antiReviews:
Peach - Giving Birth To A Stone Review
by Scott Vile
Peach - Giving Birth To A Stone Label: Vile Beat Records
Tracks: 1. Spasm
2. Naked
3. Catfood
4. Velvet
5. Dougal
6. Burn
7. Signpost In The Sea
8. You Lied
9. Don't Make Me Your God
10. Peach
Peach's "Giving Birth To A Stone" has been
hyped as Justin Chancellor's side project to Tool. Taken that way, this
CD can seem like a slight disappointment. It certainly doesn't seem nearly
as fresh or vital as Maynard Keenan's "A Perfect Circle." However, what
Peach really IS Chancellor's former band. Peach, an English alternative
metal band, actually released "Giving Birth To A Stone" on a small English
label in 1994. This is an American re-issue of that disc.
With that said, this CD suddenly becomes
more impressive. The songs, like Tool, emphasize powerful bass and
crunchy guitars. What makes Peach most different from Tool is the added
(slight) element of pop and a song writing style that is less about shock
value, and more about progressive Pink Floyd-ish rock.
The cover art has a haunting black and
white skeleton with it's muscle visible, with a red color emanating from
it's gut. A very haunting visual, courtesy of Tool's Adam Jones. However,
the rest of the liner is a let-down, there are actually blank pages and
very minimal credits inside. I had to go to the Internet to find any info
on Peach.
It's been said that Tool plays two Peach
tracks featured on this CD in concert; "Spasm" and "You Lied." Actually,
most of the songs on this CD are quite good, including the two just mentioned.
"Catfood," a King Crimson cover, has become a favorite of mine, and if
my friend wasn't banned from Napster for having a Metallica song, I'd download
the original, so unfortunately I can't compare. "Velvet" and "Burn" are
also great. Peach is at it's best during their faster tracks, like these.
To me, some of their moodier, more dramatic tracks like "Dougal" miss the
mark.
I'd recommend this CD to most Tool fans,
especially those of which are interested in getting a little bit of Tool
history. The lead singer might not be for all Tool fans, since he's obviously
British, but he does an effective job. Every one in the band had a lot
of talent. It's almost a tease, Peach was a band with high potential that
will most likely never be realized, since they're now broken up.
Posted by x24:
I think Peach's "Giving Birth to a Stone" is a good CD overall. It is a bit raw quality-wise, but other than that it has a nice sound to it, the lyrics are great, and the whole band is talented. Too many reviews say it is a disappointment when you hear about it being Justin Chancellor's old band, but I actually thought it was quite satisfying. I don't find Peach as a sterotypical 80's band as a lot of reviews say, I can't stand that stuff and I love Peach. Overall - good CD, it's worht your money. And interestingif you're into Tool.
Posted by ...:
I wouldn't recomend this for fans of tool's later stuff....it has some ok songs, but vocals don't come close to Maynard's. Besides the vocals the actual songs are pretty good.
Posted by Static:
This album is excellent, and superior to Tool's earliest efforts. The british vocalist can be annoying until you get used to him, but the songwriting and importantly, guitar melodies, are awesome on this album. Some of the more floydian melodies are beyond any riffs Tool has ever played. Worth checking out for any Tool fan and the music fan in general.
Posted by The Alchemist:
This is a truly impressive album. I'm glad that Justin's with TOOL now, but I'm sad that PEACH is gone. I'm also sad that Paul left TOOL but I'm glad that LUSK is around.... I'm so confused!
Posted by lol
is stupid: justin is a damn good bass player and
the tool name wasnt used to push this cd on anyone...it is justin's former
band if you liked what he did for the band then you checked it out
Posted by
lol: I heard it and it's an insult to tool
fans why he would use the good name of Tool to push this crap is beyond
me. don't buy it its crappity crap crap
Posted by
Ross: Scott there are web sites that explain
how to kill the ban. I also heard people who were banned have been able
to relog on.
Posted by
Ross: Fvck Lars! I like A perfect circle but
this doesn't sound like it is much like that. I can't get into Tool, so
I think I'll skip this one.
Posted by
ScottVile: I mentioned it because it pissed me off...my
friend apparently had an mp3 of Metallica that was shared along with 500
or so other tracks by different artists, and now we're banned from EVERYTHING,
for good!
Posted by
Neil: Why does everyone have to mention napster
and metallica everywhere?