Rating: 4.5/5
Fair’s debut release ‘The Best Worst-Case Scenario’ is a brilliant melodic rock album that will take the listener on a journey to the state of bliss.
Fair is led by top producer Aaron Sprinkle, better known for his producing efforts for Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch and Anberlin than for his own solo music. However, Sprinkle demonstrates that he has much more musical talent than just producing other people’s music.
As with most melodic rock bands these days Fair sounds similar to Coldplay, however they do a good job at creating their own signature sound. The album opens with Monday, a catchy little rock ballad similar to that of Coldplay’s Moses. Track four, The Dumbfound Game, is one of the best tracks on the album. The song speaks about how we constantly make the same silly mistakes and how we need to learn from our errors.
The other main highlight from the album is Blurry Eyed, a song that sets up the end of the album in a great way. It takes the listener on a real journey into reflection, with its awesome guitar riffs mixed with piano tunes. The song opens with calm vocals and a gentle electric guitar, before adding violins. The entire way through the song you expect it to build into heavy drums, bass and strong guitar riffs like Lifehouse’s Everything, but it doesn’t. Instead it just really catches the listener and places them into a state of reflection about the mistakes in their life. “Stepping up, blurry eyed. And it is not a mistake. I’d spend it with you. When the crash in my world was brought back so soon.”
Like most current alternative/melodic rock albums the themes of the album tend to be about reflection and life direction. Fair have created a good balance between a good sound and good lyrics. The final sound although a lot like Coldplay with style touches of U2, Pink Floyd, and Lifehouse, it is still original enough to make a fantastic debut album for Fair. It will leave a melodic rock fan craving for more.
