Recently, The Poly office, for being such a fine source of musical information, was sent a press kit from the NYC band Blue Ceiling, with its debut CD Tales from the spiritually lost and found. The band is currently doing the east coast college tour circuit with all of the right intentions of making it big in the biz. Unfortunately, for these boys, I think they have the hard road of reality ahead of them.
Classifying themselves as an alternative rock band, most of the songs are more soft rock, with a lot of other influences, such as country and blues. Their specified “air play” songs are definitely not the best tracks on the album, with recording and mixing quality that could barely pass for radio material.
They self-describe their lyrical content as “deep, innovative, and creative.” In reality, they are no more creative than the other budding musicians on the college circuit. There are some interesting rhyme schemes and phrases on the tracks, but nothing that makes you go “wow.”
Another reason for the dulled lyrical impact is the sloppiness of vocalist Rene Collins’ rhythmical accuracy on the first few tracks. While listening, you feel like he is missing notes, or coming in late compared with the rest of the band. It just has these moments of awkwardness that some might call creativity, but what I call “do you think we can pass this off as an artistic vision, and save 100 bucks in the studio?”
On the other hand, bassist Eric Maruiello and drummer Phil Bloom are extremely clean and talented, keeping the rhythm of the songs solid and impressive. Throwing in some really nice fills and bass licks, these two definitely give the songs a catchy feel, if there is one to be had.
However, I do not feel the same sentiment about guitarist Eric Justice. His contribution to the CD just doesn’t measure up talent-wise to the capabilities of the other members. Many of his parts are sloppy, and his solos tacked with mistakes and just an overall dull feeling.
Another factor, although not artistically valid, that will ultimately affect this band’s chance of making it big, especially when playing at colleges, is the members’ ages. These rockers, while fronting a quasi-hip new rock feel in their music, look old enough to discourage that same feeling. In other words, imagine a cross between Tom Petty and Jay Z.
I think some of their songs could have some real energy if the parts were a little cleaner, if the recording really stressed the band’s talent as musicians, and if there was a little more work in the studio.
Overall, I think Blue Ceiling is truly making an honest effort to get the word out about their band. I can tell they’re a hard-working group of musicians. Also, it sounds like the Blue Ceiling boys have a really good live show, which is probably how they’ve come as far as they have in the cut-throat competition of artists that makes up the music business. But if they are looking to gain fans through their radio play and CD tracks, then I think it’s time to clean up their work and make it stand out. Finding a new, talented, cleaner, and more youthful guitarist would not hurt either; it would definitely clean up their music, closer match their style, and appeal more to the youthful college crowd.
