Next Week, I Will Begin to Review the Full Catalogue of One of My Favorite Bands, Project 86
Few rock bands have continued to exist for more than 20 years with as many permutations as Project 86. For the last seven years, the vocalist has been the only remaining band member, and the band is still somehow releasing quality music. Truthfully, Project 86 have undergone three distinct eras (and are still in the third).
ERA ONE: THE CLASSIC LINEUP -- Self-Titled, Drawing Black Lines, Truthless Heroes, Songs to Burn Your Bridges By, ...And the Rest Will Follow
Undoubtably the most well known time of the band's existence, where they enjoyed their highest popularity and mystique, during the heyday of the Christian hard rock scene, peaking with getting signed by Atlantic records and having that label spend a million dollars on them...before getting subsequently dumped by Atlantic, going independent, and then going back to the smaller record label where they got their start.
ERA TWO: THE TRANSITION YEARS -- Rival Factions, The Kane Mutiny EP, This Time of Year EP, Picket Fence Cartel
A time when Project 86 began to shed members, one by one, until, by the end of Picket Fence Cartel, only vocalist, Andrew Schwab, remained. Also, rather fittingly, the most experimental time of the band's career.,
ERA THREE: THE KICKSTARTED PROJECT 86, FEATURING ANDREW SCHWAB AND ASSORTED PLAYERS -- Wait for the Siren, Knives to the Future
Somehow, Schwab kept the band going with crowdfunding. While some might say he should have just changed the name of the band, considering everyone who once wrote music for it is no longer involved, this period has so far featured some pretty solid work, to say the least.
Cool. Time to write a bunch of reviews.
Comments
First listen was a complete disappointment. Found it boring and unremarkable. All the songs sounded the same, like a watered down version of Knives to the Future. I put the album away after a short while. However, I revisited it about three years later, and strangely, it suddenly worked. Maybe it was because my expectations had faded. I think it works well as a quick, ten-song suite. It's definitely not top tier Project 86. It's kind of weird that the previous two albums are so ambitions, and this one is so small. However, almost seven years later, I can say that I do like it, and I spin it from time to time.
I get notifications for comments now, so I'll definitely see and reply if reply to this one.