Track Listing
· Anyway (1)
· Wired
· Inside Your Head (2)
· Big Fat Smile
· Origami Mommy
· Book Of Virtues (3)
· Be My Fix
· A Freak Like You
· Unbroken
· Miss You Blue
· Fanatic
· Anti-Zero
· Tough

(*) Best Tracks

Buy it if you liked:
SR-71 - Now You See Inside
Butch Walker - Left Of Self Centered
Marvellous 3

Line Up
· Steve Brown: Vocals, Guitar
· Maz: Guitar
· Brian Gabriel: Drums
· PJ Farley: Bass
40ft Ringo
Funny Thing
Atenzia Records ATZ 02004
· Produced By: Steve Brown
· Running Time: · Genre: Nu-breed
· Release Date: March 30 · Released: EU
· WebLink: 40ft Ringo · LabelLink: Atenzia
92%

While the debate over the term nu-breed continues - just who is and what sounds can be included under moniker, there is one thing for sure - 40ft Ringo are nu-breed. In fact their high-energy good fun hard rock music is what I would describe as the very definition of the term.
Featuring Steve and PJ from 90's teen rockers Trixter, it has been a long road to the release of this album. First it was (a name that escapes me), then Soaked and finally 40ft Ringo was born.
The guys have been sending out demos for months, with Atenzia Records showing faith in the music, signing for the release of this album.
There is the issue of the demos from this release being heavily traded and what effect that might have on sales of the finished product, but I know for a fact there is a heavy emphasis on breaking this band into the mainstream, so the trading within the melodic rock scene should appear minimal in the wider scheme of things.
Those demos (8 of the original tunes are included in this 13 track album) have been completed and along with 5 new tunes mixed and mastered into a very fine melodic modern rock (nu-breed) release.
The style is all guitars, tuned down to some degree, distorted and layered to create that ultimate punk influenced, fuzz-pop nu-breed sound.
Track By Track:
Anyway is a high energy, uptempo modern rocker, all over and done inside 3 minutes, but instant in appeal with it's catchy hooks and memorable chorus.
Wired is a little heavier and showcases a powerful guitar sound, with Steve's vocals softening things up. The song features a less impactful, but equally memorable chorus. The song features some blistering guitar work, much of it hidden beneath the more commercial surface of the song.
Inside Your Head is another winner. One of the album's best songs, this SR-71 style feel good rocker should be on playlists of radio stations worldwide. The chorus rules the song, but don't underestimate the subtle lead guitar riff hovering throughout.
Big Fat Smile takes the album in a slightly different direction. It's only a slight change of pace, but comes at a good juncture. The song is a more mid-tempo groove laden beast. Still plenty of guitars though.
The partially acoustic driven Origami Mommy is next. Another SR-71 friendly number, this song remains in the mid-to-up tempo nature of the rest of the album, but slows things down in the verse for a more commercial radio friendly track with another great chorus, complimenting a perfect moody, angst ridden guitar track.
Book Of Virtues takes things right over the top. Back to the high energy Blink 182 style hard rock of the opening track, this one betters all the band's peers by containing a brilliantly melodic chorus that you can't help but sing along to. Several layers of guitars and harmony vocals will help fans of the old school embrace this nu-breed of melodic rock.
Be My Fix takes things back a notch - in both pace and hook delivery. This is a more restrained moody rock track.
A Freak Like You is simply a feel good pop rocker with another good catchy chorus - as is Unbroken, another happy go lucky number.
Miss You Blue slows things down again, featuring a mix of acoustic and electric guitars and coming close to the old school sound from which the band were born. A good rock ballad.
Fanatic opens with a great guitar break and continues to be dominated by that great guitar riff. A tough verse swaggers into a heavily melodic chorus.
Anti-Zero continues the feel good guitar driven pop/rock of much of the rest of the album. A good song again, but no big chorus this time around.
Tough closes out the album in classic melodic rock style. This is a moody acoustic ballad with a sentimental heart. Add some synth/strings towards the end and a classy ballad is made.

The Bottom Line
The very bottom line is that there isn't a weak track on this album. Granted you will be better off being a nu-breed fan, but dismiss it without investigation and you will miss some fine melodic rock songs.
The production is solid, although it features that fuzzy guitar sound some don't appreciate. However the consistent guitar driven approach will appeal to a lot of melodic rock fans - across all boundaries.
The result is a great feel good rock album that takes melodic music to new places and importantly doesn't forget the key ingredient - hooks and melodies.

Additional Ratings
Songwriting
93%
Attitude
95%
Production
86%

03/03/05: Pam - snoopum@comcast.net
Rating: 100
My favorite album in a very long time. Can't wait for the new one this year. Steve, PJ, Maz, and Bryan rock. And they are super cool to hang out with.

07/08/04: Bob Wisenor - pghrockpress@aol.com
Rating: 100
I own a rock magazine in Pittsburgh.
I reviewed the cd and interviewed Steve. This album rocks from start to finish. Here is why: Great songwriting (Great riffs/catchy chorus's) Great playing, Great vocals. Plus he is a really nice guy! If you dont like it..fine, but if you dont... it is because you dont like this type of music not because it isnt good. 40FT.Ringo Rocks...End of story!
Peace,
Bob Http://groups.msn.com/RegulationPlanet

27/05/04: Chewsmoka - chewsmoka@yahoo.com
Rating: 80
First time I heard this, I couldn't keep it out of my car, and no one couldn't understand why thses boys weren't all over the radio. Now i can, after a few months away from the CD, I put it back in during a road trip, and the result? It tends to sound all the same, and Origami Mommy, as one of my friends puts it, a title of a song when they didn't know what else to call it, and the demo version is much much better. But is still better than half of the nu breed bands out there!

24/09/03: Geoff - g.a.wols@ponl.com
Rating: 87
Excellent, excellent, excellent! One of the better 'nu-breed'/ modern melodic hard rock albums I've heard. Amusing lyrics, cool music and very good songs.

'Anyway' is one of the best off the album and a great opener. Big hard rocking tune. 'Wired' is great, 'Inside Your Head' is Marvelous 3 and excellent again, 'Origami Mommy' is an excellent melodic mid tempo rocker. An album fave! 'Book Of Virtues' is excellent again, 'Unbroken' is very amusing and features my favourite lyrical passage of the CD, 'When the hammer falls and it hits my balls it's cool" - love it! Great tune! 'Miss You Blue' is a big sentimental ballad and another gem, 'Anti-Zero' is excellent nu-breed and elsewhere the album is great stuff. Very consistent and very good!

Overall, a great modern melodic hard rock CD and great to see two of the Trixter boys making a good shot of it!

01/09/03: Marc Vanway - vanway@hotmail.com
Rating: 90
One of the best releases of this year so far. Atenzia has done incredibly good signing these guys, as this record is amazing. Amazing songs, amazing chorus, amazing production, this record has everything! Buy it if you love this kind of music!

09/07/03: Isaac - isaacvivian@hotmail.com
Rating: 80
This sure sounds like AOR to me! I don't think of AOR as "adult rock" as Freddy De Keyzer puts it; AOR is really hard rock for kids, it should be big, tuneful and glamorous! There's plenty of great candy-coated pop rock on this CD - my personal favourites are the extremely romantic "Inside Your Head" and the carefree and summery "Anti-Zero" (don't agree with Andrew's lukewarm description of the excellent chorus on this one). Recommended!

04/05/03: The Mechanic - tm@hotmail.com
Rating: 95
Brilliant! Freddie De Kaiser can go blow monkey dick. Back to the 80S with you mulletcut! While the genre is stagnating in a puddle of its own vomit, same old regurgiated melodies, it takes bands like 40 Ft. Ringo to kick a little life into things. Bravo boys!

13/04/03: Henrik Sjogren - Hsjogren@mail.tele.dk
Rating: 97
This is a true classic record, a perfect bridge between AOR and nu-breed. I dont understand why where are so many melodic rock fans, who a stuck in a time, there has been and never will come back, true to open your horizon !!!! All i would like to say is, BUY THIS ONE. ( Magnus rules! Can wait for the new Mars Electric album to come out )

11/04/03: Richard Dodd - rdodd@mac.com
Rating: 95
Awesome! Looking at the other reviews it's obvious from the scores that the people who are both open minded and fans of this style appreciate how good this album is. If you love nu breed,melodic pop/rock, just buy it, you wont be disappointed. If you're one of the sad , narrow minded individuals who feels your music needs to sound like it is stuck in a time warp, get yourself a hobby and leave it to those of us who do appreciate it!

06/04/03: DjA - stiknside@hotmail.com
Rating: 80
Barely makes a B because there are plenty of good tunes on there. But I did not find it as hook driven and melodic as Andrew did. Good release, but no where the best. Singing is ok, not the best, alot of the songwriting has a sameness to it, and the guitar sound is the classic "nu breed" style. Good album worth a purchase just not as good as hyped. IMO
Dave

04/04/03: Chis - caspankuch@earthlink.net
Rating: 75
well............its better then Trixter, but once again,timing is terrible, again they seem to put out material at the tail end of an era....i think the production is good, but hell, its 2003, i can get this quality on my home PC, a 40$ mixer, and some software, and i think the guitar riffs are a little beaten, same cords every song has, just different words.

02/04/03: Johnny - johnnyhr2222@hotmail.com
Rating: 80
strong record - and the name that andrew couldn't remember was Throwing Rocks.. before they were Soaked!

25/03/03: Tim Robertson - Tim.J.Robertson@GSK.COM
Rating: 95
I enjoyed my 80's AOR, but can also appreciate the nu-breed style, and I absolutely loved this CD. The production is awesome, and songs like "Anyway" and "Fanatic" are as catchy and melodic as anything I've heard. The overall sound is not dissimilar to later efforts by Warrant or Winger, but with a slightly distorted guitar sound. Mind you, SR-71's debut (the first two tracks aside) was really nothing more than melodic rock... Whatever you want to categorise this as, it's catchy and feel-good rock that is as good as pretty much anything released in the last 3 years....

15/03/03: Coco - cocobongo@talk21.com
Rating: 70
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but search out the 22 track demo instead, it's better produced and has a much better version of "Freak Like You" on it.

14/03/03: Rich - drhall01@hotmail.com
Rating: 35
I 've tried to give this a fair hearing considering the individuals envolved in this project came from an 80's band that i really couldn't stand (Trixter).I couldn't take their music seriously before because of the "color by numbers" approach and the cheesyness that added to the overkill which spelt the demise of the hairband era.With that in mind, here we are in 2003 nearing the end of the "nu breed era" and the usual suspects are at it again.10 years older and still adding cheese to another already clustered format.......This will be huge in the bargain bins.Sorry I'll pass on this one.

14/03/03: Controlio Waleone - beanstudio@hotmail.com
Rating: 100
This deserves a rating of 100 because it is equal to 100 percent pure pop-rock songwriting talent. Steve Brown has written dozens, maybe 100 killer rock songs that I have heard. He also writes for many people he produces and has set many bands and careers of others afloat with his talent. There is no other band that I have seen live that can be as sincere as these guys and then carry that off onto a CD release. This release by 40Ft. Ringo is such a deep album with ripping killer songs that you need a weekend just to wade through it all. There are songs like "Anti-Zero" that would make Cheap Trick happy to hear as well as complete about faces like "Origami Mommy" that people who know composition and orchestration can appreciate. And don't forget about fun, because we all need that, and songs like "A Freak Like You" and "Fanatic" will lift a mood or two. It is no shock that this stuff is all over Euro radio and is getting stellar ratings and reviews left and right. Great artists, like Bowie, Jagger, and Madonna know how to change to create something new. Can anyone think of someone who has changed and suceeded as radically as Steve Brown has going from an axe slinger on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine to world class front-man spewing fiery lead vocals?

14/03/03: John Nelton - Nelt75@hotmail.com
Rating: 23

The songs sound like they are trying to sound like everyone else. How this could get a 92 is beyond my belief. I heard some of the demos months ago & can't understand how anyone would like this rubbish.

13/03/03: dave 55 - davefiftyfive@hotmail.com
Rating: 85
great album. and yes atenzia were on the ball with this release. im a big fan of power pop/ nu breed and this is one of the best releases in a while. Great catchy fun tunes! Nice review andrew.

12/03/03: Freddy De Keyzer - freddydekeyzer@hotmail.com
Rating: 40
I'll never buy this record, but I've heard a tape and what can I say. This is everything I hate about music ! Once again, nu-breed is not melodic rock or AOR ! It's punk and nothing more. How should someone want that I like this Ramones influenced stuff ? It's an insult for every real, pure AOR fan that Atenzia records release this ! They founded their company to please fans of classic AOR ! They (Magnus !) have broken all their promises and they leave the true AOR fans in the cold. About the record : Kids stuff (age 8 till 15 !), and Trixter also was never more than an average band. That this has a rating that's higher than the absolute masterpiece of the year, the new Drive She Said, is totally unfair and a shame ! Not for the adult rocker !!! And to be honest, 40 is even a too high rating for this punk/pop kids stuff !!!

ADD YOUR OWN REVIEW! (Ratings out of 100)
Name:

E-mail:

Rating:

Comment: