Number One Gun - To The Secrets And Knowledge (Review)

Artist: Number One Gun
Album: To The Secrets And Knowledge
Label: Tooth & Nail
Release Date: January 26^th
Genre: Alternative
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Rating:

Don’t stop believ­ing. Truer words have never been spo­ken. Case in point, Number One Gun. Originally a full band affair, early 2008 saw the band go their sep­a­rate ways, even­tu­ally result­ing in a tran­si­tion to a solo project of sorts for front man Jeff Schneeweis. Approached by Tooth & Nail Records, Jeff agreed to main­tain record­ing music under the Number One Gun ban­ner, even­tu­ally releas­ing The North Pole Project; ref­er­enc­ing the idea of going it alone. With the release of the album, Jeff not only man­aged to single-handedly bring some of the most bril­liant Number One Gun mate­r­ial to light, but effec­tively solid­i­fied his posi­tion as a solo artist. Looking to expand on such an illus­tri­ous release, time spent between pro­duc­ing albums for such notable acts as Brighten and Secret And Whisper was used to com­plete the long antic­i­pated new album, To The Secrets And Knowledge.

Once again Schneeweis finds him­self doing, well… pretty much every­thing; the man has immense tal­ent and he is not afraid to show it. Jeff proved that he has a knack for writ­ing and pro­duc­ing inspir­ing pop rock with his 2008 release (see: “Wake Me Up”, “The Best Of You And Me”); To The Secrets… fur­ther expands upon that fact. Consistent and promi­nent synth and elec­tronic based ele­ments play a major role in this endeavor, ini­tially show­cased in album-opener “The Victory,” pro­vid­ing an uplift­ing back­drop to Jeff’s unmatched vocal presence.

Be it a slight vocal delay or synth over­lay, To The Secrets… brings the afore­men­tioned ele­ments in hefty doses, build­ing upon the mostly rock stylings of The North Pole Project, but not to the point as to dis­tract the lis­tener. “Noises,” while being mostly void of any notice­able instru­ment, finds great­ness in it’s sooth­ing sim­plic­ity. Following suit, “The People” main­tains a sim­i­lar mood, with the addi­tion of an acoustic gui­tar. Rounding out the album is the hard dri­ving aggres­sor “Try It,” fol­lowed by a delight­ful cover of the ever so pop­u­lar Journey hit “Don’t Stop Believing.”

While The North Pole Project set the gold stan­dard for all things Number One Gun, this album finds Jeff hon­ing his musi­cal capa­bil­i­ties into some­thing truly remark­able. He knew he’d be div­ing into the unknown by going it alone, but the ini­tial leap of faith was not in vain. To The Secrets And Knowledge should not be missed.

Track Listing:
1. The Victory
2. Big Machines
3. Forest
4. Noises
5. Hey Stranger
6. The People
7. White Lies
8. Look To pass
9. Try It
10. Don’t Stop Believing (Journey Cover)

Similar To: Anberlin, Ivoryline, Search The City

Review by: Shawn F.