Album Details

• Artist: The New Regime
• Album: Coup
• Label: Command
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: sinist3r-punk on 2009-02-01

Coup is a prime example that you don't need a whole band to make a truly remarkable album. The mere fact that Ilan Rubin has written the music for and recorded every instrument for this album is beyond belief. Being able to do every single thing on an album is one thing. But to have it be one of the best concept albums in recent memory is a whole new thing.

Every song on Coup has this sort of dark and brooding presence about it that sends goosebumps down my spine with each passing of a song. The addition of a classical piano really adds to the mystique and the feeling put behind Coup. Heavy influence of Queen can be heard within the song "Time Erase", in which Rubin overlays a tantalizing harmony that is followed by an intricate piano solo where Rubin shows off his incredible talent. "This War Time" is a radio friendly song with something unique about it that makes the song easy to listen to. The rhythm has a catchy sing-a-long quality that just makes every passing second more enjoyable than the last. "Somethings" is somewhat of a power ballad. It's not extremely complex like most of Rubin's other songs. In fact, it remains quite simple with a nice drum/piano harmony while the bass lays down a nice rhythm to allow Rubin to unwind his beautiful voice.

The addition of piano among many other things makes Coup a truly unique album. The piano allows Rubin to show off more of his vocals abilities without overshadowing the other instruments. But since he does everything himself, there's no hurt feelings or over inflated egos getting bruised. It will be very hard to top this album, but given Rubin's musical genius and his experience with  many top notch bands, I expect a very bright and amazing future for this 20 year old prodigy.

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