BANDS ON THE RUN

When Dragonfly came into Bands On the Run, I was honestly expecting some more competent but uneventful type hard rock. So I listened...then I listened again..then I listened a third time..then I took it to my car to listen to (thus becoming a "car" CD..it is very rare that an unsigned band's CD makes it this far)...and I think I'm on about my 15th listen now. In other words, Dragonfly is not only awesome, but probably the best melodic rock offering of the year.

There are so many differences between Dragonfly and Drift. Unbelievably matured songwriting, more thoughtfulness in the bass and rhythm guitar parts. The band sounds like they spent a good deal of time trying to make each song something truly special, rather than hammering out a demo as quickly as possible. Sedona's approach to crafting tunes is now truly masterful. For instance, even though the first song employs alternating measures of 5/4 and 6/4 in the verses, it is done in such a way that you don't even notice; the song could easily make a playlist on your local rock station, and the word "progressive rock" would not even enter the mind. To Sedona's credit, very few bands can pull this kind of stunt off with such tact.

Just as amazing, the song hammers you against the wall with a simple but brutally rocking riff that has as much power as Metallica's from "The Thing That Should Not Be." Things only get better from here. "Highest Star In Heaven" and "Crazy" both boast a glorious floating chorus that'll send you melodic rock fans into AOR heaven. The CD credits could have listed Cantrell/Staley as songwriters after "Wrong" and I wouldn't have blinked an eye. "Mama's in the Kitchen" get knuckles scraping pavement in a way that would give COC a run for the money. Total barnstormer and album highlight, the incredible "Run Wild Horses", is such a masterpiece of songwriting that I'm left shaking my head as to why radio programmers aren't running each other over in a rush to put this band on their playlists.

Sedona is able to pull off a neat little trick in their sound and songwriting, which is to keep one foot planted in Collective Soul/Pearl Jam territory, (thanks to the tastefully restrained lower register vocals of Mike Fox and a masterful rhythm section), and the other foot in the melodic rock/AOR territory of a Harem Scarem. In fact, it's truly amazing why bands such as this can't get a foot in the door on rock radio playlists, while mediocre songwriters such as the aforementioned Collective Soul are played and overplayed. If the band makes the same leap of progress from Dragonfly to their next album as they did from Drift to Dragonfly, the next album should be an all-time classic.

-Ray Achord