Hundred Reasons - Quick the Word, Sharp the Action

  by Russell Ferguson

published: 30 / 3 / 2009

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The latest offering by emo-metal band Hundred Reasons is a re-release of their 2007 album, 'Quick the Word, Sharp The Action', which was deleted less than a month after it came out when their record label, V2, went into administration. This time it appears in a gatefold sleeve instead of the usual jewel case and four bonus tracks have been added to make it different from the original CD. Other than than that the production is the same and the track listing is the same except for the extra tracks which have been tagged on at the end. 'Quick the Word, Sharp the Action' kicks off with 'Break The Glass', which starts with some tinkering on a piano, and then launches into a typical Hundred Reasons song. It never really grabs you but nor does it disappoint you greatly. 'No Way Back' is similar in many ways. It fails to grab your attention which for me is something of a let down. Colin Doran’s lyrics are as strong as ever but somehow this just fails to lift itself above average and it takes a while to work out why. The production is somehow flat and has a muddy sound and by the time you get to the the third track, 'Sick Little Masquerade', it is starting to test your patience a little and becoming hard work to sit through. By the time of 'Boy', the next song, you have lost all interest in the album and the band. The problem for me with this album is that I know Hundred Reasons can do better and did do on their previous album, 2006's 'Kill Your Own', which is their best record to date. By comparison this album is plodding and dull with few sharp edges and few high points. To me this is largely due to the poor production work of guitarist Larry Hibbit, which is a surprise as Larry also produced 'Kill Your Own' album and the production on that was spot on. I can only think that he is trying to do something different here which is no bad thing, but as it doesn’t work it makes you wonder what he was trying to do. By the time you get to the seventh song, 'The Shredder', a warbling song with heavy keyboards and vocals so far into the background you can hardly hear them, all remaining patience is long gone. One of the few highlights of the album is I’ll Never Know', the song, which follows 'The Shredder', and which is at best mediocre compared to other songs done by Hundred Reasons. It says everything about 'Quick the Word, Sharp the Action'. There is a lot of experimenting on this album and it hasn’t worked. It is too reflective, too inward looking and ultimately too confused. The bonus track suffer from the same problem, the exception being 'A Little Way Back', a slow song that is constructed in a simple and plain way and which just highlights the failings of the rest of the album.'Quick the Word, Sharp the Action'is cluttered, muddy and dull and-what disappoints me about this album-instantly forgettable. Hundred Reasons can do much better than this and this album does not do them justice.

Track Listing:-

1 Break the Glass
2 No Way Back
3 Sick Little Masquerade
4 Boy
5 Slipping Away
6 Pernavas Iela
7 The Shredder
8 I'll Never Know
9 She Is Poison
10 Opera
11 Lost for Words
12 Out of Time
13 Stalemate
14 Punctuality's Greatest Enemy
15 A Little Way Back
16 The Prance

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