Search - Chamberlain :: The Moon My Saddle

Good stuff.

Scott Heisel | Cleveland, OH | 05/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first thing that I can remember being on Doghouse and not being catagorized as "emo." Chamberlain is a 5 piece (when I saw them they only had 4 guys) rock-n-roll band from Indianapolis, IN. The CD immediately starts off with a relaxing, mellow guitar line in "Try For Thunder" that is just downright pretty (in fact, most of the guitarwork on this CD is very short of astonishing; it's all really solid and full, and the solos are really catchy), followed by the singer's halfway-raspy voice (which will remind you of Bruce Springsteen right away, but without some of the vocal embellishments the Boss takes). The band ends up jamming out the song in places, putting it over the 5 1/2 minute mark. In fact, only 2 songs on the album clock in at under 4 minutes, so you can tell you're in for some slow ballads along the way. "Racing Cincinnati" is a beautiful piano/voice movement which capivates you, until it leads into probably the fastest song on the album, "Manhattan's Iron Horses." This uptempo number has a bit of an "emo" feel to it (meaning I could see the singer from the Get Up Kids screaming these lyrics to the music provided). "Lonesome Song" is just that, a lonesome song. It's a blues/country heavy number, with the guitar waning over everything else. To me, the CD culminates with "Good Enough," one of the best songs, lyrics-wise, that I've heard all year. It tells the story of the singer (presumably) telling the listener just what he would say to the woman in his life who apparently is leaving or has left him. It's hard to describe the sincere emotion he delivers on the track (and in concert, also), you just have to hear it. The only thing I found wrong with the song is the senseless guitar solo in the middle of nowhere. It kills the atmosphere that the band had created for the previous 4 minutes. All in all, these are 11 solid songs that will get to anyone, any time. If you're sick of listening to whatever new genre or subgenre is sweeping the nation, there's nothing wrong with picking up this CD, and rocking out."