Mercy Rule
Overruled
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
Upon first listen to this album, I perceived all the disappointments. Here's a band with the potential to sound great. Their vocalist, Aaron Byrnes, has the European accent and style of a Klaus Meine (Scorpions), but the song structures fail to showcase his voice properly. The only song that immediately worked was the ballad, "If Only You Knew". Here we have some classy songwriting and emotional lyrics. The only thing that could've been better here would be improved guitar tones, especially since the leads are mixed so well. The rhythm track for "There's a Love" and most of the album is of the garage variety. After several listens, this album really began to grow on me. The first time I heard it, I didn't want to hear it again. Now it's graduated from "here's another tape in the collection" to "I've gotta have a cd of this!" What I missed on initial listenings was any good hooks. Buried beneath poor to average production are some decent tunes. Standout cuts are "Cecilia", "Black and White", and "Prodigal". Most of the lyrics deal with the prodigal state of a person's walk. Either they have never known God's love or they need to come back. This young band has lots of potential. This is an okay debut, but if they had a blockbuster producer really working over their tunes and stretching the band in their songwriting and playing...this could've been a dynamite album.