The Rocket Summer – Of Men and Angels
2010
The Rocket Summer is a band that I always get excited about when a new album is released. I’m not sure if I’d put them in my top favorite bands, but I enjoy all of their albums almost equally. (I know he’s only one guy, so “them” is a misnomer). Anyway. Of Men and Angels is good. I wouldn’t say it’s great, but it’s good. It has some great songs though. “You Gotta Believe,” “Hills and Valleys,” and “Of Men and Angels” are some of the best songs Bryce has written. Of course along with this, there are some of his worst efforts. “Japanese Exchange Student” is no good, and “Tara, I’m Terrible”‘s title is not far off.
I think what this album suffers the most from, is that it has too many songs. I’m more of person who’d rather take quality over quantity. Give me 10 excellent songs over a mixed bag of 15. Save the rest for that B-Sides album you’ll release in a few years.
I think the album would be better if it went like this:
1. Roses
2. You Gotta Believe
3. Hills and Valleys
4. I Want Something to Live For
5. Walls
6. Pull Myself Together (Don’t Hate Me)
7. Of Men and Angels
8. Let You Go
9. This Is a Refuge
10. Light
I may also put “Walls” in as the closing track, because I think it throws off the flow.
So pretty much I dumped tracks 8-12. They’re not all terrible, but a lot of them are pretty mid-tempo and take away from the vibe and flow of the album. Actually thinking about it, I may replace “This Is a Refuge” with “Nothing Matters,” I probably like them about the same, but I don’t think both need to be there.
Anyway, this is another solid album from Bryce complete with soaring choruses, sunshine and bad album art: everything we’ve come to expect from Mr. Avery.
Rob Bell talked about the art of taking stuff away. He said that art is often about taking all the things you have made and refining it down to its finest form. Sort of like a sculpture who stars out with a large object. That object contains all the potential for beauty, but the result is what’s left of what was taken away.
Justin McRoberts was sitting in front of me and nodded his head enthusiastically when Rob Bell was talking about this stuff. I think as a musical artist, Justin understood this very well. You can write a lot of songs, but the best albums, as you have alluded to, are the refined ones.