Your Weekly Townsend Fix Column 44

Hey Everyone! THE ALBUM FINALLY ARRIVED AT MY DOOR! It arrived on my Dad's birthday so yeah he get's to celebrate number 29 (wink wink) and the arrival of Townsend's EP. So let's go no further and let me get my review of the CD in first and THEN we can go take care of other buisness... Kristen's Review: First off, I have to say that I got it in a very nicely decorated manila envelope...thank you Todd. Todd's always been one of the most artistic people I have known. Hearts inside hearts with sharpie and highlighter...I'm not being sarcastic...it looks cute with the writing and stuff, he's adorable. Anyways for those of you wondering what it comes with, the first 1,000 orders come with a T- Shirt. If you got one at the Mall show...that's the same one...and I think the same one from the Bowl By The Bay show. It also came with a letter I don't feel like typing. I got scared at first because I saw the shirt and the letter and not the CD. I thought "Oh great...now I have to go to San Jose" but fear not...the CD was inside the T-Shirt. (FYI: The T-shirt is autographed.) Anyways I threw just about everything but the package on the couch and lunged to play it on the computer (since music sounds good on the computer and our stereo system is as old as a gremlin with purple interior.) I pulled out the CD and it was like slow motion. "Dream Weaver" (or for Andrea and myself's sake "Night Vision Weaver") played in my head and the cover is awesome. They look so good. The back cover is interesting. You've got Dom on the phone and the other 4 guys smiling for a picture. I think they opted for that picture since Dom couldn't get off the phone (we all know how conversations are with that boy...5 years long, 5 days rest...I love Dom) My mom says that the back cover looks good. She said that Todd took a really great picture, so did Ryan he looks "Grown-up." She mentioned something about Nick and Dom and how they actually look alike in this picture more than usual at least. Mom said that St. Matt looks "precotious." Our St. Matt? Haha...she also said he looked skinny but I liked the other comment better. The Thank-Yous as well are what to be expected. All thank-yous going to the proper parties and cute. Surprise surprise....Dom has an entire page. He told me that he had to compress his thank yous because they were too long. I told him "Well it comes from the heart" and he said "My heart talks too much." Cute wording. Track listing is: 1) Pour Some Sugar On Me 2) Understand This (Drop All The Buisness) 3) Close Your Eyes 4) Tonight Is For You 5) Just Say Goodbye 6) Jealousy I personally love all of them. And no joke, it's like hearing all of them for the first time again because all of the songs were tweeked. As I played it my Dad (Bless him) was able to recognize Ryan's leads instantly. He even was able to identify it over my ultrasonic squeals. (Yes I squealed...nothing's wrong with that.) All the sounds have a different, unique, and special vibe to them. Pour Some Sugar On Me Written by: Stephen Clark, Phil Collen, Joseph Elliot, Robert John Lange, & Richard Savage Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: PG-13 (Due to slang IE: Radar Phone) Awesome sound, very rock and well laid out. The vocals and sound were very smooth and still edgy (get it?). The song rolls like it's on rails or something. It's incredible how two of the same songs can sound different. I, no joke got up and danced the entire time it played. (Not close to the REAL coreography...but at least I had rhythm with the new moves.) It's rock and pop crammed into 4 minutes 26 seconds. It's one of those things I never once thought would compliment each other. It's like the discovery of cereal and yogurt, who would've ever once thought that something so smooth would taste even better with a little crunch to it? It sits well with both rock and pop fans and gives a new found respect for something y'all thought would be easy to do. Understand This (Drop All The Buisness) Written by: Randy Emata Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: G (Even though it's in your face it's still listener friendly.) Besides the slight name addition, the song sounds the same but with a harder feel to it. I think before it sounded too nice, they've now added the edgy "in-your-face" guitar and rock sound to it...it's awesome. It's actually easier for you to understand the logic of the song. At first it was like "wow it's poppy." When you think Poppy you think "sweet, caring, smooth flowing songs." But instead the song takes so many twists and turns in sound (and it's a good thing) that you are left to wonder, "What's wrong with this chick? Good Lord." Or speaking the language of Matt, "What's wrong with this young lady? Oh sweet Jesus." And whoever plays the electric guitar...very talented. Close Your Eyes Written by: Matt Yoakum & Randy Emata Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: G (It belongs on a chick-flick soundtrack) Pure tear-jerker. I'll admit it, I wanted to cry. It's one of those emotional "I wish I could be where you are" songs. Maybe Matt was thinking about Jessica Simpson...I don't know. But it's a beautiful song with piano to accompany a very relaxing yet emotional "intense- calm" to it. You hear all the voices in it and they all run so incredibly smoothly together. It blends so that while you want to sit back and just close your eyes (as the song instructs a little girl to do) you want to sit on the edge of your seat and listen to every word by itself. It's such a well written song, you can tell that Matt Yoakum himself wrote it. It's hard for me to tell if he wrote it about a girl he liked or his little sister. It's a very universal song and so heartfelt. It's encouraging and inspirational. It belongs on a soundtrack to a Lifetime movie. I can see the music video to this song already...think the guys will let me direct it? I promise to keep it low budget. Tonight Is For You Written by: Randy Emata, Matt Yoakum, Ryan Torres, Dom Restani, Todd Dolci, & Nick Restani Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: PG-13 (It can be interpreted the wrong way...plus Todd says "Sex appeal") I don't know how I can put it. It sounds "Electric." It's very new- wave digitally sounding but beyond worth the change. It's got a very pop feel to it. You've got Ryan singing leads again after Todd's rap and it's fun to listen to it instead of sing to it since there's a change. It's got a very very fun "pump it loud in your car with top- down" style of music going for it. If I had a car, ANY car I would ride top down, windows down playing this as loud as possible. And if the roof didn't convert...heck I'd freakin take a chainsaw to it and cut the damn thing off. It's so worthy of being pumped EVERYWHERE. I want to play it for my Gramma next time I see her and I bet you she'll say it's good. (I have a AWESOME gramma...she has a thing for the twins.) I think that it would sound really cool if you turned bass all the way up. Haha that would be cool I'm going to go try it in a second and see what the neighbors have to say about that. Just Say Goodbye Written by: Randy Emata Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: PG-13 (Due to slang IE: Radar Phone) Of course this song was critical to me. I sat there and almost shed a tear or two...ok I almost bawled like a baby. But it was a beautiful song. The only thing that really changed musically is the intro and a more pronounced beat to it. Vocally, I have to say that the guys have never sung it better. That's definitley as good as it gets. The song is one of those "sit and close your eyes" things. I suggesst that for every time you listen to it you close your eyes for 4 minutes and 20 seconds to think about a loved one. I can guarantee you that you will open your eyes with more appreciation for that loved one. You also hear Ryan once again come through strong when the song picks up tempo and in the beginning....beautiful. Jealousy Written by: Matt Yoakum, Ryan Torres, Dom Restani, Todd Dolci, & Nick Restani Parental Rating According 2 Kristen: PG (It could be G...in fact it is but the beat at the beginning can scare the young ones...for real) First off...I've been spelling "Jealosy" wrong my entire life. Who ever knew there was an "A" in there? But the "O" is what you hear in the word. The intro has a very mysterious tone to it. I can compare it to one of those X-File episodes as the camera zooms around a little girl's room with dolls in it. The they drop the beat...now you can switch to the club scene. It's got a very edgy feel to it. It really gives Matt a chance to change the sound to his voice and take it one step further. You may be used to the smooth sounds of Matt and now he gets a chance to be edgy and raspy. Todd, gets another chance to exemplify the rap skillz (and that's skillz with a Z) towards the end. I wish that Todd could rap an entire song for me or something because it's cool. His rap is no where near as, how do I put this "demur" it's definetley got the "hey pay attention" feel to it and it literally grabs your attention. Full Album General Rating: PG I love this album. I know I'm totally biased but I think that even if I had never known these guys, I'd probably fall in love with them and their music (been there done that). All their voices really mesh together to form a very out of the normal sound. They call it "Hip- Pop" but more than that I think it's more along the lines of "Pop- Rock" or "Rock-Pop." It's a very very cool type of sound because both Ryan and Matt show off how versitile their voices are. Ryan especially shows his true colors since we had never really heard him on record like this. He shows the raspy, edgy, and alternative sound in "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and smooth the ends out on "Tonight Is For You." Even Matt, the normally soulful voice can go from smooth to rough ended instantly for a different flavor of sound. With Ryan and Matt doing leads, the twins both take back up into adding a evenly distributed sound and conform to the sound easily. Todd furnishes all songs with rap and a bass sound adding a complete feel to all of the songs. The entire album not only has a very well spread out sound but wonderful people to back it up. If you HAVEN'T ordered it yet...what are you waiting for?! This is worth 10 dollars. I'd pay 20 for it. Go to www.Spunoutrecords.com and order it if you haven't. Order one for you and someone else and get them to do the same. As Nike's slogan says...JUST DO IT. Ok this has just been sent out as a special notice. The rest of the NORMAL column (written before the hectic arrival of the Townsend package) is posted on the club site. It can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ryespartycrewclub. And to those of you who recieve regular e-mail notices....it's after this. So enjoy the rest of the column, see you next week, and don't forget to come back to the club! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!! I just want to take this moment to thank the guys for all the memories. You've blessed me with the oppertunity to know you, be friends with you (and Todd's Lil Sis), and to sit next to you on this ride that sometimes seems so long. You have blessed me with more than you will ever know, more than words can ever express, and actions can ever do. Todd, your family has become a wonderful addition to my life and thank you for sharing them. And to the Dolcis, thank you for everything, and I mean everything. You share your son, step-son, and brother so graciously and at the same time are wonderful people. Thank you for being you and everything you are to me. Congratulations guys on moving closer and closer to finally capturing the aspirations that at times seemed so hard. I love you forever and always! Stay Safe & Stay You Love Always, Kristen Co-Founder of RPCC and writer of "Your Weekly Townsend Fix" xoxoxo Ok you guys...Meg pointed out a MAJOR miss error...in "Just Say Goodbye" the words "Radar phone" ARE NOT...i repeat ARE NOT in the song. I was copying and pasting so there was a mistake. The words "Radar Phone" are of course in "Pour some sugar one me."

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