Rosehill Drive - Moon Is the New Earth

Genre rock Publisher Megaforce Records External Links Rosehill Drive Website Rosehill Drive MySpace

The music of Boulder, Colorado’s Rosehill Drive has been compared to many other bands, much to their chagrin, and justifiably so. They’ve played for such idols as The Who, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes, and Van Halen, and they echo the blues-rock tradition of Led Zeppelin and Cream.

On their second album, Moon is the New Earth, Rosehill Drive continues emulating those traditional sounds, as well as adding a few new ones. The lead track, “Sneak Out,” is a worthy single where brothers Daniel and Jacob Sproul’s alternating guitar and vocals sound reminiscent of Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” Another song starts out sounding like the 1994 Soundgarden song, “Fell on Black Days.”

The mimicry that truly defines Rosehill Drive is a particular section in the up-tempo rocker, “A Better Way.” As the scratchy, echoing rhythm guitar enters the sonic landscape, Rosehill Drive reproduces the epic sound of AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock,” fitting perfectly with the essence of the band. With so much potential, the future looks very bright for the band.

But not all that glitters is gold on their most recent album. Rosehill Drive is talented, but uninspired. As they are now, they may be an enjoyable bar band, and even put on a good live show, but Moon is the New Earth is by no means the new Back in Black. “The 8th Wonder,” for example, features many subtle complexities and an impressive guitar solo, but one uninspired song after another leads to a diminishing interest of their musical abilities.

In the final stages of the album, Rosehill Drive release their best efforts. While still lacking the intensity of a collective enjoyment, at least the band begins to explore a new direction, partially leaving the somewhat mundane rock of earlier tracks. The band attempts an entirely acoustic song and nearly nails it. With an enjoyable plowing beat, the acoustic setting better enhances the subtleties of their music and begs the question, “Why do they rely on dirty guitars and distorted amps to muddy their talents?”

The only hindrances to the acoustic tracks are their simplicity and carelessness of the accompanying lyrics. With titles of “Do You Wanna Get High?” and “One Night Stand,” it’s clear that Rosehill Drive isn’t a band of wordsmiths. While the singing could also use some polishing, that isn’t really the attraction here. The songwriting is just good enough not to ruin the better tracks, but it comes pretty close.

Rosehill Drive would be best served to further explore a wider spectrum of sounds. Their guitar sounds are nearly identical on a number of tracks, and with little else adding to the rock power trio of guitar, drums, and bass, the sonic exploration is lacking. The only modest attempt of this is on the final track of the album. “Always Waiting,” while still failing to fully express genuine emotion, the song does feature sweeping melodies and an impressive mix of acoustic and electric riffs. This is the only track that actually seems to go anywhere and not just remain content with a verse-chorus pattern.

It’s troubling that these three guys, two brothers and their best friend waste their remarkable talents. Self-producing the album might have been a mistake, as they desperately needed someone to smack them upside the head and remind them that rather than trying to, or not to, sound like their idols, they should instead make something worth idolizing. Perhaps then they will truly start emulating their idols, by making great music.