Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Five for Fighting - Slice

If every album provides snapshots of where an artist's mind and heart is at the moment, Slice, the latest offering from John Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting), is a collection of digital jpegs and faded Polaroids. The album takes stories of friends, family and even American servicemen, and sets them to music shot through with the spirit of the great songs of his youth. It's a diary, or a blog, in which Ondrasik speaks his mind about current issues, experiences and sentiments, while setting those thoughts to piano, bass and drums.
I like a lot of different music, but I had never really paid attention to Five for Fighting until I was offered a chance to download the new CD Slice. Sure, I had heard of Five for Fighting and even heard of a couple of the songs, Superman and 100 Years, but that was it.

I've really been missing something, because I'm loving this CD! I'm pretty sure he had me from the first notes on the piano, and then the lyrics, well, I'm loving them, too. Lyrics like - "There was a time a long, long time ago/Chevies and levies played on the radio/No cell phones just 20,000 lights, swaying on a Saturday night." from the title track. And how can you not smile at a song that begins, "This is not our favorite song"?

I wasn't home when I first downloaded the CD (prior to the October 13 release date) so I didn't really get a chance to listen to it for a while. Since then I've burned it to CD so I can listen to it on my home stereo and listened to it several times. John made several television appearances, which I missed because I hadn't really listened to the CD yet or paid attention to the dates, but luckily several of them are available on the Five for Fighting website. John is also currently on tour with An Acoustic Evening with Five For Fighting, so check the tour schedule on the website to see if he's coming to a city near you. Of course, seeing all the SOLD OUT dates, I'm thinking that you better already have tickets! The closest he got to here was Chicago this last Friday night, but I missed that one. I guess I'll just have to play the CD again...

Please enjoy the video for Chances, the first single from Slice:



Slice is available now. You can buy it on iTunes and Amazon.com
Album Tracklisting:
  1. Slice
  2. Note To The Unknown Soldier
  3. Tuesday
  4. Chances
  5. This Dance
  6. Above The Timberline
  7. Transfer
  8. Hope
  9. Story Of Your Life
  10. Love Can't Change The Weather
  11. Augie Nieto
Note: I received this CD download at no cost thanks to One2One Network in exchange for my opinion.

Oh, and I am going to have to look up some of the older Five for Fighting songs that I missed.