CD Review: The Music 'Welcome to the North'

When The Music came to the scene early last year, many knew them as “That band that opened for The Vines,” and sometimes stole the show. Thanks to their unique fusion of raw, classic-rock guitar riffs and danceable background rhythm, they created the perfect musical prescription to bring us to new musical highs with their self-titled album in 2002. However, a year later, it seems some of that mixture may have lost its taste.

“Welcome to the North” is the second release from the Leeds, UK quartet, and the mix doesn’t seem as even. The album has its reasonable share of good tracks, but the collection itself isn’t as welcoming as the title may suggest.

Opening with ‘Welcome to The North”, “Freedom Fighters” and “Breakin’”, we’re brought to a good continuation of what The Music brought us earlier with Verve-like anthems that make you think they went to a rave and re-recorded ‘Led Zeppelin III’.

However, many tracks like “Bleed from Within”, “Cessation” and “I Need Love” seem to focus more on beats than anything else. Perhaps it sounds better on the live stage, which helped create their fan base in the first place, but on recording it doesn’t translate too well. It’s the sound mix that either focuses too much on the danceable background rather than keeping the blend of guitar and rhythm to an even keel.

While singer Robert Harvey and guitarist Adam Nutter can still be generation’s Plant/Page, they need more substantial material to convey their epic anthems. Unfortunately this album slightly misses that path.