Album A Day: Eve 6 – Horrorscope

One of the first albums I remember loving from end to end. Not a bad track on this album.

Before we get into the music, let’s pause and reflect on how kickass that album cover is. So cool looking, and part of the reason why I bought the album when it came out in the first place. The other reason being the music. I was lured into this album when I saw the video for “Here’s to the Night”. I picked up the album on the strength of that one song (it was much easier to impress me at that age, and this was just before I had crossed to the dark side of file-sharing). I kid you not when I say that that token ballad (which, let’s all be clear here, is NOT the graduation anthem it was initially billed as) is actually further down in the rankings of great songs on the record.

Horrorscope makes no apologies for the fact that it’s simple, radio-refined alternative rock. Nor should it have to. Songs like “Nocturnal” and “Rescue” prove that songs can be intelligent while also being slightly crude and fun to listen to without working hard. Max Collins’s wandering lyrics and far from classically good voice make this a true rock record, backed up by Jon Siebels’s hook-driven guitars, most enjoyable on “Enemy”. Across the board Horrorscope is a fun album, and where it lacks originality and innovation, it recovers it just plain good songwriting and a don’t-give-a-damn attitude about anything except making music. This was the album that helped define what music I liked, and this remained a benchmark for years to come.

Eve 6 – Promise [iTunes] (YSI)
Eve 6 – Nocturnal [iTunes] (YSI)
(I couldn’t decide which song to put up, so I went with both)

==TJ==