“So this is the end of it
It’s time for us to go
Back to where we started
Back to what we know
Tomorrow’s never promised you
This world is all we share”–“Alone”
Now that I have Spotify, I’ve decided to revamp my Jason’s Jukebox series and update it bimonthly. I will now be presenting my ratings on all the albums by favorite bands. I decided to start with Eyeshine because I feel it’s a band that definitely deserves more exposure.
Eyeshine is a band fronted by Johnny Yong Bosch. Bosch is actually a former cast member on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, where he played Adam Park, who replaced the original Black Power Ranger. He stuck around for both the “Power Rangers Zeo” and half of “Power Rangers Turbo” before starting his career as a voice actor, appearing such titles as Trigun (Vash the Stampede), Eureka Seven (Renton Thurston), and Durarara!! (Izaya Orihara).The band’s members are as follows:
Johnny–Lead vocals guitar.
Maurice–drums, piano, backing vocals
Polo–lead guitar
Ginny–bass, violin, backing vocals (the only female member)
Eyeshine currently has over 10 albums, if you count their demo ep, Christmas album, two acoustic albums, and four instrumental albums. (Two of which are “karaoke” versions of songs they already have on other CD’s. I will not be talking about the following albums for specific reasons:
Sansovox–Their first Karaoke album. It doesn’t feel right to talk about an album containing instrumental versions of songs I’ll be talking about anyway.
Sonosis–Their instrumental album. It’s not bad, it’s just not what they usually do. If you want to try it out, go right ahead.
Xmas–It’s after Christmas, so why talk about a Christmas album?
Sansovox II–See the reason for Sansovox
I am rating each album in Zords rather than stars. This is because Zords are the robots each Power Ranger uses to form a Megazord. The best album will be rated Megazord, the equivalent of a 5 star rating. (Note: I’m aware that at least one Ranger team had a Megazord comprised of three Zords, however, even those teams eventually had at least five members, so it still counts.
Let’s start with How About That
How About That is their demo EP. It’s not a bad way to start, but compared to the other albums, it’s just not that great. Two songs for the album were given acoustic remixes, “Summertime” and “In My Eye”. “Not Really Good” and “Sunday Flower” were given a better remix on the next album.
My Rating: One zord.
This is their first full-length album, and a much better start than How About That. A solid album all the way through, with only a few slip-ups. I have a lot of favorites on this album, but especially “Sunday Flower”, “Blackout”, and “Here Comes the End Again”.
My Rating: 3 Zords.
My Paper KingdomIs a great sophomore effort. This is one of my favorite albums from the band, and it shows a more softer side of the band. The rest of the albums would kind of mix it up, so this was a great intro to that side. My favorites are “Break The Clouds”, “Alone”, “Dance With the Angels”, and “California Bound”.
My Rating: 4 Zords
Tone of Echoes Was one of the first CD’s I ever downloaded from the band. It gets its name from the song “Silverstar”, which contains the words “A halo of light/a tone of echoes” in its second verse. This is still one of my favorite albums by the band, and I’d recommend it to anyone just starting out. Not a bad song on the album.
My Rating: Megazord
Afterglow is Eyeshine’s first acoustic album. Both albums not only contain acoustic remixes of songs from the previous albums, but also include exclusive songs. If you already like the songs in their original versions, I recommend this one too. My only gripe is that they have yet another version of “Sunday Flower” on it. I think twice is enough times to do a song, you guys.
My Rating: Four zords.
After Tone of Echoes, I was certain there was no way it would be topped. I was so, so wrong. Revolution Airwaves almost surpasses its predecessor. It’s another album I recommend. My Rating: Megazord
Like Yesterday is Eyeshine’s second acoustic CD. It’s not nearly as good as their first one, but I still enjoy it. I find it odd that they included an acoustic version of “Emotion Swell”, a song you can only get by buying Tone of Echoes directly from their website. My Rating: 3 1/2 Megazords
Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight is their most recent album. I didn’t like it nearly as much as I have the others, but I still think it’s a decent album. I like the fact that their videos have gotten better by this time, as “In Disarray” has some great animation in its video.
My Rating: 3 and 1/2 zords.
I’ve heard that recently, Maurice has left the band. I forget who his replacement is. The band is currently working on a new album called Sidewalks and Chalk Dust.
Aspie Catholic 