Gloriana - Gloriana Review

Despite this Nashville foursome's attempts to garner comparisons to Fleetwood Mac — the first track here all but breaks out into the chorus of ''Rhiannon'' — the vast majority of their debut album, Gloriana, falls somewhere between maudlin boy-band songwriting clichés and a particularly melodramatic Six Flags country revue. But the simpler tunes someone sneaked onto the end (''Come and Save Me,'' ''Time to Let Me Go'') show promise. Lose the tinny, cheesy overproduction and half of the hair product, and these kids might have something. C...full text On the surface, Gloriana may seem to be a copy of the formula that Little Big Town had a brief bout of success with earlier this decade: a two-man, two-woman setup, shared lead vocals, and a production that throws country, pop, rock and bluegrass in the blender all at once. Gloriana leans far closer to a slick, mainstream sound than the earthy Little Big Town, but the band still finds more than enough little nuances to create an impressive debut.

The album starts off on the right foot with a pair of punchy up-tempos: the freewheeling "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" and lead-off single "Wild at Heart". The latter was a great choice for a debut single, with its stomp-clap-stomp-clap intro, layered harmony, and tasteful mandolin and Dobro fills that lean against the group's heavily-layered harmonies. It uses a fairly typical theme of being young and in love for the first time, but it makes perfect sense for a younger group. "If You're Leavin'", the fifth track, isn't particularly different from any other "baby, don't go" song (think "How 'Bout You Don't" by The Lost Trailers), but it still manages to capture your attention by kicking off with an a cappella chorus that brings to mind "All the Gold in California"....full text As the music business struggles to keep up with the seismic changes in the economy in general and its own industry in particular, the growth of digital sales has opened up a few new avenues to getting attention for new artists. Some labels have begun selling albums digitally well before investing in a much more expensive physical CD release, and lately it’s all the rage to introduce new acts with a digital EP meant to whet appetites for a full album.
Gloriana’s digital-only The Way It Goes, a teaser for its upcoming self-titled debut album, is a prime example of how the format can be used effectively. The four songs give each member of the quartet a chance to step forward, while giving listeners a sense of the depth in their buoyant, harmony-drenched sound beyond the current hit “Wild at Heart” (which is included). Sometimes production clutter gets in the way of the music here, but The Way It Goes is nonetheless the sound of a talented group making a great first impression....full text