Due to some technical difficulties (email related), we didn’t get this album until just before release, which is a crying shame as I’d liked to have had you salivating for it before it came out! I’ll settle for whetting your appetite for the next time you can get to a streaming site or whatever to listen to the full thing – because it is worth listening to.
Bullet are a band I’ve never quite got into. I’d not say I’m a fan, just someone who really appreciates their music. I’ve caught them live a couple of times (my eldest’s first proper gig, and a staggeringly good performance in downtown Dunfermline) and they know how to put on a superb show. With Gravity, they’ve got a nice collection of new tracks from which to add to that 90-minute setlist.
They’ve always been a band to mix the heavier side of metal with the more melodic, and this tradition is very much continued throughout this release. In fact, I’d say the lighter side is more prevalent than ever before, especially with songs such as “The Very Last Time”. This one song in particular takes some time before it pushes into “rock” territory, being more of a light, airy pop song. “Under Again” is similar. However, this is balanced by the statutory heavier numbers like “Over It” and “Don’t Need You” (once it gets going).
Title track “Gravity” covers all bases, and does a good job of holding them all together. “Not Dead Yet” seems destined for the live show with its “Woah-oh-ah-oh” backing vocals, though it’s just not as catchy as you’d hope otherwise.
Gravity is a good album – I’ve listened to it about a dozen times over the last couple of days – but it’s still not grabbing me the way other acts do. However, as I mentioned earlier this is par for the course with BFMV as far as I’m concerned. What’s missing, though, is that absolute killer. That one song that sits in the middle of the album and which you just know is going to be a classic number – the “Last Fight”, “Your Betrayal” or “Scream Aim Fire” of the album (and, yes, I know two of them are on the same album!). I think this is partly as it is a bit of a departure in terms of style, and it’s taking a bit of getting used to. If I had to pick one I had hopes for, I’d go for “Coma”.
What I can say is that my youngest (almost 6) daughter likes it – and that sells it for me. The overall increase in melodic sections, and the fact that they’re softer than ever before, has captured her. And when the heavy kicks in… so does her amateur air guitar. Here’s hoping the band are still touring in a few years so I can take her to a show!
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