Midnight Circus - 'Money Shot'
Released through Perris Records in 2005
THE BAND:
Unavailable at this time.
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) "Welcome To The Circus" -Instrumental
2.) "Psychedelic Trippin'" -The Circus instrumental of track one leads into
an opening lead vocal effect. The rhythm riffs of the main musical intro
were influenced by the guitar work Steve Stevens played on Vince Neil's first
solo release. There is a small minor lead guitar solo that connects the
intro to the first pre-verse. The band chose to add a small vocal effect
to the opening vocal line of the pre-verse. This vocal effect really
distinguishes the pre-verse from the verse. The bass line changes for the
verse arrangement giving the song a more full sound. The backing harmonies
of the pre-chorus and chorus are some of the biggest I have heard in a very long
time. There is a small rhythm change for the arrangement that runs
underneath the guitar solo. Much like the song itself the guitar solo was
very smooth with a laid back feel.
3.) "Tonight" -This track opens with a fairly standard eighties hard
rock intro section. In between each vocal line of the verse are very small
lead guitar licks/scales. These lead guitar licks/scales were
strategically placed to fill in some of the empty spaces of the lyrics.
You really can not get no more basic than the chorus arrangement. For me I
am glad to see bands getting back to the basics of rock 'n' roll. The
breakdown section of the song could have been taken right from a Helix fake
book. Just like the intro of this song the main guitar solo can straight
out of the eighties hard rock era. Over the top of the outro section there
is a minor guitar solo.
4.) "Don't Wait For Love" - Depending on the time signature, intro's
are usually four bars of music. Though there is no real set method outside
of the music theory itself, as long as everyone is playing in the same key and
same chords, I have found you can pretty much do what you want. While this
song was in 4/4 time the band chose to just do, I think, two bars of intro.
This is something you really don't see often and Midnight Circus made it work.
Instead of changing the rhythm arrangement for the verse the band opted to use
the same rhythm for the verse. This may or may not be the reason for the
two bars of intro. During the vocal line of the verse the vocalist adds a
few vocal accents to the vocal line. These little vocal accents shows that
he has great vocal control. At times the lead vocal liners of the verse
have a Jani Lane of Warrant feel and sound. The choruses were kept very
simple with simple hooks. After the guitar solo there is a small breakdown
section. The last half of the breakdown section were done with just drums
and vocals.
5) "Only One" -This track opens with a huge influenced Ratt sounding
intro section. At times though the musical intro the drummer incorporates
a few double bass drum licks. The band opens the musical verse with not
only a minor lead guitar solo but also a underlining acoustic guitar
arrangement. The vocal lines of the pre-verses have a Enuff z Nuff/Vince
Neil feel and sound to them. Attached to the end of each lyric line is a
small vocal echo. This echo really added to the dynamics of the pre-verse.
The rhythm guitar switches from acoustic to electric at the verse kick in.
There is a very cool underlining bass line for this track. The lead vocals
overlap the backing harmonies of the chorus arrangement. After the first
chorus there is a very small lead guitar scale that runs underneath the second
pre-verse. This track was very well produced!!! The guitar solo was
very laid back and melodic.
6.) "Yours Forever" - This ballad open s with a drum fill. The
main guitar rhythms of the intro section have a very simple laid back feel to
them. In the fashion the band arranged the lyrics of the verses givers the
song a Motley Crue feel. The lyrics are arranged so much like Motley that
this song could have been very easily left over from the 'Dr. Feelgood'
sessions. The chorus was in vein of eighties hard rock very short and
simple. For the breakdown section the band incorporated a small keyboard
arrangement. The guitar solo was very short for as intense as the song
sounds.
7.) "Dirty Rhythm" - The pre-intro to this track opens with sound from
a scene in a porn movie. The rhythm guitar arrangement of the intro
section was very influenced by John Sykes. The drum pattern of the song
along with the intense rhythm guitar overshadows the vocals of the pre-verse.
The vocalist changes vocal styles for the verse. 'Money Shot' would not
have been a complete eighties era sounding CD without this track!!!!
The breakdown of this song was overdubbed to where it sounds like two different
guitarist.
8.) "Forever Came Today" -The intro to this track opens with a very
heavy guitar arrangement and bass line. The main musical intro kicks in
with a solid heavy metal blues riff. In the fashion the band arranged the
lyrics along with the music gives the song a very Motley Crue sound. For
the last lyrical line of the verse the band added a very small backing harmony.
The chorus for this track has to have one of the biggest hooks I believe I've
ever heard. At times the vocal accents reminded me a lot of Vince Neil.
The guitar solo the band wrote for this track worked very well with the
structure of the song.
9.) "It's Alright" -This song opens with a very simple acoustic
strumming arrangement. The bass was turned up on this track so you can
really hear the bass line. The intro and opening chorus was very
influenced from the eighties hard rock band Trixter. All in all this song
was very simple and sweet with nothing flashy. Sometimes in music this is
the best two ingredients to make a great song.
10.) "Nothing To Lose" - This track opens with a twin electric guitar
arrangement. The underlining rhythm of the verse was done with just bass
and drums. The rhythm guitar does not kick in until the pre-chorus.
After the first chorus there is a guitar solo. At times the arrangement
borders on the line of being very abstract. The really does not add to the
release and probably could have been left off.
11.) "Alive" -This track opens with a very intense musical
arrangement. For the verse arrangement the band changes the rhythm
structure of the song by going into a twelve-note rhythm arrangement. The
main instruments of the verses is the bass and drums. The guitar was used
as a fill in instrument until the chorus. The chorus had a very abstract
feel. The guitar solo had a twin guitar effect to it.
12.) "S.M.D." - Instrumental that consists of a crowd harmony. I
will let you either use your imagination or you'll have to buy the release to
figure it out.
This release is an absolute must have for eighties hard rock
fans!!!!