ALBUM REVIEWS

The actual cd version of this album doesn't ship till next month, but I purchased the advance vinyl copy that came out earlier this month. I could write a post about my aversion of switching from vinyl to cd back in the day, but this isn't the place, but suffice to say I am a big fan of the vinyl format.

Before we even talk about the songs I have to comment on the package itself. One of the things that we lost when albums shrunk to the size of a extra large postage stamp cd was the artistry that went into an album cover. An album doesn't have to be Sgt. Pepper's style to be considered artwork, the cover to Will Hoge's The Wreckage is in essence a fairly simple look but it reflects the songs within and in its simpilitcity reflects the artistic choices that go with picking the look of an album's cover.

The album shows a house in slight disrepair, bricks crumbling, paint peeling; but still standing, much like the people Will sings about in the songs within the album. Will stands off to the side, not taking center stage, willing to let the songs speak for themselves. The colors give it an old time feeling, making one think of the best of rock and roll from the past. In the past an album was considered a gatefold, but since so few vinyl albums are made today I think gatefold is fairly standard. Opening the album you find the lyrics on the left and more pictures of Mr. Hoge to the right. I'm glad the lyrics are included, I'm one of those complusive people that always read the linear notes to an album and always reads the lyrics if they're included.

This is an album about grown ups and grown up real world love. The first song "Hard to Hold" summarizes it:

Kisses don't fade like those Hollywood scenes
It gets worse before it turns around

This song lets us know that there aren't going to be easy answers here. Or good guys and bad guys clearly indicated, like so much in life, there are two sides to every story and depending on which side you're on is whether you think you're the good guy or the bad guy.

The next song, "Long Gone" tells of a man in love with a woman that has been hurt too much to trust anyone now and the singer is worried she'll be gone from him before she realizes how much he loves her.

The next song is the title song "The Wreckage" and the music slows from the fast loud sounds that have been playing for the first two songs and the tone gets more confessional. The singer is facing the end of a marriage or love that he should move on from but finds he can't. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Will's voice on here has never been better, there is a yearning in his voice that helps carry this song.

The next song the singer "Favorite Waste of Time" cranks the energy back up as the singer sings about a break up.

"Even If It Breaks Your Heart" is my favorite song on the album and fast becoming one of my favorite tracks by Will overall. This is one of those songs Will Hoge does so well. It starts off fairly quiet as it recounts his early fascination with rock and roll and grows in volume as he realizes that the dream he has of rock and roll may never live up to his expectations. Thought the song is about rock and roll it could be about any dream someone has and how tough it is to try and fulfill that dream.

Some dreams stay with you forever
Drag you around and lead you back to where you were
Some dreams keep on getting better
Gotta keep believing if you wanna know for sure

But that no matter how hard it is and how tough the costs you have to keep fighting if you want to capture that dream, it's worth the fight.

The final song on side one (and how strange that sounds nowdays) is "What Could I Do" and it chronicles the betrayal in a marriage. In this song no one is completley innocent. The singer sings about betraying a confindence (you assume it's an affair) that the wife has already committed. Does tit for tat make things right? That's what this song asks and comes up with no easy answers, the singer knows he did wrong, but the hurt from the first betrayal leaves him lost.

Side two opens with "Goodnight/Goodbye" and is about a marriage that has become a shell of two people living together without love or emotion. They are going through the routine, neither willing to admit the truth that it's over and rather they would sink with the ship as the song says.
The details in this song help carry the feeling of truth in the words.

I'm gonna ask about your day
You'll just smile and look away
As you turn the hall light out
You'll ask me how work was
Put on an old t-shirt
As you turn the cover down

"Just Like Me" is the story of a man that changes his habits after his love leaves him. She thinks she knows him and can't understand why he acts the way he is acting now, but he is a different man without her.

"Highway Wings" is the song of a man wanting to get out of a small broken down town.

While "Just Like Me" is told mainly from the man's POV as being in the right, "Where Do We Go From Down" takes that POV and twists it, with the singer admiting that he..."stole from you things no one should steal/And I made in you hurt that no one should feel." From his point there is no hope, he's screwed up too much to be forgiven.

The final song "Too Late Too Soon" is a man's plea to be given a second chance. He knows he has no chance in getting that respite but he still holds out some hope that she might reconsider even though she won't.

In a year with a lot of Big Name album releases, and some great music from these Big Names and even some smaller names, this is one of the best albums of the year. Will has always had a certain sound in his voice, but here it just carries the emotions even more. How much different would this album had been if it had been released a year ago, before his accident we'll never know, but I'm glad to have it here as it is.

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