and become completely surrounded by the track. Eventually an eerily falling keyboard line joins the mix for the first chorus. After this, Jim Matheos plugs in a guitar and punches you in the face. Guitars start mimicking that horror-organ while rave-worthy drums roll throughout the verse. If you’re driving your car while listening, check your speed. About two thirds through, the song seems to start itself over, presenting an abridged, slightly more chaotic version of itself, until it just stops, and all that’s left is that creepy horror-flick organ and the sensation of floating after having been pushed for the past 3:28. Just as this sensation fully sets in, "Free" makes a quiet entrance, warning you that it’s gonna be loud. Then it gets loud. The guitar doubles in volume, the bass jumps in and the percussion of Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy takes a more standard rock beat without losing its heaviness. Just past the halfway mark, the guitar and drums have this moment that’s audibly comparable to looking at a negative of a photograph. Then it spirals outward and, yet again, punches you in the face. The track takes a turn back to its intro and you just know it’s over. It’s approximately the perfect length, and you just feel right about it. "Go" begins with a rolling acoustic riff, and slowly pieces of animatronic sounds begin to latch on, creating a quasi-techno feel. After the first chorus, however, the music breaks open. After a brief on-ramp for this new musical gear, everything takes on a new essence of mechanism. The vocals even tremble and stutter (fittingly specifically on the word "twitch"). With the next chorus, a melodic version of an air horn enters the scene bringing a rather catchy counter-melody. The bridge has us listening to a synth resembling a mid-eighties’ independent art film being played on a reel-to-reel projector, but it’s cool. Then the art film kicks into the same gear as the rest of the song, and fades away with class as the vocals reiterate what’s already been said. The acoustic guitar also reiterates what it’s already said, and is quickly followed by that air horn. Then the song ends. Abruptly. It leaves you with the feeling that you could’ve listened to a few more minutes of it, but in hindsight, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. "All Gone Now" is another heavy-hitter, but somehow misses the mark. For my tastes, there wasn’t enough of a dynamic range for something so volumetric. The next 3 tracks all have qualities about them that make me think of late night highway driving, even though "Bigger Wave" and "Kicking" have a more driven percussive component whereas "Bigger Wave" takes a stab at the ambience realm. "Better" brings back in the heavy and the mechanical. It also brings back in the "synth resembling a mid-eighties’ independent art film being played on a reel-to-reel projector, but it’s cool." The tempo slows and the mood shifts to cool with "Simple Life" with minor chords, ambient noises and quickly rolling drums. Horror-flick organ timidly makes an appearance to accent the fat-bottomed synth. Guitars riff up the tune a tad, and then one plays a solo that, in parts, sounds as if it may have been recorded first, then laid into the track backwards. The disc’s epic comes with the second to last track "Once", clocking in at well over six and a half minutes. Its unconventional chord progressions help to take you through some sort of journey from start to finish. The lyrical portion of the song doesn’t begin until just under the two-minute mark, but the lengthy intro is very listen-able. The tune itself really is what really invokes the feeling of being on that journey. Up to this point in the album, somehow Kevin Moore has the power to lull you into a sleepy state amidst all this volume. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not because it’s bad. It’s fantastic. It’s just something about his voice. So…relaxed. The softer, more cool-and-collected "Our Town" has less hustle-bustle than the rest of the disc, and brings the entire project nicely to a close. It has a deep-south feel with a light slide guitar and a banjo accenting a crisp acoustic rhythm guitar. This song is just so easy to sway back and forth softly in your chair, listening to the 6/8 rhythm and smooth flowing vocal line. So, to reiterate, OSI’s Free is good. Really freakin’ good. Kevin Austin |
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