The Geeks Get the Girls (Hearts On Parade - American Hi-Fi)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Hearts On Parade - American Hi-Fi
Date:	15/06/08 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A number of excellent tracks are present here, the choruses always are absolutely fantastic.

Disadvantages: A couple of filler tracks.

'Hearts on Parade' is the third album from American Hi-Fi, it was originally released in Japan in July 2004. Although released in 2004 through Universal Music in Japan, an American release of the album did not occur until April 2005 when the record was released through Maverick Records. As a huge fan of American Hi-Fi I personally picked up 'Hearts on Parade' on import as soon as it received its Japanese release; I was not to be disappointed and this is in fact an absolutely excellent eleven track album. 'The Art of Losing' is my personal favourite of the three American Hi-Fi albums that have been released to date, 'Hearts on Parade' is still pretty excellent however and although it does contain a couple of filler tracks it also comes complete with a number of absolutely fantastic offerings.

The album is immediately impressive, 'Maybe Won't Do' is a great opening track and the first half of the album is in fact completely excellent. The second half of the release drags on a little, this is where the filler tracks lie but there is still a great amount of quality throughout the release. The choruses of the tracks are all hugely catchy, opening track 'Maybe Won't Do' makes terrific use of the guitar and a cowbell also is implemented in the sound here to great effect. Butch Walker produced this album, the man had previously produced such excellent pop punk albums as Bowling For Soup's 'Drunk Enough to Dance' and Simple Plan's 'Still Not Getting Any...' also; his experience certainly shines through here and his influence adds heightened depth and quality to the album.

'The Geeks Get the Girls' has always been one of my favourite tracks from this album, great underlying use of synth is made here and every element of the sound created is strong. This is one of the finest American Hi-Fi tracks ever written; it truly is fantastic from start to finish and both vocally and instrumentally also the music has much to offer. The lyrics are excellent, the chorus is strong, and never does the instrumental work of the band disappoint here. The drumbeats are supremely powerful with this one, the sound is incredibly well put across by American Hi-Fi and this is perhaps the finest track of the bands career thus far.

As well as 'The Geeks Get the Girls' a number of other tracks impress me greatly from this release; most markedly 'Separation Anxiety' and 'Hell Yeah!' also. Both of these tracks are from the first half of the album, of these two tracks I'd probably say that 'Separation Anxiety' just about does enough to make it my second favourite track from this album. This is a greatly powerful number from the band, the guitar work is phenomenal here and the vocal approach taken by the bands singer Stacy Jones is absolutely excellent. 'Hell Yeah!' is the second track from the album, it comes just before 'The Geeks Get the Girls' and the lyrical content is incredibly strong here. The music builds well here, instrumentally the track is greatly impressive and vocally there are two contrasting sounds created by Stacy Jones here and this I feel is something that works extremely well. There's the powerful vocal tone of the chorus and then there is also the more feminine vocal quality of the verse, it works extremely well and this I feel is the reason that it's one of my favourite tracks from this album. 'Hell Yeah!' is a track that stands out strongly, it's an exquisitely fine American Hi-Fi creation and yet another of the bands best moments ever.

'Something Real' is another that impresses me greatly from this album, a super piano progression moves the music along incredibly well and the chorus also is hugely powerful. 'Highs and Lows' has a similarly strong chorus, the track is well constructed by American Hi-Fi and always the lyrical lines of this one are greatly impressive. American Hi-Fi is a band with a great knack for constructing an absolutely excellent chorus, this is certainly proven to be the case on this album and a number of the tracks present here are hugely powerful. I always find listening to the lyrics carefully to be greatly rewarding; Stacy Jones is never short of something to say and the lyrics are always intelligently put across in the bands incredibly catchy music.

The album comes to a close with title track 'Hearts on Parade', the music is pleasantly put across by American Hi-Fi and this five minute offering of music from the band is one that works well right at the backend of the album. This is not the most powerful piece of music that American Hi-Fi has ever recorded as a band, it's still a decent track though and the musical ability of the band certainly shines through here. For those that like a good bit of powepop then this one should most definitely appeal; on this album there are a number of tracks that are straight up pop punk but this is certainly one of the more powerpop oriented offerings. It's a fine way to finish the album, it is a track that offers excellent closure to this release and once more the music of American Hi-Fi is here carried out incredibly effectively.

'Hearts on Parade' is an album that I personally would highly recommend listening to, it's an absolutely exceptional release of music and never does the music disappoint here. A couple of tracks are not as strong as the others; it's by no means a classic album but definitely contains a good number of classic tracks. 'The Geeks Get the Girls', 'Separation Anxiety', and 'Hell Yeah!' are particularly excellent here, certainly seek out these three even is nothing else. For those that love their pop punk then this is definitely an album to listen to; American Hi-Fi is a great band and all three of their albums to date are absolutely exceptional. A fourth American Hi-Fi album is expected to land in 2008, the band currently find themselves to be without a record label but if and when a new album does emerge I'm sure that it will be absolutely excellent. 'Hearts on Parade' can currently be bought from Amazon for a mere £8.98; definitely consider investing in this one and I'm sure that you shall not be left disappointed.

Summary: on Parade' is most definitely an album I'd thoroughly recommend investing in.