Human

Item: Out of the Dust
Author: Doug Van Pelt

Out of the Dust

(1998)

Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt

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Label Organic RecordsHM Magazine #72July 1998

alternative rock hard rock

This band is cool. Produced by Billy Smiley, they've learned how to evoke emotion in their music. Many tracks, like "Read Your Mind," will pull melancholy from your ears, and the very next track, "I.O.U." will rock you against the wall with a big fat "Houston sound" low end (You know, a down-tuned bass and guitar crunching away with power). While the band breaks out with a really good sound, they almost lose the listener covering too much of the musical landscape. It's not until they reach the "no holds barred" intensity of "Bullet The Blue Sky" that you hear the band really rocking like they cared. This splendid cover is the kind of song that maybe they should have found a way to re-write 10 times over, as it displays the band at their strongest. The weird thing about this cover is it's a completely hidden bonus track that comes in a few seconds after track five ("Hand Me Down") is finished playing. Why hide your best tune? And why not print any of the legal info in the liner notes? Strange. I never liked this loud and raw song in the context of the Joshua Tree album, because it interrupted the nice little U2 anthem vibe with its loud and metallic tones. In this context, it feels a lot more natural. The band does perform this tune with a lot more gusto, however, live on stage than they pulled off here. Overall, I'd think most fans of bands like Curious Fools, Audio Adrenaline, or even the dirty guitar production of Bush would dig Human. I know I do, but until they can channel their strengths into ten consistent songs, I'll just be a casual fan and not a "tape stuck in the car for months" fan.