Album Review: Cherry Bloom - Secret Sounds
Two of my favorite things in life are great web design and great music. Strangely enough, those two things crossed in my recent discovery of the band Cherry Bloom.
I was referred to Cherry Bloom’s website by Nathaniel Buck. He thought I would like the design of the site, and mentioned that the music was not half bad either. I was skeptical reading the email, but after clicking the link I was impressed. The site is very simple, but has a lot of style.
Visiting the site led me to watch the music video that is on the front page. I enjoyed the video a lot. It is creative, intense, and absolutely crazy. The big sell is the awesome drummer. Just look at the guy and try to tell me he does not own. At about the middle when everything is being launched at them is probably the best part from a cinematic standpoint.
But of course, a stylish website and music video does not necessarily mean that the music is quality. This actually is another great part of the site. Not only do you get a feel for the band through the video, but should your interest be piqued you can sample the entire album just to the left. This design worked on me, because after watching the video and sampling some tracks, I threw down an extremely reasonable five dollars for the whole album.
The download package has a lot of cool additions besides the MP3 files. There are tons of great Cherry Bloom desktop wallpapers and icons, plus a PDF with album insert. The photography is actually really good, and all the extra features of the download made it seem well worth the investment.
All the frills are for not if the album does not deliver though. I am pleased to say that I am very much enjoying Secret Sounds. The rock sound is consistent, so if you enjoy the music video track “King of the Knife” you probably will like the other tracks as well. There are also several acoustic tracks that help break things up. Though I listed the top three tracks below, I feel like the album is strong as a whole. It was hard to pick three simply because there are few standout tracks. Secret Sounds is very consistent, which is definitely a plus.
You can sample every single song on the Cherry Bloom website to get a feel for Secret Sounds. I would highly recommend the album, especially at its low $5 price.
Top 3 Tracks (other than single King of the Knife) 1. No Gift This Time 2. Puppy 3. 00:13 AM
Album Score: 8/10
May 29th, 2008 | 8:00 pm
Wow, I am a fan of great design too and I must say I like the site. the music sounds good too, I think I might actually buy the album. My best part in the video is when everything goes quiet and the show like the field. LOL I think I can venture to say they have character
May 29th, 2008 | 11:16 pm
Yes, great website and music video. Cherry Bloom has a terrific sound for only having two members.
May 31st, 2008 | 1:55 am
I bought the album, now I can’t stop listening to No Gift This Time and Strange dedication
June 1st, 2008 | 9:34 pm
@Adim I am glad you are enjoying it! No Gift This Time is awesome, as noted in my Top 3. I hope you feel like I do that the album was definitely worth five dollars.
@Nathaniel The two member thing adds a layer of awesome to the whole package.
June 17th, 2008 | 9:10 am
I can just say: Thanks.
Octave from Cherry Bloom.
June 17th, 2008 | 2:51 pm
I have received the album, So Great! Now I wait concerts…