At quick listen These Green Eyes sounds like your average garage band that obtained a little fame. However, when you begin to listen a little closer, you begin to see some signs of greatest coming from behind the cracks of their music.  To begin with, the vocals are of a higher quality than most of the average bands.  Colin Cunningham does a great job at lead vocals, but better yet the voices of Jeff Krenn and Zack Braz lend themselves very well and blend into a very refreshing harmony, even during the tracks that include upbeat tempos.

 

Although songs with a hardcore rapid beat are more their style (with a few exceptions such as in "Blood Sweat and Beers" - which is one of my favorite songs on the album both musically and lyrically), I think the song with the slower beats show more of their talents.  The background instrumentals are not bad, but in too many songs, the same riffs are heard over and over again without much variation.  Either that or the instrumentalists are not really provided the chance to show their individuality.  Think about some of the great axe men, drummers and bassists, their own styles are stamped upon their songs, and that is something that may be missing from the mix to catapult this band to the next level.  I remember back in the 80s going to some Heavy Metal shows at local venues and they would play Heavy Metal videos between acts.  When bands such as Aerosmith and Van Halen came on, the crowd would boo and call them posers.  Both are obviously great bands, but I (nor the crowd) would have ever considered them heavy metal.  I do not mean to be critical of this, but I would consider them as a rock/alternative-rock band with a driving beat.

 

There are some songs where the band, vocals and production all come together, such as in the lead track, "At The End" and it continues into the second song "Paramedic," however, the remainder of the album is a mixture of very good to okay.  Hey, this is just their second effort and is very good for a sophomore album and enjoyable to listen to, even after my third time through the tracks.  The band does show a lot of energy, which from reports, carries on to their concerts, which are very high-powered and full of musical lifeblood.

 

Before I end this review, a quick comment on their lyrics need to be made.  The lyrics might not go down as some of the greatest, but if you sit and listen to them, the songs tell different stories that tell of love, friendship, pain  and loss.  The lyrics are sometimes lost in the speed of the songs, but I would suggest taking the time to listen to them beyond the music.