| CD REVIEW(Hed)Pe |
|
|
Band : (Hed)Pe Ya know sum’thin’? When I accepted to review this album (the editor-in-chief being actively involved with the band on a professional level, he wanted a prime job done) I was convinced that I already hàd an album by this Huntington Beach (Southern California) based quintet! To my own shame I have to admit I have none of the band’s 6 previous studio albums, nor their live album or the compilation they have to their name! Which is weird, because I’ve known what they stand for musically, and liked it, since the late ‘90s. The band was founded as Hed (stands for “higher thought”) in 1994 by rapper Jared Gomes and guitarist Wes Geer, whom had become friends in the Orange County Hardcore Punk scene, and wanted to start a band combining elements from Hip Hop, Hardcore Punk, Heavy Metal, and Reggea…which they would end up calling “G-Punk” (a reference to the P-Funk collective). Recruiting second guitarist Chiraz, bassist Mawk Young, turntable/ samples handler DJ Product © 1969, and drummer B.C. Vaught, they started playing and getting a following in the local venues, and released their self-titled EP Church Of Realities before they were forced to change the bandname due to legal issues, solving the problem by adding “PE” to their name, meaning “Planet Earth”. The guys thought they’d fulfilled their Rock ‘n’ Roll dream, when they signed to Jive Records for the release of their self-titled debut album released 1997). For an introductory course in how disappointing the music business can be, it was a crash test (with emphasis on the crash) as they found out they were unable to refund the advance the label had given them, when sales turned out far below what the label had projected. It effectively bonded the band to the label (whom were now able to put down some restrictions on the band’s out-spoken socio-political views) for the next two albums to come (2000’s aptly titled sophomore album Broke and 2003’s Blackout), which luckily did better saleswize…even got into the Billboard 200 charts (#63 and 33 respectively). During that time, (Hed) PE even had to turn down offers from major labels, including Sony…and had started doing nationwide tours in support of some of the music industry’s biggest. Meanwhile, the band had gone through several line-up changes as well: with Gomes and DJ Product © 1969 as only constants (Young also being a veteran of the band nów, but having apparently left the band for a while, during which his functions were taken over by one Alfunction), current guitarist Jaxon Benge (the 4th to take up that position) came in place late 2003. Current drummer Trauma (the 7th in lline) joined the band in 2009…but that’s far in the future of this story, so let’s get back to where we left off. Freed from Jive, the band signed their October 2004 released 4th album Only In Amerika over to Koch Records, and saw it pummel backwards in the Billboard charts to a #186 position. Obviously, there was something wrong with the band’s music, which by then had taken on more Hip Hop influences than ever. In spite of these disappointing sales, (hed)PE signed a lucrative deal with Suburban Noize in 2006, where they’ve been since. Back 2 Base X, their first release on that label, was a return to the basics of Rock music by relying far less on studio enhancements than on their previous recordings. It was also a return for the band to slightly bigger sales, the album peaking at # 154 on the Billboard 200 chart, and climbin’ 8 notches in the Top Independent Albums chart (where OIA peaked at #20), in spite of some negative reviews (some of which claimed the band wouldn’t loose any of their old fans, but also wouldn’t gain any new ones). Part of the band’s slightly doin’ better may have been due to the fact that their old label Jive released a compilation titled The Best Of (hed) Planet Earth. Issued without previous consent from the band, the simultaneous release (same date) of the compilation gave the band a hightened presence thanks to two promotion campaigns working at the same time…or at least, that’s how I see things! Nevertheless, the band seemed to be in a creative period of its career, because only a year after Back 2 Base X they came up with Insomnia. This album again did a little better than its predecessor, peaking at #138 on the Billboard 200 charts. On top, the albums lead single “Suffa” became one of the most requested songs at Sirius Satellite Radio’s Hard Attack show, and the songs’ video was voted into the Top 10 of 2007 on MTV’s Headbangers Ball! In 2008, (hed) PE returned with The D.I.Y. Boys, the band’s first live CD/DVD, the package already containing rough studio versions of three tracks (“War On the Middle Class”, “Ordo (Ab Chao)” and “Bloodfire” – the first eventually re-titled “Middle Class Blues”) that were announced to also grace on their upcoming seventh studio album, New World Orphans. Obviously, work on NOW had already started before the release of their live album and the video for “Ordo (Ab Chao)”, the first single culled from the album, was released through the band’s MySpace page on November 4, 2008. Later that month, the band premiered the second single “Renegade” (fantàstic song) through their official Facebookpage, and the video for it was released on December 20. Fans found they could buy the album with three colour variations in the cover (black, red, and white), each containing different bonus tracks. In the US the album got a warm reception, peaking at #72 on the Billboard 200. Not mentioned before, the reception of (hed)PE albums in the US: while the band’s first 3 album never got any chart notations at all, the following studio albums respectively made it to the #20, 12, and 16 positions…and NOW beat that all by peaking at #4. Somehow, I’m certain most of the new success lays in the fact that the guitarist was able to convince the others to take an overall heavier approach on most of the album’s material. However, there’s still a couple of tracks which don’t even get a guitar played in ‘em at all, and others with a calmer mood (where a Reggae influence might come through) overall. The fact that yet other tracks combine the heavy touch with a calmer passage (or vice-versa) will make it acceptable for fans of either heavier or calmer” music to accept the “other”. Samples (some probably self-made, others historic) run through the album, which has a conceptual story running through it talking about the different ways “ordinary” people are being fucked over by those who’re supposed too look out for the people’s interests, and in stead mainly take care of themselves, and lie about their intents (“politician” has become an insult in the US these days, what with the amount of corrupt ones they have in that nation). The one negative comment I have, is that to my personal opinion the band made a mistake in linking the story with a sci-fi part, wherein Earth was taken over by a reptilian space race known as Draconians (anyone see the television series V, by any chance?). One thing I can absolutely nót appreciate, is the fact that the band has seen it necessary to incorporate a couple of really sexist tracks (“Stepping Stone” and “Everything All The Time”, as well as bonus track “Work On This”…with Strange Music’s Tech N9ne as guest, and further bonus track “Hey Now”) which have nothing to do at all with the conceptual side of the album…nor does the marihuana-promoting “Higher Ground”, or the overall Anarcho way the band looks at things! I’m somewhat concerned about how young teenagers who get in touch with messages of that kind, especially since they’re packaged in absolutely catchy songs! Putting that beside us, I have to go back to the fact that I presented lead singer Jared to you as being a rapper…because actually that’s only part of his vocal expressions, seen as there’s also spoken word passages, and passages/songs where he uses his voice to reveal very fine singing vocals. On top, he’s often harmoniously backed by the guys in the band. The main reason why we’re doing this review (only) now, is because the band is about to move out across the Atlantic Ocean for a European tour, which will see them tour the UK before coming over to continental Europe, with Antwerp’s Trixas first stop on March 19 (then follows Holland with no less than 4 gigs, Germany, Austria, France, and eventually Russia). When it comes to making an end conclusion, I hàve to look at the things from the music side of things, and not about the disappointing lyrical side of a few songs (by the way, what with 4 bonus tracks, you get a total of 24…good for a nice 64 minutes’ worth of listening). When putting that little thing aside, I can only confirm that I utterly enjoyed New World Orphans to the fullest…time and time again (in fact I put in some extra listening sessions while pondering on how I was gonna tackle starting this review – a lot of info coming from Wikipedia, by the way). I’m sure you’ll feel the same. You can check out some songs at myspace.com/hedpe. Last bit of trivia: (hed)PE has already started work on a new album! 98/100 Tony. |
