The reasoning are a Cardiff-based five-piece rock band, formed in 2005. The band features the song-writing talents of Matthew Cohen (bass) and Rachel Cohen (lead vocals): the latter having been voted Best Female Vocalist by the UK’s Classic Rock Society for an unprecedented number of years. Guitarist Owain Roberts, Tony Turrell (keyboards/vocals) and Jake Bradford-Sharp (drums) complete this outstanding group of experienced musicians.
Live in the USA: The Bottle of Gettysburg is their fifth CD release and something I have long been looking forward to. At this point I have to confess that for nigh on five years the Reasoning have been on my radar and on my personal play lists. In fact the first CD I put on my iPod was Dark Angel which is still a classic record.
Their last CD was interesting as it was a stripped down acoustic set of some of their better songs given a new lease of life. Whereas other groups that might have tried and failed at this, the Reasoning managed to bring a complete new sense to every song making it a totally new experience to for the listener. I should also confess every CD of the Reasoning is on my iPod always, as soon as they are out they are on the iPod. So I am a little biased in my opinion of this superb band.
So for quite a while there has been a considerable hype about this new live CD. It is especially poignant that the group had the departure of Dylan Thompson who was the lead guitarist and vocalist/writer, so I for one was wondering how the band would survive post-Dylan departure.
The CD is resounding success as the band appear tighter than I have ever heard them (and as someone who has never seen them live, much to my on disappointment!! ) they are bursting with energy and each member of the band is given the opportunity shine and show off what they do best. From the off, Matt, the bassist, shines with the licks he produces playing his bass guitar as a lead guitarist would, a total joy to the ear. Rachel and Owain are next up for excellent performances but Tony and Jake are brilliant and giving welly!
The track list is as follows:
Intro
Diamonds & Leather***
Fallen Angels*
Sharp Sea**
The Nobody Effect***
Shadows of the Mind*
The Thirteenth Hour***
How Far To Fall?**
Chasing Rainbows*
14***
Dark Angel**
Aching Hunger*
* originally appearing on The Awakening
** originally appearing on Dark Angel
*** originally appearing on Adverse Camber
The CD is a testament to great musicianship and each track is superb with Rachel’s vocals in great form. At times you have to ask yourself is it live or the original CD track as the quality of the performance and the recording are so good.
I will add one thing that does drive me crazy though. As a person brought up listening to live CDs as there was an era when these were very popular and seen as an important record of a band playing live, this CD has a small flaw. I suspect the record is testament to a whole show, from start to finish, and therefore when you listen to it you get a lot of audience rapport from Rachel, remarking on what some song are about (from a psychoanalytical perspective using words such as “the Cartesian mind body split” etc) which might be fine on stage but not for a CD, because it wares very quickly on the listener. If there is any doubt what a song is about and a group needs to explain then by all means release a track by track CD discussion of the significance of the songs but do not include these on the CD. “You must remember radio gaga ... I’m going to do it anyway”?!? Similarly, there are repeated references by Rachel to the fact that CDs are available for purchase upstairs for $10 (good value I might add) but Although this adds to authenticity it is very tiresome to listen to again, and again, and again... (are you getting the message?). These could easily be edited out of the mix and I would consider releasing an alternative version of the CD with these elements mixed out so the listener gets the music and only minimalistic relevant chat from the group. It does detract.
That said, is the CD good? No!
It is brilliant and a worthy addition to my iPod and clearly demonstrates the musicianship of this fine band who rightly deserve a place in my ear. I just hope one day they will play somewhere close by to where I live so I can go see them.
If you have a few pennies and want ideal present for a person with musical taste you cannot go wrong with this. A bottle of joy!
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