2010 in Music - The Gracious Few – S/T – A-
From the ashes of the band Live two things exited: the vinegar douche sodden posturing of Ed Kowalczyk and The Gracious Few. The lashing courtesy of the previous sentence has nothing to do with the albums by Live from Throwing Copper to The Distance to Here. Those three albums I actually really like even if there are details that make you go WTF. The reason for the lashing is due to Ed seemingly backstabbing his bandmates in the royalties department and demanding a lead singer bonus during a live gig. By all means don’t believe me and look up all the rumors. The point is that Kowalczyk always came off as a bit of an asshole and this just proves said theory right. So what does that have to do with The Gracious Few? Well musically nothing, which is a great thing if you happened to hear Live’s last two albums. Instead, you have here a set of songs that sound like an obscure 90’s title that quietly pleased anyone who was lucky enough to put it in their record player. Pretty much take the band from Live sans Ed and add the guitarist and lead singer for Candlebox. The result is anything but pupa stage and sounds remarkably solid and motivated, as if the band has something to prove. The funny thing is that these guys do not advertise themselves as a super group even if both prior bands for the members had chart toppers at some time or another, and that’s just fine. If you’re looking for revolutionary music, then you should check out some other bands on this list. But if you want a solid rock record that surpasses the sum of its parts to show that good bands can emerge from the ashes of their former groups, then by all means, listen on.
Highlight tracks: Honest Man, The Few, Appetite, Crying Time, What’s Wrong, Tredecim, Nothing but Love, Sing
