| Issue
#75s
June '05 supplement
From
October ’04 through March ’05 the
badge released 3 EP’s of
material: 11 songs, now all contained on one CD titled The
EP Collection
(2004-2005), that were basically the foundation for the
band’s upcoming 3rd
release “****”. I’m sure as they sifted
through the songs in an effort to
determine what would and what would not make the cut, they
must’ve had an extremely
difficult time eliminating any of these songs. So in an effort to
somehow get them all out
there to the public, the idea of releasing three “limited
edition” EP’s was
born.
All
together now as The EP Collection (2004-2005),
these 11
compositions show off the progress that the songwriting team of Jeff
Slate
and Marc Teamaker has made since their
last outing (2003’s Calling
Generation Mojo). They give us solidly
written rock compositions in the Classic late 60s/early 70s style.
Taking their
Lennon/McCartney knowledge and abilities and adding perfect compliments
a la‘ Grand
Funk, Deep Purple, and The Byrds, as well as a few dashes of Harrison
and The Plastic Ono
Band, Slate and Teamaker boldly stake their claim to the next rising of
Mod.
Exploding
out of the gate with Super
Fine!, the badge
quickly establish their mastery of the
genre: deep heavy throbbing bass lines, soaring classic guitar power
chords, and is that a
Hammond B3 organ I hear riffing throughout? Not to mention the fab
accent sound it lends
to Make Me Happy,
a perfect
period piece of cross-Atlantic, Ameri-Brit, pop-rock hybrid sound that
could’ve ruled
the charts of the early ‘70s.
And
that is the crux of this compilation – 11 songs, some of
which will be on the
forthcoming badge release “****”, the rest resigned
to B sides – Yet, The
EP Collection (2004-2005) works as a solid Classic rock
release of the 70’s
- a stigma that isn’t overlooked by Slate and Teamaker who
must’ve penned the
chorus of Too Demanding
(from
EP #2) to accentuate the positive:
“It’s too demanding living in the past
you gotta have faith that this will last
it’s too demanding to face today
it’s too demanding but we’ll find a way, yeah yeah”
and
then a rollicking Rascals style B3 organ jaunt over the bridge has us
on our feet
and dancing in the aisles. As with every song here, if we
aren’t dancing we’re
boppin’ our heads or crooning along with the ballads or
harmonizing with the
choruses. the badge writes classic rock
with a talent that disappeared
about two decades ago. I cannot name another songwriting team of this
era, other than
Slate and Teamaker, that has accomplished as solid an Lp of classic
rock songs as this.
That Magic Feeling, the
final song here (and of EP #3), pairs with Too
Demanding to finalize the feelings Slate and
Teamaker have poured into the
music and the badge. Swimming with The Beatles Sgt. Pepper / Magical
Mystery Tour era
production and instrumentation, the badge
wear their schooling on their
sleeves as they lay it all out for us:
“There was a time when peace and love were
all around
There was a time when we all rejoiced in the sound
Let’s try and find that place
Let’s get back to that place
That is ours
That magic feeling
That love is the answer
Is the cure
That magic feeling
Ooo that feeling
Is for sure”
Yes,
there was a time…
If
you wish to get back to that place,
To get that magic feeling,
To rejoice in the sound,
To feel that peace and love are all around…
The
EP Collection (2004-2005)
by the badge has That Magic Feeling,
and it’s Super Fine!
The EP Collection
(2004-2005) by the badge
is
available now for: $6.98 +s/h*
View
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*Shipping
&
Handling charges:
USA - $3.00
for the first 2 CDs
ordered,
Add $1.50 per each CD after.
Canada - $5.00 for the
first
CD ordered,
Add $2.00 per each CD after.
Everywhere else -$7.00
for the
first CD ordered,
Add $3.00 per each CD after.
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