THE QUIET OFFSPRING

I must confess I was very surprised at how accessible this record is. The reason for my surprise is my familiarity with IN THE WOODS... and considering that GREEN CARNATION is the offspring (haha) from that band, I was expecting something different. This is my first taste of GREEN CARNATION and this record seems to be a concept record or at least have a theme.There are pictures of the band in the liner notes of them all as children, and the title song seems to be about a son who can't do anything right in the eyes of his father, so he's quiet. "Child's Play-Part 1" is dedicated to Pascal who died at 5 years old. So this is an emotional album, which is not surprising knowing IN THE WOODS...

Things get started with "The Quiet Offspring" a song that contrasts the heavy in your face riffs and the pastoral acoustic guitar passages. "Between The Gentle Small And The Standing Tall" is again about "gentle" children and "tall" adults, it opens with bass guitar leading us to an uptempo melody. There is lots of riffing and some keys as well in this alternative sounding tune. "Just When You Think It's Safe" is an enjoyable, energetic song with some great guitar.

"A place For Me" features mood and tempo changes throughout. It opens with piano and gentle vocals that sound similar to Peter Nicholls (i'm serious !). The synths remind me of PORCUPINE TREE and I love the guitar in the uptempo melody. Good song ! "The Everlasting Moment" features a catchy guitar melody and theatrical vocals at times. "Purple Door, Pitch Black" is another melodic, accessible tune with lots of guitar. "Child's Play-Part 1" is a mellow, mournful song with synths, acoustic guitar and violin. "Dead But Dreaming" is a heavy song with aggressive vocals. It's great ! "Pile Of Doubt" is an atmospheric song and I love the way the keys are playing slowly in the background of the faster paced melody. "When I Was You" is a powerful, emotional slower paced tune. Another good one. "Child's Play-Part 2" features lots of piano melodies and fragile vocals.

A good album but when compared to IN THE WOODS... for example it's just too mainstream sounding to these ears.