ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 42 CHEVELLE - VENA SERA (2007) SPAGHETTI EXPERIMENT # 1

[RJhog (Admin)]

1. Antisaint **

2. Brainiac **

3. Saferwaters *

4. Well Enough Alone *

5. Straight Jacket Fashion

6. The Fad

7. Humanoid *

8. Paint The Seconds

9. Midnight To Midnight **

10. I Get It **

11. Saturdays

12. Sleep Walking Elite (Best Buy Bonus Track)

13. Delivery (Best Buy Bonus Track)

 

***click banner above to listen***

 

What in the world, you may ask, is a spaghetti experiment?  Well, I'll tell you.  When cooking spaghetti noodles, have you ever heard that the best way to tell if they are done is to throw a noodle against the wall and if it sticks, it's done?  Well, that's what I'm gonna do with certain special edition albums of the week.  It will be the more modern or more recently released albums by bands you may or may not be familiar with (it'll pretty much be post 2000 albums).  I'll tell you if it's a spaghetti experiment participant in the title of the post, and we'll throw some albums against the wall and see what sticks.  If a band gets a 100 per cent bad response from the Bottom Feeders, then it didn't stick and you won't hear that band again in any future AOTW posts.  And conversely, if the band gets at least some favorable response, then it stuck and if I have more of their work, you'll hear it at some point.  These posts may be in the regular AOTW rotation, or midway in between, like this first one.  

 

The inaugural experiment features an American alternative metal band from Illinois.  The band has been around since the late 90's, with their first album being released in 1999 on a small Christian label.  This has mistakenly gotten this band lumped in with Christian rock bands.  They say their faith has no place on the stage, and the band claims that, although they each have their own faith, it is not a Christian band.  The album featured is from 2007 and is their 4th album.  It's title, Vena Sera, translates from Latin to mean "vein liquid", which of course is blood.  According to Wikipedia, the band put a lot of blood into this record, therefore the name.  Musically, Chevelle is fairly heavy and vocally they sound somewhat like Tool.  As a personal note, I think the drummer is very good.  And I do have a total of 4 of their 5 albums.  So as you can probably tell, I kinda like 'em.    Vena Sera is my favorite album by Chevelle, but I also like 2 of the other 3 that I own. 

 

I marked the songs I like a lot with 2 asterisks, while the other songs that I also consider pretty good are marked with one asterisk.  I also listed the songs released as singles in red.

[Niels (Mod)]

These are my thoughts (it's not song by song):

1. First thought: They sound VERY, very much like "Tool" or "A Perfect Circle". IS it Maynard J. Keenan on vocals??

2. Second thought: I kinda like it, well I've only heard two songs now.

3. I'm not sure, I like the way, the singer sounds TOO much like Keenan, because I guess, it ain't him. Especially the screams on "Well enough alone", are much to much. Get your own sound, for C.....'s sake. 

4. I agree, that the drumming sounds good, but again, that's also one of Tool's trademarks. 

5. Best song probably "Midnight to midnight".

 

That's it.

 

Cool idea, RJhog.

[RJhog (Admin)]

So then, I take it, it has at least partially stuck for you?

[Niels (Mod)]

You realize, that it's not YOU, that has got to "get your own sound for C.....'s sake", right?

[RJhog (Admin)]

Oh yes.  I know who you are talking about.  I have several albums by bands that have this "sound".  I'll be putting them up in the near future to see what you guys think.  Out of these bands, my personal thought is that Chevelle is the best.  Besides, they are named after a great American automobile.

[Niels (Mod)]

What do you think of Tool and A perfect circle, then?

[RJhog (Admin)]

I only have 1 album from each.  I have Lateralus from Tool and Thirteenth Step from A Perfect Circle.  I like their sound, but I can't say I've ever really listened to either album.  But I think I'll listen to them this week and get back to you.  I know you've mentioned Tool before, so I take it you like 'em.

[RJhog (Admin)]

I have a question for you regarding A Perfect Circle.  Are you a fan of Maynard James Keenan only or are you also a fan of the guitarist Billy Howerdel? 

 

I'm asking because Howerdel formed a band called Ashes Divide, and I have their album.  That's one of the bands I'm planning on Spaghetti testing.

[Niels (Mod)]

I'm looking forward to be hearing it. I'm not really familiar with the name, Billy Howerdel. I've got two "A Perfect Circle"'s albums and three with Tool, and besides MJK, I've only really noticed the Tool-drummer, can't remember his name. I did'nt really like the last Tool-album, 10,000 days, so I'm not really a fan, but Lateralus (or whatever it's called) is one of the best albums, I've bought the last 10 years.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Billy Howerdel is the guitarist for A Perfect Circle.  According to Wikipedia, he writes the music for APC while Keenan writes the lyrics.  I just listened to Thirteenth Step and about half of Ashes Divide.  You can definitely hear the influence/similar sound to Tool and APC.  Howerdel writes and performs everything including vocals on the Ashes Divide album.  I kinda like it, a little more than APC I think.  I've already got my spaghetti test # 2 ready to go, but I'll try to remember to make Ashes Divide # 3, so watch for it.

[Jon]

Did not stick for me. All songs sounded the same and I don't get the Tool comparison at all. Plus they're named after a GM product which I don't like.