Rob Rice – Madison Greenley
Release Date: October 12, 2006
Record Label: Unsigned
Back in the Fall of 2006, an album was posted for free download in Absolutepunk's Self Promotion forum. Since the mecca of the AP community lies in the General/Entertainment/Sports forum trifecta, I would be willing to bet any amount of money that only a handful of the forum's regular posting contingent even saw it. In that handful, an even lesser amount listened to it more than once. And so the thread containing the free album was buried deep within the Self Promotion forum and never heard from again...until now.
After two years of being forgotten, the free album, Madison Greenley by Rob Rice, was mentioned in a thread by a member of AP. This is where I stumbled upon it and, without exaggeration, I was positively blown away.
The album, recorded by Rob Rice himself, is a concept album that tells the story of six year old Madison Greenley, a little girl living in Florida with her parents, two older brothers, and a dog. In "Introducing," the opening track, Rob begins his tale by explaining the album's base theme: the American dream. First illustrated on a major scale by playwright Arthur Miller in his most famous work "Death of a Salesman," the American dream is often said to be an unobtainable concept: to have a seemingly perfect family, where the children are educated and the father has a well paying job.
Madison Greenley is a wonderful roller coaster of emotions where each song brings something totally new to your ears. "Divorcing" is one of the only tracks on the album which is sung from an alternating point of view, mostly that of the parents. It is a song about the divorce of Madison's parents and how the children will handle it. With a catchy chorus and grat melody, it's a solid song to begin the short album. The tracks "Re-Marrying" and "Living" follow, describing Madison's life after the split of her parents and the many things she has to deal with, such as both of her parents re-marrying and having to attend a new school in an unfamiliar place.
Two of my favorite songs on the album are "Loving" and "Visualizing." The former is a slower song, with a guitar riff similar to that of "All Hail the Heartbreaker" by The Spill Canvas, which describes Madison's high school experience with a boyfriend or a close friend who helped her through it all. The latter is another slow tune which discusses Madison's reactions to finding out that her mother might have conceived her with a man other than her father (the mother's affair is explained in the song "Discovering").
The final three songs of the album are really a summation of Madison Greenley's entire life. "Departing" is a sad song about the parting Madison and her mother. Tired of all of the hardships she has had to endure as a result of her mother, Madison is upset but can't help but feel like this is something that has waited too long to happen. Described as a "bittersweet catastrophe," her mom is said to be begging on her hands and knees, promising that she can change. However Madison knows that what is done is done and nothing can be changed.
I think I enjoyed this album so much because it was self recorded by a musician who had an idea and just went with it. He made the album he wanted to make, a beautiful story of love, betrayal, and the delusion of the perfect family in today's society. This is not just another album that I have added to my collection, but something I will cherish and listen to often. Rob Rice has created something worthy of discussion, and to quote a line from the album, "this is just the beginning of something more than we'll ever know. The rest is yet to be composed." Here's to hoping that Rob can create another album of pure brilliance.
Below I put a link where the album can be download for free.
1. Introducing
2. Divorcing
3. Re-Marrying
4. Living
5. Falling
6. Loving
7. Discovering
8. Visualizing
9. Departing
10. Decaying
11. Concluding
Recommended If You Like: The Early November, The Spill Canvas, Northstar, Lydia, concept albums
Rob Rice on Myspace
Rob Rice's Absolutepunk Profile
Download the album for free: Rob Rice - Madison Greenley
Release Date: October 12, 2006
Record Label: Unsigned
Back in the Fall of 2006, an album was posted for free download in Absolutepunk's Self Promotion forum. Since the mecca of the AP community lies in the General/Entertainment/Sports forum trifecta, I would be willing to bet any amount of money that only a handful of the forum's regular posting contingent even saw it. In that handful, an even lesser amount listened to it more than once. And so the thread containing the free album was buried deep within the Self Promotion forum and never heard from again...until now.
After two years of being forgotten, the free album, Madison Greenley by Rob Rice, was mentioned in a thread by a member of AP. This is where I stumbled upon it and, without exaggeration, I was positively blown away.
The album, recorded by Rob Rice himself, is a concept album that tells the story of six year old Madison Greenley, a little girl living in Florida with her parents, two older brothers, and a dog. In "Introducing," the opening track, Rob begins his tale by explaining the album's base theme: the American dream. First illustrated on a major scale by playwright Arthur Miller in his most famous work "Death of a Salesman," the American dream is often said to be an unobtainable concept: to have a seemingly perfect family, where the children are educated and the father has a well paying job.
Madison Greenley is a wonderful roller coaster of emotions where each song brings something totally new to your ears. "Divorcing" is one of the only tracks on the album which is sung from an alternating point of view, mostly that of the parents. It is a song about the divorce of Madison's parents and how the children will handle it. With a catchy chorus and grat melody, it's a solid song to begin the short album. The tracks "Re-Marrying" and "Living" follow, describing Madison's life after the split of her parents and the many things she has to deal with, such as both of her parents re-marrying and having to attend a new school in an unfamiliar place.
Two of my favorite songs on the album are "Loving" and "Visualizing." The former is a slower song, with a guitar riff similar to that of "All Hail the Heartbreaker" by The Spill Canvas, which describes Madison's high school experience with a boyfriend or a close friend who helped her through it all. The latter is another slow tune which discusses Madison's reactions to finding out that her mother might have conceived her with a man other than her father (the mother's affair is explained in the song "Discovering").
The final three songs of the album are really a summation of Madison Greenley's entire life. "Departing" is a sad song about the parting Madison and her mother. Tired of all of the hardships she has had to endure as a result of her mother, Madison is upset but can't help but feel like this is something that has waited too long to happen. Described as a "bittersweet catastrophe," her mom is said to be begging on her hands and knees, promising that she can change. However Madison knows that what is done is done and nothing can be changed.
I think I enjoyed this album so much because it was self recorded by a musician who had an idea and just went with it. He made the album he wanted to make, a beautiful story of love, betrayal, and the delusion of the perfect family in today's society. This is not just another album that I have added to my collection, but something I will cherish and listen to often. Rob Rice has created something worthy of discussion, and to quote a line from the album, "this is just the beginning of something more than we'll ever know. The rest is yet to be composed." Here's to hoping that Rob can create another album of pure brilliance.
Below I put a link where the album can be download for free.
1. Introducing
2. Divorcing
3. Re-Marrying
4. Living
5. Falling
6. Loving
7. Discovering
8. Visualizing
9. Departing
10. Decaying
11. Concluding
Recommended If You Like: The Early November, The Spill Canvas, Northstar, Lydia, concept albums
Rob Rice on Myspace
Rob Rice's Absolutepunk Profile
Download the album for free: Rob Rice - Madison Greenley
1 comment:
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