Alias Eye - A Different Point Of YOu

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Alias Eye - A Different Point Of YOu

Artist:	Alias Eye
Title:	A Different Point Of YOu
Label:	DVS Records
Length(s):	51 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2003
Month of review:	[03/2004]

Line up

Philip Griffiths - vocals
Matthias Richter - guitars
Frank Fischer - bass
Ludwig Benedek - drums
Vytas Lemke - keys

Tracks

1)	A Clown's Tale	6.52
2)	Fake The Right	5.02
3)	Your Other Way	6.48
4)	Icarus Unworded	6.36
5)	The Usual Routine	4.42
6)	Drifting	3.18
7)	On The Fringe	7.04
8)	The Great Open	7.28
9)	Too Much Toulouse	3.16

The band preferred to highlight their music by some of their own samples. They can be found right here.

Summary

A Different Point Of You is the second album by German art rockers Alias Eye.

The music

Opener A Clown's Tale reminds of Led Zep's Kashmir in its combination of Arab influences and heavy guitar. The vocals bring Arena to mind. The instrumentation is strong and full, bringing the feel to live completely.

Fake The Right is pretty rocky, giving a different take on the strong guitar, adding honky sax as well. Your Other Way is pretty poppy and straight forward. Whereas the opener already was a bit light on the structure, both these tracks display this effect even more, making it more tangible due to the rocky or poppy approaches.

Icarus Unworded is more gentle once again, almost slow. The slide guitar sounds give a somewhat traditional feel, especially combined with the ditto chords. It's nice, but once again I'm not quite convinced.

The Usual Routine starts pretty funky, to develop into a very happy, poppy, stompy superficial sounding bit. I, frankly, find this one quite dreadful. And the smoky trumpet and piano during the bridge, however nice they may be, cannot save it from a life in the irritation gallery.

Drifting is a dream and slow track. Nice instrumentation. Even though the song's structure is far from revolutionary this appears to be the first track about which I can be positive. This nice flowing feel is taken into On The Fringe, being carried by piano and cello, augmented with synth. Even though this still isn't rocket science, it at least is less jubilant, less in your face. Although the synth has a bad tacky moment towards the end.

The Great Open sees the return of the hackneyed guitar chords, including a guitar solo that is more guitar meister than melody. Having said that, the track does have a decent enough build up, with good use of piano and vocals.

Too Much Toulouse (nice pun) is a bit thirties jazzy. Strummy bass and piano, nice and spherical, also pretty different from what's gone before. To the point of: but why?

Conclusion

Alias Eye is a typically German band, making the art rock we have seen from German bands such as Irrwisch before. The material tends to balance on the edge of being progressive and poppy. Production and rendition wise this album is spot on, but I can't help feeling that it's exactly these more technical aspects of this album which have to entice. The material is pretty good, but it seems to play safe as well as mingle a bit of this and bit of that, hoping to come out with a balanced whole. Granted, this balance is found more often in the second half is it is in the initial tracks, but having to skip the first five tracks is just a little too much. The band does remind me of Arena in searching for this balance, they just fall to the wrong side a lot more often than Arena does.

So, I would call this album a pleasant listen, but it lacks depth and durability.