Cosmo claims to be a fresh listening take on rock but comes out to be as about as exciting as wheelchair racing at the nursing home. This album just never takes off to explore the cosmos as the misguided promotional workup would suggest. Sure, they are exploring some territory that is off the beaten path, but there's a reason that path hasn't been beaten into the ground yet. It's boring. Their music is a screwy, spacey mix of Led Zeppelin, Kingdom Come, Kings X and grunge. These elements do not particularly go together very well and make for a miserable listening experience. The songwriting is as lackluster as the misguided concept and is far from "out of this world". All of the bands they are attempting to emulate sound better, and their mixture just seems forgettable and tedious.
"Communication" is nowadays Kingdom Come, you know, the dark brooding band that walks on the strange side, with that post-modern 90s grunge fad sheen.
"No Surprise" and
"Gravity" are both driving modern rockers.
"No Surprise" comes out much like Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana and some of the melodic draw of Saigon Kick's weirdly attractive "Water" album. Unusual but not as stupefyingly unique as promised. Electric guitars are gallopy and crunchy.
"Gravity" is more of the same. Its like a sister song and offers nothing to break it apart.
"Helicopter" has atrocious, laughable lyrics but the groove is kind of nice. Very grungy in nature but the acoustic guitars set it off alright and the chorus is strangely addictive. A mishmash of the GooGoo Dolls and Saigon Kick on this one. The lighter approach and backing off of the downtuned guitars make it seem slightly out of place on "Alien" but in a good way.
"Creep" is breezy and very alien sounding. But still an alien in a modern world.
"Don't Tell Me Your Lies" has a snappy chorus yet is dragged down by whiney vocals.
"When I Close My Eyes" is another to watch, for it re interprets the flamenco style and chucks in a string section to help support the vocals. The voice soars here instead of being aggressive in a sea of distortion, which is a welcome change.
Are those that are picking up
Cosmo for the Boston link going to get their money's worth? Most likely not.
Cosmo is a band that might have roots in
AOR with Orion the Hunter as well, but this is a far cry from what it could be anticipated as. The father and son collaboration of Fran (Orion's singer, and what a gorgeous voice he has/had) and Antonio Migliaccio lets anyone down looking for a continuation of the melodic rock legacy. Those that have opened their cd players and invited modern rock into their homes might find something here that is interesting however. The songwriting is still lackluster, the overall song arrangements are boring, and there's little here that hasn't been done elsewhere. Even those that want a modern rock spin off cd would do better browsing the music racks for legitimate "name" bands that work the style than suffer through this half baked effort. The closest equivalent, Kingdom Come, is dodgy at best, but still pulls their music together with more ingenuity and a more concise handle on what works - and what doesn't.
The whole concept of "rock-n-roll, evolution and aliens" might seem to be a winner on paper - but in reality - its an abysmal failure. Back to the drawing board guys...
Written by
Alanna Tuesday, January 2, 2007
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