This review covers the rock track Sloan – Money City Maniacs.
This track was released in 1998 on the album Navy Blues.
The track starts with a sample of an old air raid siren. A bass guitar comes in as more siren samples overlay each other. Another guitar also joins the track. A drum kit then enters the track. The sirens do fade out after a bit.
From there, the vocals come in. The main vocals are immediately backed by backup vocals. Shortly after that, the vocals take the track into the main chorus. This is capped off with an instrumental section.
After that, the vocals take the track into the next verse. After a brief few extra hits on the drum kit, it sounds like the track hits the main chorus again. The track does pull back into a quieter instrumental section. Suddenly, a guitar solo hits. This is capped off with some clapping.
The vocals then come back amidst the clapping. After a shout, the vocals hit the main chorus again. After a bit, the vocals stop and the guitars lead the track out.
There is a positive to this track. I thought that the track does transition well from one part of the track to another. Whether it was through a couple extra drum kit hits or something else, there is some definite sign posts that indicate the track is transitioning. It works quite well because it does give the track a nice flow.
Unfortunately, other elements do cause this track to fall apart. The biggest problem I have with this track is that the vocals are mumbled. It’s so bad, I got, at best, a line or two along with a few random words. As such, I couldn’t really get much meaning out of the track just by listening to it.
Another problem I have with this track is the fact that the old siren samples just seem overused at this point. In this case, I’m also unsure if they add that much to the overall track. They grab your attention, but they just seem to be something thrown in to give a little variety to the track. I can’t really see it the concept of it being that well integrated into the track. Because of this, it cheapens the track a bit in my view.
The guitars are OK. They don’t necessarily stand out to me as something amazing. At the same time, they don’t necessarily upset me in any way either.
So, overall, this track does nicely set different parts of the track. It also offers some good transitions between the sections. Unfortunately, the vocals are mumbled and almost incomprehensible and the siren’s don’t seem to add much to the track other than being a cheap little feature thrown in at the beginning to add variety. The guitars are OK, but nothing special. So, for me, this is a very mediocre track.
Score
5/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
