Album Review: Five for Fighting; Slice.

We at the Bear Bunch were provided with an advance copy of John Ondrasik's musical moniker Five for Fighting's new album, Slice, to review. My only experiences with him involved his previous singles, Superman (It's not Easy) and 100 Years. They are both pleasant songs, especially the latter, a poignant look at the span of a life. But I'd never pursued Ondrasik past the occasional radio airplay. I didn't really know what to expect from him. After a cursory listen, over lunch at work one day, I still wasn't sure where I stood with the album. It wasn't until I really sat down and listened that I realized what it was I had here. Now it's an easy album to listen to. There isn't much to put anybody off, so if you only want something to play while you do something else, this won't disappoint. But if that is all you do, you are missing out on quite a lot.

While the arrangements tend toward the sparse side, they are still complex enough to be interesting. The instrumentation tends to be similar between songs: piano, guitar, bass, drums; with occasional orchestral backing. This is by no means meant to be a slight. Ondrasik provides a good range of musical styles while sticking to his strongest suit: well written piano melodies, simple, but engaging. He writes well-crafted songs, without letting virtuosity get in the way, and it is to his (and our) benefit.

At the risk of going on too long, I am going to jump to the high points of the album: This Dance and Note to the Unknown Soldier.

This Dance is a sweet, fumbling, whimsical love note, it's everything that is charming about a decent romantic comedy while its self-awareness keeps it from slipping into the realm of cheesy.
Note... is simply stellar. It's a love note of another kind; a letter for an unmarked soldier's grave. It is just the sort of attitude people need to have toward our military. It makes you want to shake the hand of the next soldier you see, and maybe even buy him/her a beer, while remaining completely apolitical. The melody is slightly bittersweet, it recalls better times without becoming maudlin.

In closing, I would hesitate to rate this album just yet, it warrant several more listens before I think I can do it justice. However, on that note, I've listened to it 5 or 6 times while writing this, and I could listen to it again, right now. I can't think of many albums that could hold up to that standard.

You can follow John Ondrasik on Twitter here or visit the website here. Thank you One2One Network for providing the Bear Bunch a copy of the album to review.