Music Review // Roses & Revolutions "Something Real"

 

It feels like there was a time when artists would have these huge, building ballads on their albums and it just feels to me like they don't do that as much now.  From Boyz II Men doing "End of the Road" to Stone Temple Pilots doing "Creep", there was always that one song which just kind of calmed the whole tone of the album down but was still able to be on the radio without missing a beat.   Roses & Revolutions may have just perfected the art of that power ballad on "Something Real", which has become somewhat of a lost art.

While this song begins with only a piano and voice, you can feel it slowly build throughout.  Most songs have three pieces to them traditionally- verses, the chorus and a bridge- but the way that "Something Real" goes it just feels like we're starting at the bottom and going up.  Percussion can be heard by the end, but ever so slightly, as it just has this big finish.  In many ways, this song is musically the equivalent of running up a hill.  Pacing yourself, but feeling like you're also having to push harder with every step until you reach the top and it just feels like a gentle explosion.

Lyrically you will find a lot to think about within this song.  The music video revolves around driving on a road and it has lyrics on the screen.   The chorus of it is "All I know is that I feel / something beautiful / something real" and that really makes you think because you can, in this moment, feel something real and in that moment it might very well be.  But then later on, it might no longer be real.  It's how people can feel so magical on their wedding day and less so when getting divorced.  But I think it's a reminded to enjoy those moments while we have them because they might not last.

It would be easy to compare this song with someone such as Adele, someone who is known for just having that huge vocal sound with pianos.   But I also think of this song, in many ways, as being that ballad amongst an album of otherwise rocking songs.  Whether you think of Polly Scattergood or Metric or Slothrust (Depending upon your musical influence) is up to you, as it really will bring out what you hold dear as music.   But there is also this other quality to this song that makes me think of singers like Christina Aguilera and I just love that about it a little bit more.