Search - Unwritten Law :: From Music in High Places

Alex D. (iamthed) from STERLING HTS, MI
Reviewed on 9/18/2006...

Great disc! And an acoustic version of "Seein' Red"

Great CD

Andrew Kwitowski | Pittsburgh | 01/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great cd and has a great vibe. The music is very tight and all the songs are performed very well. Those who like change will enjoy it very much cause there is a new feel to the songs and believe me its even greater than the originals. (as hard as that might be) Rest of My Life is the highlight because it was a great track on Elva and its even better on here"

Well...

Monty5 | 08/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I guess any punk band that goes acoustic nowadays has my respect. I love punk-when it's genuine. The beef I have with today's punk (it's okay, really) is that it's downweighted by all mainstream sounds and expectations from major lables that it can be. The result? Millions of cookie cutter pop-punk lovesick junkie bands. It's good, but after the 5th time around, it gets a bit stolid.



That being said, Unwritten Law does not fit into this catagorie. For one thing they're lyrics are much deeper and, well, more phylisophical to say the least. Not all they're songs are all "my girlfriend dumped me for someone else" or "I just met some hottie and I can already tell she's my soulmate," basically sh** that just doesn't fly in real life. Just read the lyrics to "Seeing Red." But on another level, the guitar is so much more sophisticated. It's not just four power chords making the song sound like a 60's bubble-gum pop band sped up. Unwritten Law are far more advanced musically than that.



Well, now that we have a happy little review of the band as a whole, lets go to the cd, shall we. This 11-track disc features unplugged versions of past works, most of which can be found on the previous studio release, "Elva" (which as a sidenote, I would also HIGHLY recommend.) But it is more than that. Just listen to, say, "Up All Night," the hit song off "Elva," then listen to how it's revamped on "TMIHP" and you'll notice that's it's given a completely different face. The origional version on "Elva," is loud, enjoyable, and overall just a classic punk song even if it never overplayed on the airwaves. The version on here is not necissarily better, but it proves that studio effects were not the driving power of the song. The song just rocks, period.



Unwritten Law do not just confine themselves to Punk. "Rest Of My Life," also off "Elva," is your achtypical alternative pop mainstream music, lovey dovey, you name it, but somehow, Unwritten Law just make it their own. "Elva (the song)" has a life of it's own. It's not your typical pop love song. It's what the radio needs to be playing today. Also imbedded in this is the fact that they don't restrict themself to one punk sound. See, there are a bit different types of punk, from the nemesis of the Clash and the Sex Pistols, To the old school sound of Social Distortion, to the new wave of Green Day, to the poppy mediocrity of today. Unwritten Law covers it all, from the heavy rockin' "Blame it on me" to "rest of my life." This album prooves to me that they can pick up accoustic instruments and not ruin a song like some non-talented artists do. Nuff Said? Great! Music fans that aren't living in a carboard box of media expectations, buy this album. Pick up elva to, eh:)



Oh, and contrary to what amazon has posted, only one track, "blame it on me," is recorded live. the rest are just studion acoustic mixes.

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