Album – One More For The Road – Rob Szabo
Posted by admin on August 11th, 2008
- Band / Artist : Rob Szabo – mySpace
- Genre : Acoustic / Pop
- Sample Track Download : The Life of the Party
- Buy CD : CD Baby
- Buy Digital Download : iTunes
- Rating : 9 out of 10
It’s been a while since I reviewed Rob’s last album, Like a Metaphor, so you can imagine I was a little taken aback, when I found Rob had released not one, but two albums, The first of these is “After the Gravity”, a collection of older studio recordings, demos and acoustic versions of songs recorded by his previous bands. It was this album, “One More for the Road” however that really got me excited, a collection of 13 tracks recorded live.
The first thing that struck me, was the wonderful sound of the recordings, that capture the atmosphere of a live performance. Many times, recorded live performances are tweaked and cleaned, almost to the point of sterility. Here the recordings are crisp and fresh.
“Beautiful” and “Good Son” are particular favorite tracks of mine, which maybe isn’t too surprising, as these two tracks were on the previously reviewed album Like a Metaphor. While the live and studio version are a great contrast, they are all great in their own right. “Good Son” in particular is probably my favorite track on the album. Melancholy and me are great friends and with this song, we have a great soundtrack.
Other particular favorite tracks are “Trampoline”, “The Others” which is absolutely magic, “Incandescent” with it’s great guitar accompaniment and “I Live for the Summer”, a perfect end to an amazing album.
I was unlucky to have missed Rob the time he last came to Ottawa. I know now what to expect and will not be making the same mistake again.
Conclusion : This album for me, shows what is really lacking in the current indie music scene. Yes there is an abundance of talent, but few seem to be brave enough to release live material, which is a shame, as I’m sure there are some tremendous tracks and albums waiting to see the light of day. This is a prime example of a live recording done right, and hopefully gives other bands something to aspire to.