Ace Enders and a Million Different People – When I Hit the Ground
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Record Label: Vagrant Records
Ace Enders, best known for his work with former Drive-Thru Records anchor The Early November, returns to the table with When I Hit the Ground, (technically) his debut full-length as Ace Enders and a Million Different People. He released an 8-song record, The Secret Wars, for free in mid-2008. The new album is a mix of his old work with a few new tricks brought to the table, some more successfully than others. Unfortunately, this highly-anticipated album, filled with earnest pop rock music, fails in both technical execution and lasting value.
Enders kicks off When I Hit the Ground with "Reintroduction," a song which burns a promising start by devolving into a distorted mess. It doesn't get much better by transitioning into a harder rocking track, "Take the Money and Run," in which the whole song sounds rather flat as Enders' vocals do not remotely mesh well with the music behind them. Through the first half of the album, there end up a few more misses ("The Only Thing I Have" and the title track) than hits. However, "New Guitar" is a cleanly executed step forward from Enders' old acoustic side project, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business, and the previously-released "Reaction" remains an excellent addition to any Ace Enders record. The song is upbeat and charming, coupling a bouncy hook with strong harmonies to lead into another pop ditty, "Sweeter Light." If you're not into whoa-oh's, you'll definitely want to pass it by, but there's something oddly entrancing about the track.
"SOS" takes a mid-tempo stab at anybody who's still listening and seems to do fairly well. The instrumentation on "Where Do We Go from Here" is some of the strongest on the album, with captivating guitar riffs and one of the most musically adventurous arrangements on When I Hit the Ground. You'd think that would make for a great song, right? Wrong. Ace's vocals are forced and uninteresting, and certainly not fitting a track that yearns to do as much as this one does. "Emergency" too has a brush with greatness but it ends up so down-tempo that the listener will have to fight tears of boredom before the singer is done with the verses. "Bring Back Love," is a retread from The Secret Wars, given a facelift and it becomes apparent shortly into the song that those who enjoyed the stripped pop song previously will declare it a tragically botched makeover. The song, now a rocker, suffers from vocals delivered so slowly that it destroys every chance the song had of being a catchy hit, which is quite the running theme.
When I Hit the Ground suffers from plenty of problems, including generic vocal delivery, poor song arrangement, and simply the lack of many memorable songs. Taking a broadly upbeat musical approach, Enders' album seems intent on tiptoeing around the point, never quite thrilling listeners, and offering plenty more disappointing tracks than redeeming ones. What should have been Ace Enders' triumphant return to the hearts of pop-rock fans ends up with listeners slogging through the mud hoping to find something to remember him by. When Enders hits the ground, he sure does it hard. There's nothing left to bury him with.
I'm gonna have to disagree. Sure it doesnt do what ICMAMLNB did for me but its still a really solid album and miles above any other pop punk formulaic band I've ever heard. Ace is a fantastic songwriter and i think that although they're may be some fillers, he has made a really accesible and decent rock record. It disgusts me that bands like All time low can sit comfortably in every thirteen year olds cd collection when a great pop rock record like this will probably be shrugged off because ace hasnt dropped any txt slang or high school grammar into his lyrics. As much as i appreciate the writing content of your review, i disagree. I cant wait to see Ace play these live in the UK sometime.
Strongly Disagree, This album is really solid. Far better than 95% of the crap that comes out lately. I have never been disappointed with any release from Ace, great musician.
I'm gonna have to disagree. Sure it doesnt do what ICMAMLNB did for me but its still a really solid album and miles above any other pop punk formulaic band I've ever heard. Ace is a fantastic songwriter and i think that although they're may be some fillers, he has made a really accesible and decent rock record. It disgusts me that bands like All time low can sit comfortably in every thirteen year olds cd collection when a great pop rock record like this will probably be shrugged off because ace hasnt dropped any txt slang or high school grammar into his lyrics. As much as i appreciate the writing content of your review, i disagree. I cant wait to see Ace play these live in the UK sometime.
If you want a really good pop rock album, go download The Damnwells' new record for free here. Ace's new one just doesn't measure up to stuff like that.
I've seen worse albums get a better rating than 46%. I actually think this album is quite good.
From me? Not every staffer rates the same here, first of all, and the number really doesn't matter in the overall scheme of things.
However since you brought it up, let's split hairs here.
I liked let's just say 5 songs out of 14. That's 36%. Thus you could say I overrated it. That shows you just how much the number really doesn't matter.
Well written review, though this certainly deserves more than 46%.
Thank you, but see above. The system asks us to put in numbers for the categories listed, and it does the math. I mean, I could do the IGN method of how the sum of parts does not add up to the actual final score, but in the end, it's still just a number. The review is out there to say, "Hey, this was a really disappointing record and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone."
Didn't see this coming, I don't know, I just don't think I agree on most of the comments. Maybe it's just because I love Ace and I can't see it.
I've been listening to it for 2 straight weeks, that's at least a 5 lasting value for me...
i have listened to ace since he has been around. This album is horrible compared to what I thought I was going to get. I have to completely agree with this review. No track really stands out and everything is just ....... there.
I couldn't disagree more, I loved this album.
I can understand when you say his vocals aren't fitting though. I used to think that about all of his music until it finally just grew on me. Despite my disagreement, well written review.
Awkward. After all the positivity that Ace has gotten from AP, it was weird that this got such a low score. But whatever, I don't really like this band.
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