SONG REVIEWED: "Overnight Sensation"
YOU'VE GOT TO HAND IT TO FIREHOUSE; IT'S 2000, AND THEY'RE NOT ON MTV ANYMORE (AND HAVEN'T BEEN FOR SOME TIME NOW), THEY'RE PLAYING SMALLER VENUES THAN THEY WERE USED TO IN THEIR GLORY DAYS, MANY OF WHICH ARE OVERSEAS, AND THEIR RADIO PLAY IS PRETTY MUCH NONEXISTENT... WITH ALL THAT, YOU STILL HAVE ALL FOUR ORIGINAL MEMBERS IN THE BAND, TRUCKING ALONG, WRITING SONGS, AND RELEASING CDs STEADILY. NO ONE'S GONE TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SCHOOL, NO ONE DIED, NO ONE'S TRYING TO WRITE HIP HOP/RAP SONGS. THEY'RE ALL DOING THEIR THING THE SAME AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE. WITH THAT SAID, I WAS CURIOUS TO HEAR HOW THEY SOUNDED LIVE AFTER A DECADE. THE ANSWER IS THEY SOUND FANTASTIC... SO FANTASTIC, IN FACT THAT IT MAKES ME WONDER IF THEY'RE LIP-SYNCHING.
"BRING 'EM OUT LIVE" WAS RECORDED IN FRONT OF 1500 JAPANESE FANS IN OSAKA, JAPAN IN APRIL 1999. THIS DISC HAS ONLY BEEN AVAILABLE AS AN IMPORT IN THE PAST. HOWEVER, SPITFIRE RECORDS WILL BE RELEASING IT NEXT WEEK IN THE US.. INCIDENTALLY, COMPARED TO RELEASES IN OTHER COUNTRIES, PACKAGING IN DOMESTIC RELEASES USUALLY SUCKS. THE JAPS ARE MUCH MORE HARD-CORE FANS WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR MUSIC, AND THE MARKET FOR AMERICAN MUSIC OVERSEAS IS HUGE, SO FIREHOUSE CAN PLAY TO A MUCH LARGER CROWD OVERSEAS THAN THEY CAN IN THE STATES.
OK, ONTO THE SONG... "OVERNIGHT SENSATION" IS THE OPENING TRACK ON THE DISC, AND WAS INITIALLY FEATURED ON THEIR DEBUT DISC ON EPIC RECORDS. THE REASON I CHOSE THIS SONG, AND NOT ONE OF THEIR "HITS" IS BECAUSE IN MY NOT-SO-HUMBLE OPINION, THE RIFF IN THIS SONG IS MUCH STRONGER, AND IT'S ALSO NOT ABOUT SOME CHICK... WHICH FIREHOUSE LIKES TO WRITE ABOUT. ALSO, WHEN PERFORMING LIVE, YOU WANT TO START WITH AN UP-TEMPO SONG TO GET THE CROWD MOVING...THIS ONE DOES JUST THAT. THE MUSICIANSHIP IS JUST FINE; THESE GUYS HAVE OBVIOUSLY BEEN PLAYING THESE SONGS FOR A WHILE, SO IT'S INTERESTING THAT THEY WOULDN'T DEVIATE TOO MUCH FROM THE ORIGINAL.
VOCALLY, CJ SNARE IS IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. HE'S SINGING NOTE-FOR-NOTE AND ON KEY THE ENTIRE TIME. THE VOCAL HARMONIES ARE PERFECT AS WELL, WHICH HAS ME SUSPICIOUS... I'VE SPOKEN WITH A FEW LOCAL ACTS WHO HAVE OPENED UP FOR FIREHOUSE, AND THEY TELL ME THAT THESE GUYS TOUR WITH REFRIGERATOR-SIZED HARMONIZERS. I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT FOR MYSELF, BUT SEEING HOW THESE GUYS ARE IN THEIR MID-TO-LATE 30s, I WOULDN'T DOUBT IT IF THEY WERE AUGMENTING THEIR VOCALS ELECTRONICALLY. ACCORDING TO AN EMAIL FROM BILL LEVERTY, GUITARIST FOR THE BAND..."We don't augment our live show at all. No artificial sweetners or tapes".
ALL IN ALL, THIS IS A VERY SOLID RELEASE FROM GROUP WHO WAS ONCE RESPONSIBLE FOR WRITING "THE MOST POPULAR WEDDING SONG OF 1991" (JESUS, THEIR MOTHER'S WOULD BE PROUD...). OF COURSE, I'M REFERRING TO "LOVE OF A LIFETIME" ... AFTER THAT SONG HIT, THESE GUYS TRIED TO DUPLICATE IT ON EVERY SUBSEQUENT ALBUM, ESPECIALLY WITH "I LIVE MY LIFE FOR YOU" ON THEIR THIRD EFFORT, APTLY TITLED "3"... INCIDENTALLY, WHEN PLAYING THAT SONG LIVE, THE JAPANESE CROWD SINGS AN ENTIRE CHORUS WHILE CJ TAKES A BREAK... SOMETHING YOU JUST WOULDN'T SEE IN THIS COUNTRY.
