Revelation Theory's debut came out a couple of years ago and completely caught me off guard. I don't even remember how I got a chance to listen to it, but I did and was very impressed. Here you had a band that was heavy with the instrumentals, but tight and melodic with the vocals. Each song on the debut bled with subtle undertones of genuine emotion, without ever overdoing it (for the best examples see After The Rain, Selfish and Cold and Over The Line)After dropping "elation" from their name, Rev Theory returned with their major label debut Light It Up. The songs this time around are 110% cock rock (as best evidenced by the brooding, meat-head anthem Hell Yeah!), devoid of any "true" emotion. Sure, there are some pleasant ballads, but even those sound less organic than anything on the debut. Unlike Truth Is Currency, Fire It Up is a safe, predictable hard rock record; Plain and simple When bands leave indie labels for major's, they're often (not always) forced to tweak their sound, so I'm not surprised. I know many people will probably disagree, but Light It Up couldn't hold a candle to Rev Theory's older work. For those of you who haven't, check out Truth Is Currency and the 2004 Self-Titled EP.
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