Album Details

• Artist: The Secret City
• Album: The Secret City
• Label: B.T.R. Records
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: carlita on 2012-04-17

Australian rock vets, The Secret City are back with their third self-titled album. After the first listen, I immediately pictured "We Are The Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody".  Beginning the album with interesting keyboard playing on "My View From Here", Rusty Lynch's vocals evoked the great 70's classic rock era that featured a great guitar solo and Freddie Mercury -style theatrical, dramatic performances. Along that theatrical theme, "Soulless"  also made me imagine the rock opera, "Rent" on Broadway in NYC circa 1996, to which I have fond memories. On pop-friendly "Considerable Love" and "Elfie", they channel Coldplay and U2, making The Secret City tailor-made for entry into the VH-1's "You Ought to Know" video rotation. Making my imagination run wild, I could already picture the video with a forlorn guy walking down a city street behind a ghostly vision of a girl. That could be cliché but could work if executed properly.

Slowing it down on "Where Will It End" and "Barrage of Absence", they recall the 90's typical depressing existential questions potentially asking things like "are you happy with your life?" and "why am I here?", lamenting the current state of the world. With lyrics like "we're prepared to wear the blindfold and buy the story we've been sold" and "you tow the line like a blind sheep", you can hear Kurt Cobain's anti-establishment soul reincarnate.  Perhaps he would take solace in the fact that there are still bands like The Secret City who  "stand firm" and " stand strong" by their convictions, and refuse to be cogs in the greed and corruption-filled corporate machine.

User Reviews and Comments