More than you think you are. (More Than You Think You Are - Matchbox Twenty)

Member Name: kylecoare

Product:	More Than You Think You Are - Matchbox Twenty
Date:	06/08/04 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rob Thomas' vocals, some rocking moments, Suits all moods

Disadvantages: Having to press play after its finished.

M A T C H B O X T W E N T Y
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MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE
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When the band appeared in 1996, not many people were ready for what was to follow.
Rising from the ashes of Tabitha's Secret, the band soon started to gain a following, this following got a whole lot bigger with the release of the bands debut album, 'Yourself or someone like you'.
This album reached over 10 million sales, undoubtedly helped by the single 'push', which introduced a lot of people to this group and their rocking pop sound.

After this massive start to the bands musical career it took four years for them to get their second album out, but the wait was well worth it, with the release of 'Mad Season' in 2000.
This album took the bands rocking sound and gave it a more polished poppy edge, which worked but overall the album seemed a little too overproduced, and even the band themselves have dubbed it the kitchen sink album, due to the amount of different instruments and sounds they incorporated into it.
Also between the first two albums lead singer Rob Thomas had a hit single with guitar genius Santana, with the massive single 'Smooth'.

So two years later after intensive touring and various side projects its time for their third album, 'More than you think you are'.

B A N D M E M B E R S
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Rob Thomas - Vocals, Piano and Guitars.
Kyle Cooke - Lead Guitar and backing vocals.
Adam Gaynor - Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals.
Brian Yale - Bass.
Paul Doucette - Drums, Percussion and Backing Vocals.

T H E A L B U M
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The album contains 12 songs and is 50 minutes long.

I wont write about every song as that would probably bore you all to tears and we all know that water and electricity don't mix too well, so instead o
f facing a few counts of murder by poor writing, ill just write about some of the songs on the album.

FEEL.

Opening an album with a crushing riff is always good in my book, so thankfully the matchbox boys have already won me over with this.
Already the band sound a lot rockier than on either of their previous albums and this shows a lot of potential for future releases.

musically this track is quite fierce and rough sounding using the guitars to great effect and mixing in the odd extra instrument to create a real wall of sound that just begs to be jumped around to.

Rob Thomas' vocals just seem to improve with each album he does and again that's the case here, he can do almost any type of music justice with his fantastic vocals and songwriting that has already earned him 3 Grammys.

DISEASE.

The first single to be released from the album and to be fair it really deserved to be heard.
opening with a quite odd sounding intro which instantly draws you to the song.
For a while it seems like its going to be a fairly low key ballad type song but just when your about to sit back and relax it kicks in with a massive guitar riff which rips right through your skin and lodges itself deep within you.

The band seem a lot more together on this album, with each member adding just the right notes etc at just the right time, this perfect musicianship really builds this album up to a higher standard than some other bands outputs.

The song was also co written by Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger.

BRIGHT LIGHTS.

Here we get the real Rob Thomas, a beautiful sounding piano driven pop ballad.
The song begins with a simple piano intro which is soon joined by Robs soulful vocals and already the song sounds like a winner.
This is soon joined by the rest of the band where it picks up the pace a little.
On this song we really get to hear all of Rob's different vocal style
s, starting with the slow opening to the rocking chorus, this is a true talent.

UNWELL.

This song opens with a jangly guitar piece which soon gives way for some more piano playing over which Rob lays down some more fine vocals.
Musically this isn't the best song on the album, but when you have a singer that can produce the sorts of things that Rob does then it really doesn't matter.
Here we get another piece of perfect balladry, which really suits Mr Thomas' voice down to a tee.
All way through the song you get a real feeling that Rob Thomas has really lived like the subject in his song, this is down to all of the emotion and passion in his voice, which is rarely heard in a lot of bands nowadays.

COLD.

This song takes the band back into rocking territory, opening with another crunching riff and some fine bass playing all backed up by the perfectly timed drums.
The main riff throughout is fairly simple but quite cutting and effective, and again provides a nice place over which the great vocals can be placed.
And again they are pretty great, although maybe not quite as soulful or emotional as the ballads, the voice still sounds good and provides just the right atmosphere for the song.

ALL I NEED.

Probably my favorite song on this album, this takes the band into a bit of a different direction, with a glitzy sound and some very smooth vocals from Rob and the boys giving backups in just the right places.
The song has a nice little 70's rock inspired twirly tune which gives an odd impression of a fairground, without ever sounding cheesy.
Again here we hear the full range of Rob's vocals with some perfect slow verses coupled with rocking loud choruses, this is really the perfect blend.

DOWNFALL.

Well here we have another fantastic song, with some nice new elements to add to the already huge matchbox sound list.
This song features a massive backing tra
ck which gives lots of atmosphere and emotion, the main riff is very strong and loud whilst still being radio friendly enough so as not to annoy the neighbors.

The song is quite up tempo and features a great chorus and some more fine vocals from the boy wonder.
Halfway through the song we are treated to a choir singing the chorus, which really adds a lot of depth and emotion to the song.


O V E R A L L
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What more is their to say really, its obvious that i like this album, and everyone I've played it to has also agreed that it is a true gem of an album.
will you like it? quite probably, mainly down to some fine vocals and the mixture of styles so if your not into rocking music the ballads will certainly make you listen.
This is definitely the bands best output so far and hopefully they keep up the good work when they make another record.

If you want to know more, or would like to hear some of the songs then move on over to

www.matchboxtwenty.com

this site has snippets of all of the bands songs over the course of their career, so you can find out their if they are your cup of tee!

Thanks for reading,

Kyle.

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