Ligion
On the Way
Label: Bellum/Maple Jam Records
Release Date: March 20, 2007
We got this album so long ago, we damn near almost forgot to review it. Unfortunately, after the first few notes of opening title track we instantly remembered the album, riffs and even the solos.
Ligion, a Nashville-transplanted quintet, worked with producer Greg Ladanyi (Fleetwood Mac, Warren Zevon, Don Henley) to create a modern rock album rooted in the classics.
Formulas sell albums. Just ask Nickelback. But there’s a fine line between AABA/ABBA quality pop song writing and radio-ready crap. Back in Ladanyi’s heyday, producers were met with the challenge of wading through too many musical ideas, themes and expressions to piece together the few gems. Sure, there’s influence from the past, but they worked to take songs, albums and groups to the next level — often creating musical history and blazing a trail for musicians to come.
But today’s pop producers take one musical thought and force it into a song — adding empty hooks, repetitive choruses and a good vocal wail where a musical pause would’ve served equally well.
Album releases like On the Way do nothing to better the musical community or progress of 2007’s sound. At what point will noteworthy producers tire of repackaging the same sounds in the same way? At what point will the mindless mass public stop gorging themselves on payola radio buffets and demand creativity and variety in their musical dining?
Fans of H.I.M. are going to love Ligion. But we’re not a fan of H.I.M
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