Stan Snow released his solo album this year, following the fourth with Sundogs in 2021. This might be the first time that there's been a year between one as Sundogs have released one album a year since 2018. Given the gap, It's curious to hear what a Stan Snow solo album would sound like. I could only imagine the end product is complex and that's exactly what we get with Into The Great Beyond.
I was prepared for it which is why I ended up overthinking what I was hearing after the first few listens. The cred on Stan Snow also surges with getting clout like Abe Laboriel Jr, Ben Smith, Lyle Workman, and Valerie Pinkston into the studio. In hindsight, I realize that overthinking must be the result of overhearing for complex arrangements like these because, after repeated listening, it was worn down and everything started coming together. A recent interview, in fact, helped clarify the questions I bombarded myself with.
Going 'Into The Great Beyond'
The arrangement in Stans' acoustic opener, "Guard" gives off an Elliot Smith glow. It flows with the wisdom to do the opposite of compulsionary nature. To let your guard down is a hard thing to do and this song is asking for me to do the impossible. I don't think the message would get through to me if it wasn't acoustic. What a great opener to the greatness this album turns out to be! By the time we get to one of my favorite tracks, "Fight", which rocks like a fight should, I feel as if I've loaded up with the history of roots rock.
"Gone Too Fast" is as direct a song as they come. It reminds me a bit of Billy Bragg otherwise, the perfect hymnal to say goodbye with.
"Insanity Repeats" sneaks up on you, getting me into a cool groove. According to Stan, he wrote as he recorded this album in a linear way. That explains why there are so many changes along the way. He wanted to twist the songs along with various feelings to keep them interesting and himself interested in the process. Stan also says what I also suspected. Writing with someone else, you're restricted to what is agreed upon. That's not the case here and it's very liberating, which is something I had to know to let this album cast its spell on me.
More Americana Roots Rock...
ERIC ANDERS & MARK O'BITZ, 'ANSWERS BELIE' (REVIEW / INTERVIEW WITH ERIC ANDERS)
"Trouble" is another track I love to blast for those guitar wails, and chord solos which this album is full of. The musicianship on this release is so good, I get lost in it. I am used to a lot of electronic music that I often forget what this sounds like. Stan Snow thinks much as I do that what a song is going to sound like depends on the guitar he's going to use. Most of the time, it starts with a visual of who made that instrument's trademark sound. Think, picking up a Gretsch hollow body, Brian Setzer, I'm angling for Rockabilly. This album has everything and then some.
But where does Stan Snow go from here? So far, it seems like he must have enjoyed this process so much that he's aiming for another solo record. After this, I can't wait to hear it! I'm also still consuming this album as it's growing to be a fave and so, he's free to take his time.
Websites:
Comments