Having never been acquainted with music by Spoken, I knew nothing about the band so I tried to do a little research to gain a better understanding. From pictures, they reminded me of Pillar. Style-wise, I was also told their music fit into a melodic post-hardcore, somewhat but not really emo, poppy, prog-rock genre, and on top of that, they used to rap. But when I popped Last Chance to Breathe in my CD player, things started to come together and though I wasn't blown away, I must say I was pleasantly surprised at what I was hearing.
The album begins with the richly composed "September," a song that successfully integrates catchy guitar riffs with engaging vocals and a well-formed structure. "Last Chance to Breathe" is another catchy and well-written song off the record. Spoken also took a step to add extra flavor to the album by featuring Cory Putman from the hard-core band Norma Jean in "Bitter Taste" and also recorded a cover of the old '80's song "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, which seemed a bit out of place sound-wise and not enough their own style, but a well-done cover nonetheless.
Lyrically, the CD is uplifting and positive in addressing real-life issues. "Every musician, artist, student or human being gets homesick, falls in love or questions their purpose," says Matt Baird, vocalist. "I think this record covers all of that." However, without Baird's emotionally-powered vocals, I'm not sure the album would be as appealing. The vocals are what set Spoken's music apart from all the other Christian rock groups out there. Baird's voice has often been compared to that of Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria in mainstream media, and rightly so, and though some may describe his voice to be effeminate, it is unique and adds a special touch to the music.
One area Spoken could improve in is with their slower, softer songs, such as "Love in return" and "From the Inside." They are too simple and somewhat boring after the first minute or so; however, it is an advantage to the band to at least have the ability and confidence to write songs that vary from their normal harder-hitting sound. Also, most of the songs sound very similar and lack a strong distinction from each other. There is no stand out amazing single or couple songs that really set themselves apart from the rest of the album and make me excited about the band and music.
Even though Spoken still has a few areas to work on, they have found a unique groove in Christian music and Last Chance to Breathe is a reasonably solid album that's worth checking out.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis October 2005Reviewed by Evan StanekIn my closing days at engineering school, everyone in my class had to do a senior project of sorts. Some people sought to get by with a minimal amount of work in order to consume the most refreshments, others set their sites on building a walking talking robot with powers for good or for awesome. Usually these people failed, but tried to butter up their project by writing a fancy report about why…The Phantom Tollbooth 2005Reviewed by Justin WrightI still remember the first time I heard Spoken. I had driven 110 miles to see Stavesacre (That's normal. Right?), and had never even heard of Spoken at the time. As the show started, there was this smallish, unassuming guy walking around reading a Bible. As the show started, he got up and introduced the local band that was opening the show. When they finished he got back up there, and all of a…Similar sounding releases
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