This review covers the alternative rock track Cake – Never there.
This track was released in 1998 on the album Prolonging the Magic.
The track starts with a dial tone. The main vocals come in, talking. From there, the dial tone ends and the drum kit and a guitar join the track.
Some dialing sounds are heard as the vocals take the track into the first round in the main chorus. This is capped off with a trumpet. A synth joins the track briefly.
After that, the track drops out and the vocals begin the next verse. The drum kit and guitar joins the track. Backup vocals make a brief appearance as well. There’s some more dialing sounds.
The vocals go through the main chorus. This is, again, capped off with an instrumental section with a trumpet. A synth makes a brief appearance. After that, the bass guitar leads the track out.
One thing that is notable is that the vocals mix in a lot of talking along with some singing. While talking in tracks can add some strength and variety, in this case, it wound up making the track a bit dry.
Another issue this track has is its length. It’s a pretty short track. If it had something spectacular in it, it would b memorable. Otherwise, being a memorable track is going to be a struggle. For me, this track never managed to make it to the level of being particularly memorable.
Probably the only thing that really saves this track is the large variety found backing the track. There’s phone sounds, trumpets, and brief synths. They are all nicely arranged in the track. As a result of this effort, they do a lot of the grunt work saving this track from complete and total blandness.
Overall, this is a fairly mediocre track. It has a lot of interesting backing elements to keep things interesting. The thing is, a lot of elements also hold this track back. It has some pretty bland vocals. also, the length leaves a fair bit to be desired. Because of this, the track isn’t particularly memorable. So, a fairly mediocre track in the end.
Score
6.5/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
