"Tell Me Anything, But Don't Tell Me That It's Over"

A Hero From A Thousand Paces
“Mistakes” Review (2/5)

A Hero From A Thousand Paces is a striving band. They’ve made the best of playing the mom and pop venues. From their hometown in New Jersey to touching the outskirts of Central New York and Pennsylvania, A Hero are making sure they make their presence known one town at a time. The group has recently begun touring in support of their debut album, Mistakes. The new album is meant to be a compilation of emotional stories of lost love and scars. From their live performances, one would expect an upbeat album with non-stop melody to sing along to. That in itself was a mistake.

There really is nothing special about this album, and the blame could possibly be put on the production. The quality seems raw and monotone. Though the songs show variety, they really aren’t worth listening to because they aren’t entertaining. The first thing which would make anyone want to put this CD down is the vocals. In their live shows, lead singer Mark Fray is great. His voice projects throughout the audience and makes the songs much more powerful. On Mistakes, his voice drags on and sounds horse after a while. A perfect example is the chorus of “With Closed Fists.” Even the little effect he tries to put on in the first verse is horrible. The only excuse has to be the production.

The lyrics have a hit or miss effect. You have very meaningful songs like “Philadelphia” which would get more play than the entire CD itself. The imagery used on the song is sincere and true. The first track off the album is a total miss. “Bold and The Beautiful” gives off an annoying “Lifestyle of The Rich and Famous” vibe. A handful of songs in the middle of the album are pretty much the only source for any musical entertainment. In sequence: “It’s Not Over,” “A Hand Written Apology,” and “Philadelphia” are the only tracks which have the whole package as songs. If A Hero sold the 3 songs as an EP or sampler, it’d probably sell more.

The instruments are exempt for most of the bashing this album is receiving. The guitars have proven to pick up slack where other aspects of the songs/album lack. Though it’s nowhere near enough to make this album good, it was a nice try. The variety falls under the guitarist’s ability to switch up the electric and acoustic sounds and still make the melody appealing. The keyboard is definitely a plus since the album needs every little angle to appeal to their listeners.

It’s a good thing Jose Lopez left this band when he did for Houston Calls. This pop-punk blended with emo is not worth the money. Your best bet is buying the tracks separately or watching the group live. This album isn’t even worth the bonus acoustic disc. It looks like A Hero From A Thousand Paces and their debut CD Mistakes will have to stick around the mom and pop venues for a bit longer than expected.