Brave - Monuments
CD Info
2008
Self-Released
12 Tracks
English lyrics
Monuments is Brave’s second full length album (well, sort of if you don’t count "Before an Audience of Stars") and their fourth overall release. It’s been four years since Brave released their last EP, Passages. To be honest, I was starting to lose hope that Brave would be releasing anything else after Passages! The Brave camp has been pretty quiet over the past few years, until recently when they announced their release of Monuments. Their past two EPs and one full length album had some really great music on it, so I was quite excited to hear Monuments to see how it measured up to their past music.
Musically, Monuments continues down the same path the band was going when they created Passages. The music is basically just rock music, though Brave has created a sound that is distinctly theirs. Like Passages, Brave has decided to incorporate a violin throughout their compositions that really sounds wonderful, and fits their music to a tee. Their violinist, Suvo, does a really excellent job throughout the album. Another thing I really like about Brave is the facts that, unlike many bands, all of the musicians really stand out in their recordings. The guitars, drums, keyboards, and vocals all shine—I really appreciate that about their music. Speaking of the vocals, Michelle sounds as great as ever on Monuments! The songs on this album are all pretty good. There’s not really a standout track for me—it’s a very consistent album. Though, my one complaint would be there is no moment on this album that really blew me away. For instance, on Searching for the Sun, the track "Candle in the Dark" really just stopped me in my tracks. While the songs on this album are indeed very good, there’s nothing really astonishing on it for me.
If you’ve liked Brave’s material in the past, you are sure to like Monuments. It’s a very solid release from this fantastic band. Highly recommended for any rock fans out their!
8 / 10
