Jungle
James Lee Stanley: The Apocaloptimist

The Apocaloptimist

(James Lee Stanley)
Label(s): 
Genre: 
Release Date: 
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Grade:
C
Tracks: 
12

Exactly what is the album, “The Apocaloptimist” about? Judging from the information on the inside of the CD case and the images drawn on the case, I would say that it's about an ending and a beginning. Going off of the song titles and the lyrics of the songs, this album seems to be about family, love, friends, and living life. James Lee Stanley might have given his album a name that is hard to pronunce and filled with some mystery as why he chose to merge the two words, apocalypse with optimist but one thing can be said about the music on the album, it's different.
I have to admit, it took me a little bit of time to get into this album before I was at the point of turning off the player. My first impression was that James Lee Stanley was trying to make his songs sound like he is being filled with emotions but what I was hearing was just the effort. Eventually, after listening to the album for a second time I started to think differently. So maybe to me it sounds like he is being more forcful with his emotions instead of them just flowing out easily but I can still hear and understand the meaning he is trying to get across in the songs.
The songs have a tempo that I thought could have used a little more edge to them, not a fast, bang my head kind of edge, but one that says I'm walking the line between being fine and being emotional. I can hear it in the songs vocals and in the lyrics, especially with the track , “Here We Have My Father”, but the complete impact of emotions are not fully reached. The songs are decent, they have a tempos that have a few catchy rhythms to them, and there's some quirky ways that the instruments are being played, but the best way I can put this is by comparing it to when eating a meal that tastes good but is lacking a certain spice. What that spice is I don't know, but that's how The Apocaloptimist is, it's good, it's played well, the vocals are decent, and the lyrics give off good emotions, but there's just something missing that I can't quite place my finger on.

Lee Roberts
Review by Lee Roberts
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