Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Chevelle
Chevelle tabs Chevelle discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Chevelle guitar tabs

CD reviews

Point #1

Chevelle - Point #1 Audio CD

A fair review of the Chevelle "Point #1" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Chevelle reviews here, or go back to the Chevelle tabs.

Band: Chevelle
Title: Point #1
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-05-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Open 2: Point #1 3: Prove to You 4: Mia 5: Skeptic 6: Anticipation 7: Dos 8: Long 9: Blank Earth 10: SMA 11: Peer

Competent, but not a classic
"Point #1" is their debut album and it was released in 1999. Chevelle is a trio of brothers who named their band after their fathers love of cars, which they also share. It is a solid debut album that is raw and not perfect and is mostly melodic hard rock. Albums like these have cult followings for their raw and organic style that doesn't sound watered down in glossy production.

1. Open (Instrumental) (2:01) 8/10
2. Point #1 (4:22) 8/10
3. Prove To You (3:05) 8/10
4. Mia (2:22) 7/10
5. Skeptic (4:06) 7/10
6. Anticipation (3:08) 7/10
7. Dos (6:30) 7/10
8. Long (4:36) 8/10
9. Blank Earth (5:27) 7/10
10. Sma (2:55) 7/10
11. Peer (4:09) 8/10

Overall: 11 songs, 42:36 7/10

If I had to describe this albums sound it would be "Undertow" era Tool with some Helmet thrown in there. Pete's vocals sound a bit similar to Maynard of Tool, particularly in the way he goes from clean to gruff vocals. Stand out tracks are "Point #1", "Long", and "Prove To You". Six plus minute "Dos" utilizes dynamics the best starting with a slow, build up that then eventually turns into a heavy start stop riff.
The problem with the album is it's not that memorable and the production is flat. Lyrically it is strange and doesn't stick too much with me. Now remember, I am reviewing this album nine years after its release and I now know what the band is capable of. They are one of my favorites. This CD is my least favorite of theirs. It's decent and listenable, just not that great and it doesn't sound anything like their newer albums.

Bottom line is that it is competent and full of passion, like a lot of debut releases, but not essential or even great.

.

First albums are always the best
Why do I love it so much? Maybe the nostalgia is part of it, but mostly it's because of the raw emotion that comes through, more emotion than almost any other album I've heard. I bought this album when it first came out in 1999, and it's one of the few albums from that era that I still listen to regularly. I know most people here seem to like the newer albums better, but for me they just fail to match up. Sure they are more polished, more accessible to the main stream audience, but to me there is something special about this album, the way it sounds like a couple of teenage kids making music in their parent's garage, not because they are getting paid to do it but because they love the music. Even if you are a fan of modern Chevelle, you need to buy this album, and listen to it with an open mind. .

A Great Start
This is just a sign of things to come for the band. Chevelle is a pretty good modern rock band and with this first release, Point #1 is a great start. Each track on the album is at least okay. There aren't really any bad songs. Some of my favorite tracks on the album are "Point #1", "Skeptic", "Blank Earth", and "Peer". Here are the track ratings. . .

1. Open - 10/10
2. Point #1 - 10/10
3. Prove To You - 8. 5/10
4. Mia - 9/10
5. Skeptic - 10/10
6. Anticipation 9/10
7. Dos - 8. 5/10
8. Long - 8. 5/10
9. Blank Earth - 9. 5/10
10. Sma - 8. 5/10
11. Peer - 9. 5/10

Overall: 91% A-

This thing probably deserves 4. 5 stars but since you cant do that on amazon it's going to show up as 5. It's an overall solid release with plenty of good tracks. Basically no bad points throughout this cd. It's slightly different than modern Chevelle as it is less commercial but it is good. If you like bands like Tool or Breaking Benjamin you might like this. Hey, even if you enjoy modern Chevelle this is worth checking out.

Mixed
Prove to you is TERRIBLE - I HATE THAT SONG and I wish it wasn't on the CD. The intro and Point #1 are great - just incredible - the song still doesn't make any sense to me though. The other songs are just well just OK - they are good - but not like the first song, and they lose something along the way - but overall it's a great CD - and I've listened to it many times. I think I like the newer ones better. I didn't pick up anything Christian on this at all. The lyrics are strange and don't make sense to me. The voice is super, the music is great, and overall, it's great - I buy these and give them as gifts to friends. They all seem to like it ok. .

A passionate debut
I doubt Wonder What's Next will ever be supplanted as my favorite release by Chevelle, but as it stands, this debut is better than the more mainstream and less passionate This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In). Point #1 is Chevelle's first album, and undoubtedly more raw and a little different than later releases, obviously because they got onto a bigger label. This is actually the album of theirs I obtained the most recently, and its impact is probably negatively affected by the strength of the follow-up. I still appreciate what they did here though, as it shares more strengths with Wonder What's Next than This Type of Thinking does.

Chevelle is supposedly a Christian band, but that doesn't really come through in the lyrics at all. Their faith might provide them with a little more emotion in the music, which is good, but it's not really that big of an aspect. The first track is an interesting two minute instrumental intro that leads into the awesome title track, which combines the band's skill at writing very listenable hard rock with the great, soothing vocals the singer provides. The next few songs are above average, adequate rock, but the next great song is the six and a half minute "Dos. " It starts off quite, but it builds up over time into an explosive, passionate climax, and has more emotion in it than most songs you hear these days. "Long" is another song that starts off slow before exploding. The band does that a lot. "Peer" is a strong closing track, again, starting off quiet and ending with a burst of high energy power.

This is a good rock album, its only problem is that too few of the songs stand out. The few I mentioned are really good, and the rest are solid too, you just have some trouble remembering them all as their own thing, preventing this from being great.

You can see a complete list of all Chevelle discography, or go back to the Chevelle tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.