FREE REIGN

Tragedy

Riot! Entertainment

3 / 10

Track listing:

01. In Your Head
02. Tragedy
03. Rise Up
04. Last Goodbye
05. All In Vain

I had a sneaking suspicion that FREE REIGN's "Tragedy" would not be a bell ringer. Regardless, one must swim in uncharted waters with an open mind, not an open mouth. The question then concerns whether an EP released by a band featuring Dallas Cowboys' offensive linemen (yes, you read that correctly) Marc Colombo (vocals),Cory Procter (drums),and Leonard Davis (drums),and Davis' high school pal Justin Chapman (lead guitar) would have gotten near the notoriety, much less a record deal, if three-fourths of its membership had been average Joes whose only NFL experience involved a widescreen TV, recliner, and cooler full of beer. The vast majority of those with a working set of ears — me included — would undoubtedly provide a negative response to the question.

There are worse albums than "Tragedy", just not a lot of them. The disc does benefit from a good production, some workable riffs, and even some big-balls aggressive groove, particularly during "In your Head" and "All in Vain" Those points notwithstanding, "Tragedy" is an underwhelming exercise in modern/nu metal whose commercially accessible tendencies may not even win over the readymade, typically U.S. fan base that will devour damn near anything you set in front of it.

The main problem is that for as much as a song like "In your Head" seems to start convincingly with a driving riff and rhythm, the typically nu-metal (at least as it was known in its heyday) structures run the ship aground. Still, it is not a complete failure. And then you hit the melodic/clean-vocal section of the KILLSWITCH ENGAGE-eque title track, which is painfully atrocious, a description that is not even close to exaggeration. "Rise Up" is all pseudo tough-guy (well, ok, we won't argue the tough guy point with these dudes),jump, bounce, and get-all-LINKIN-PARK-on-your-ass vanilla extract. Just cut-and-paste for "Last Goodbye", and we've already noted the swinging pair that is revealed during some of "All In Vain", which is at least tolerably generic, if that makes any sense at all.

As for owner Jerry Jones blasting "FREE REIGN's music for 80,000 fans at every home game," maybe that's why the Cowboys keep blowing it when playoff time rolls around. Fans should still fine gratification in knowing that "Tragedy" rates higher than 2/10.

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