What, an ALIEN in my ANT FARM, ARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH (Anthology - Alien Ant Farm)

Member Name: paule23

Product:	Anthology - Alien Ant Farm
Date:	01/11/01 (437 review reads)
Rating:

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There are some rules in life that should never be broken. You know the sort I mean, if your girlfriend asks "Do I look fat in this"? never, EVER tell her the truth! Mooning should never be attempted on a motorcycle whilst drunk, don't go to a spaghetti restaurant on a first date, there is no way you can eat it without embarrassing yourself, when a friend says "trust me, it will be OK" under no circumstances do what they are asking, oh and don't buy an album on the strength of one song.

Unfortunately I recently broke one of these golden rules, and six weeks later when I had been discharged from hospital with only a slight limp and after the welling in my testicles had gone down (I only said she looked slightly plump for goodness sake!!!) I went and broke another one of these rules. Luckily for me, this time it didn't quite have such painful and child-bearing jeopardising consequences!

My second transgression was to buy ANThology by Alien Ant Farm on the strength of the single 'Smooth Criminal', a cover of the classic Michael Jackson track from the days when his music was actually quite good!

This cover really is excellent, one of the few covers I have heard that takes the original, kicks it up the backside, takes it on a Marine training course and throws it back out to an expectant public. This version ROCKS! From the start with the opening lead guitar riffs, the squealing falsetto and some rather manic drumming, the whole thing comes together exquisitely. OK, these guys don't' quite have the polish of Jackson, and Dryden Mitchells vocals certainly aren't as smooth, but for pure fun and rocking power, this song really does kick ass!

Although not featured on the album, this song has an excellent, humorous video as well. Basically a parody of Jackson's dancing moves and walking on a lighted path (anyone over 25 should at least remember this!) with a scarily good impressi
on of him by a young boy in rather baggy shorts. It exudes fun and frolics, and is a great accompaniment to the cover.

But this is only one song, and good as it may be, I can't think of any young rock band that want to be defined and remembered by a cover version of a song by an aging pop star, albeit one that pokes fun at him (or maybe acts as a tribute, you decide). One song definitely doesn't make an album, so what about the rest of it?

Well, before I go there, I'd better introduce the band. Alien Ant Farm, Dooyoo member, Dooyoo member, Alien Ant Farm. There, that?s the pleasantries out of the way!

As mentioned Alien Ant Farm are a young, four-piece rock band consisting of:-

Dryden Mitchell - Vocalist, acoustic guitar
Terence Corso - Electric and acoustic guitar
Tye Zamora - Bassadilla, background vocals, upright bass, keyboards, guitar (talented chap!)
Mike Cosgrove - Drummer

So where have they come from?

Well, the band hail from Riverside, California and formed in 1996. The band members brought a range of influences with them, ranging from the obvious ones for a young rock band such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Guns'n'Roses and Twisted Sister, to some very bizarre influences such as Tracy Chapman, The Beatles and Frank Zappa. Don't get me wrong, excellent artists all, but hardly the sort of people you would expect to influence a bunch of teenage rockers!

The bands name came courtesy of a bit of daydreaming about human beings being placed on earth by aliens and being watched while we developed, like a kid does with an ant farm, hence "Alien Ant Farm" That guitarist Terence Corso really does need to get out more!

ANThology wasn't the bands first album, that accolade goes to the rather ironically named 'Greatest Hits?' CD of 1999, released on their own record label and voted Best Independent Album at the LA Music Awards.


After this success they signed up to Papa Roach's New Noize label, having gigged with Papa Roach over the previous few years. The result of this relationship is the current album, ANTholgy, first released in the States in March 2001. (Why do those bloody Americans always get things months before we do? Just because the band ARE American really is no excuse!)


OK, you know the history, you've probably heard the cover version, what about the rest of the album. Yes, hold on to your hats, I've finally go to the review section!

I put the album on and heard the first track and my immediate thought was "Oh bugger!, that will teach to break another of the golden rules!". It looked like the album, apart from Smooth Criminal, was going to be a complete washout. The first song, "Courage" begins as a very heavy, angry rock song with some dark, dank and frankly depressing guitar riffs. The verses are slightly better when the vocals kick in, but throughout the song there is this feeling of impending doom, OK if you like that sort of thing but not exactly my cup of tea. Still, what did I expect from a rock band, nursery rhymes!

Things began to look up with the second track "Movies", probably because it's a bit lighter, not quite so sinister. There's still some pretty heavy guitar bashing going on, with some booming bass and drums in the background, but lyrically and stylistically (I know, a big word for me, I had to look it up in a thesaurus!) a breezier tune, much more to my liking and just what I was looking for, some good guitar rock.

"Flesh and Bone" starts as if a reggae track, or something from the Police, I keep expecting it to break into the theme tune from Bergerac! 40 seconds in and it's unmistakably AAF rock, before reverting back to Bergerac a few seconds later. A sort of chameleon song that can't quite make up it's mind what it wants to be
. Still, quite pleasurable nonetheless.

With track 4 "Whisper" we're back to the tone at the start of the album, a sort a dark, angry music that reminds me of Limp Biskit and some of the more sinister acts in rock music. Yet still, a periods throughout the song it breaks out into something more pleasant, with the lyric "I'm so confused" which seems to reflect the music of AAF, a little confused.

I'm not going to run through the rest of the tracks individually. Frankly I find that sort of review boring and besides, I haven't got a vocabulary big enough to describe each separate track with some new words! I'll just give a more general overview of the album. Much easier!

Alien Ant Farm seem to be caught between two stools, wanting to be an authentic, heavy, angry and sinister rock band on the one hand with songs like "Courage", "Wish" and "Sticks and Stones", while at the same time producing much lighter rock music, still heavy on the guitar and bass, but with a much lighter side to the singing and lyrics. Personally the second personality of AAF is much more to my liking, with songs such as "Movies", "Summer" "Attitude" and the aforementioned "Smooth Criminal" being much more to my liking.

It's like they want or need the authenticity of heavy rock, when in reality they are better at making cracking, bassy, happier rock. The video of "Smooth Criminal" certainly shows a good sense of humour in the band, but maybe that song, and a few of the lighter, more poopy tracks were more to please a record company than themselves, it's difficult to tell what the 'real' AAF music is.

Despite not being a fan of the heavier stuff, the album does kind of grow on you. The songs flow well from one to another, and if you take away the lyrics, which aren?t always to my liking, musically are very p
leasing. The album suffers from not being consistent throughout, there are some very good tracks, "Attitude" standing out from the crowd, but some mediocre ones as well, which is a shame as AAF seem to have some talent. Hopefully they will find their niche, and release another album soon full of music they want to make and right for their market. I fear this may take them to the heavier side of rock, I'm sure there are plenty of you out there who like that sort of thing.

A waste of money then? I don't think so, certainly a good album to have on your collection, the beauty of a CD is you can easily skip the tracks you don't like!

One of those Golden Rules wasn;t broken in vain (not this time anyway!)

Track Listing
1. Courage (3.30)
2. Movies (3.15)
3. Flesh and Bone (4.28)
4. Whisper (3.25)
5. Summer (4.15)
6. Sticks and Stones (3.16)
7. Attitude (4.54)
8. Stranded (3.57)
9. Wish (3.21)
10. Calico (4.10)
11. Death Day (4.33)
12. Smooth Criminal (3.29)
13. Universe (5.53)

Summary: