j o n b

I stumbled upon this disc in a Best Buy, not even looking for it. At the time I had just reviewed Grey Eye Glances' first disc, Eventide, and concluded the review saying that I was looking forward to their second release. So, there it was, and I couldn't very well pass it up. On reflection, maybe I should have, as I don't care for Painted Pictures as much as Eventide. No doubt, there are two major improvements over some of the earlier material. Most important, this disc has none of the obnoxious drum machine that reared its ugly head on Eventide. Here, all the percussiveness is handled by Paul Ramsey, of the late great echolyn. So that's a plus. The other improvement, a little less startling, is that guitarist Brett Kull (also of echolyn) has a little more room to show his considerable talent. In addition to the above, most of what was good about the first disc is present here, highlighted by Jennifer Nobel's great voice. So what's missing? Well, for one thing, most of the songs seem to be a bit more commonplace and pop styled than the great folky blend on Eventide. Whether conscious or not, these tunes tend to create the impression of Nobel as star in front of just another band. "Sleepy" sounds like a Sheryl Crow tune, for instance. Eventide seemed much more like a group effort. The other thing that keeps me from really liking the album is that while the lows of Eventide have been banished, the highs haven't been reproduced. Even the best tracks on the album, such as "Better Part of Me" and the mystery eleventh track, don't quite reach the level of the earlier album's standouts. So in the end, this is not a bad disc. In fact it is almost uniformly good. It just can't stretch itself into a realm of greatness. Which is not a major fault, particularly for a young band's second album. review by Jon Byrne — undated —