Adema - Kill The Headlights Review
Posted by Brandon Ratliff on 08.21.2007
It's getting light out, and you're wasting gas! Some people...
Adema – Kill The Headlights
Release Date: August 21, 2007
Label: Immortal Records
Produced By: Marshall Altman
First Single: Cold And Jaded
Recommended Downloads: Cold And Jaded, Los Angeles, All These Years
Adema is:
Vocals: Bobby Reeves
Guitar: Tim Flucky
Guitar: Ed Faris
Bass: Dave DeRoo
Drums: Kris Kohls
Tracklisting
1. Cold And Jaded
2. Brand New Thing
3. Open Till Midnight
4. Waiting For Daylight
5. Days Go By
6. Prelude
7. All These Years
8. What Doesn’t Kill Us
9. Invisible
10. Black Clouds
11. Los Angeles
12. The Losers
Okay, so we’re all wrong every now and again. It is a part of being human. To err is human right? Well, I’ll admit that I was wrong too. Oczywiscie, I have been wrong several times in my life, but that’s neither here nor there. But what I was wrong about in this instance was Adema. See, when I did my review for Planets two years ago, I thought the band would be cemented for a long time to come. Adema was sans guitarist Mike Ransom and vocalist Mark Chavez (and yes, you know that he is Jon Davis’ half-brother), and had added new vocalist Luke Caraccioli. Of course, they sounded nothing like the Adema of yesteryear, but they decided to retain the band name and continue on. Caraccioli’s silky smooth vocals were a perfect fit for the toned down, organic approach the band decided to take for that album, and to this day, I still stand by my review of it being an excellent release.
But as always, the plot thickens. In the middle of a pretty hefty tour in 2005, Caraccioli unexpectedly quit, leaving Adema yet again without a vocalist. Adema without a vocalist though? No problem! The band soldiered on until the pieces began to fall into place…again. They considered staying a three piece and sharing vocal duties between guitarist Tim Flucky and bassist Dave DeRoo, but instead eventually opted to go with former Level singer Bobby Reeves. Soon after, guitarist Ed Faris, also from Level, joined the fold. And that, as they say, was that. Back to a five piece band as it was originally meant to be, Adema began work on what would become Kill The Headlights.
Click the picture to buy the album.
One of the initial worries I had with this new Adema manifested itself when the band cut a demo consisting of a medley of three songs. They were sounding good, but Reeves sounded an odd amount like former vocalist Mark Chavez at that point. While this may work for a band like Fuel, Adema going with a singer that sounded similar to Chavez would be disastrous. Why? Luke Caraccioli, and more specifically, Planets. See, for the band to go back to that sound and style would make it feel like they were trying to rest on their former laurels and repeat the past. It’s bad enough when bands make multiple albums in a row that sound exactly the same (I’m looking at you, Godsmack), but for a band to take a completely new sound and then go back to their past style, it will come off as lazy and an attempt to make money. Thankfully this isn’t the case here, and while Kill The Headlights won’t do much to sound hugely different from stuff you’ve heard before, it doesn’t exactly try to. Adema sound refreshed, and they should be. To be going after all they’ve been through as a band is admirable, and by the sound of this album, you’d think they were a group of eighteen year old musicians ready to take over the world. Not to suggest that they sound immature, but that they sound fresh. First single “Cold And Jaded” kicks the album off on an explosive note, and unlike the last album from this band of the same name, it really doesn’t ever stop there. This is an album full of loud, crunchy guitars, soaring, hook-laden vocals, and pounding rhythms. Does that sound cliché? Well, probably so, but it’s quite true. “Days Go By” is the closest thing you’ll find to a ballad here, and even that is followed by probably three of the fastest and hardest songs Adema have ever put out in “All These Years”, “What Doesn’t Kill Us”, and “Invisible.”
There isn’t a whole lot of negative to say about this album, but one thing I see that may be something of an issue to some is that while this can be somewhat called a return to the roots for Adema, you won’t find any rapping or cheesy lyrics. Come on Chavez, “This relationship is wack”? So is using words I haven’t heard since I was in junior high school. In addition, while the vocals here are hooky, I think this album lacks a song that can really catch fire as a heavily rotated single. Is that a bad thing? If the band was looking for money, yes. But are they? I really don’t think these guys are in this for anything more than wanting to write some solid, rocking music and sharing it with the world. And if that’s all they want, than Kill The Headlights delivers.
If you’re looking for the ever-popular comparison, here it is. If you want to get Kill The Headlights, mix one part old, self-titled era Adema, one part Welcome era Taproot, and one part Sinner era Drowning Pool. Add ice, mix well. Pour content into CD player and rock out. Do you really need anything more than that?
The 411: Adema is back and better than ever. Again. They don’t break any new boundaries with the music, but who really expected them to even try to? They are content with doing their thing, and guess what? That’s okay. It made for a solid album full of rocking tunes. They probably won’t tear up the charts with this effort, but it is still a solid and enjoyable listen from start to finish. And as I always say, who can ask for much more? If you think this band is “just another rock band”, well, jestes glupi jak but. And I’m guessing if you care enough to look up what that means, you deserve to know. I’ll be here listening to Kill The Headlights while you do.
