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Review of End Of The Road
by Lee Dryden abridged

I have been listening to your latest album quite a bit. Here’s my thoughts:

 

Track 1. Love that build up sound at the start and the Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. That synth bit in the outro is awesome. I really love that sound. And lastly, I noticed you changed your voice near the end to a sort of Kurt Cobain vocal. I liked that a lot and noticed you used it on Blank Slate too. More on that soon.

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Track 2. A nice ballad that has grown on me. Reminds me of Looking For an Echo.

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Track 3: Great bass lines. The double track lead guitar is very Wings, and you know I love Macca. The telephone operator theme is a nice throwback, too. Whatever happened to them?!

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Track 4. The vocal is nice and clear, very catchy tune. I reckon this could have been done in a ska style. (There’s a couple of ska songs by Offspring that I’m thinking of here). The ending chords are clever, too. Great job.

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Track 5. So this was your falsetto vocal like on So Bad from memory. The slow songs always take a little longer to get into, this one’s still growing on me but it’s a good recording, balance and mix.

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Track 6. There’s an interesting feel change in the middle which I like. 

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Track 7. My favourite! Rockier, ballsier, and that great vocal you did at the end of track one again. I think you’re finding your voice here and I’d like to hear more like this in future! This is the direction for you, Jake. I liked the film clip and shared it on my Facebook page.

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Track 8. Reminds me of My Way a bit, but that’s ok, it’s not too similar. Now, it’s in 3/4 time but there’s a funny time change that I can’t figure out. Did you deliberately put in an extra beat or something. It’s blowing my mind!

 

Track 9. Cool riff, and another Macca style drum intro from his 1st solo album. Nice vocal effect like The Killers on Mr Brightside. Rather experimental.

 

Track 10. Nice Beatle-esque bass run down and background vocals. I like the percussion stuff going on.  I have to say I’m very impressed how you constructed this medley. Was it a bunch of incomplete songs that you strung together or was it all designed like this from the start? I always wanted to do this too!

 

Track 11. This one’s ok. The hofner sounds good.

 

Track 12. The drums seemed to have gotten buried on this one. I’ve always struggled to get good drum sounds in my recordings though, it’s very hard without a professional studio and stuff.

 

Anyway, Jake, we’ll done overall. Your talent continues to defy your youth. Don’t rush things, take your time- would be my advice. But seriously, keep writing (especially songs like Blank Slate)!

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Review of End Of The Road

by Angela Evans
 

  1. Don’t Stop Smiling: Were you attempting a live venue experience? That’s what I was feeling. A nice touch. Your voice is settling in and has a nice timbre. Just can’t stop thinking that the great late John Lennon is there with you.

  2. Always on My Mind: This is a good song and well written lyrics. The guitars are always a treat for my ears. This one right from the start gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, and I’m likely to want to play the song more than once. Again, as soon as your voice kicked in I imagined a young John Lennon

  3. Line of Love: The harmonizing backing vocals are a good match and I am listening and loving this track. I hope its released as a single. Written with good maturity for songwriting. The harmony in the backing voice is great and adds depth to the song. I am loving this song

  4. Standing in the Rain: A cheery, happy 60s/70s/ style song. I can imagine this one being released back then, and I would certainly have bought it and played it on my portable modern record player. That’s the feeling I get listening. It fits in well with the Beatles Gerry and the Pacemakers Freddy and the Dreamers, Hermans Hermits.

  5. Everytime: Sung well in falsetto You gave this one the right treatment by singing it in a higher pitch. Another one that Id like to replay.

  6. You and Me: The melody is true to the style and the lyrics again well written and with more maturity for Jakes’ age.

  7. Blank Slate: Nice, edgy, and enjoying the guitar.

  8. Only You: The vocals sung softly here shows a tender side to Jake Hanney’s repertoire. Makes for great ballads. Nice guitar intro.

  9. I Am Going To Get You: I like treatment for this track. Really vintage sounding. Tape warmth.

  10. The Medley; Smell The Roses, Sunshine, Our Little Thing, Without Your Love: The medley is great and really adds to the versatility you have as a songwriter singer performer and the ability to write and perform both soft ballads and more harder rocks songs, but not metal rock hard. Our Little Thing is a wellconstructed song is this a single release? The melody is a delight. Especially as its towards the end of the album and refreshes the ears ready for the final tracks.

  11. Another Day Over: Great lyrics brings out emotions through the voice and the piano adds a nice touch too. And the backing vocals are just a pure delight to hear. Great harmony.

  12. Back top the Beginning: A highly energetic, exciting track and showing the artist as finishing off the album in a confident mature and professional way.                   

 

I can see you growing and delivering on every release. This album proves it

Review of End Of The Road
by Gerard Lewis-Fitzgerald
 

"End of the Road" is Jake Hanney's fourth album, evincing an even more developed songwriting ability from the young musician from Drouin, with Jake unafraid to experiment with his approach to song structure and instrumentation.

  There is that evergreen, ever-present theme of love: devotion, sincerity, rejection, the pain of facing up to reality, emptiness - as well as a good dose of life philosophy: focusing on the now, smelling the roses before they wither away, and regaining happiness when others deride you.

  Also love-wise, the semi-acoustic ballad of Track 8,"Only You", is expressed in warm country guitar plus a beautiful strings enhancement.

  You might think that, given his sound engineering skills, Jake likes to totally go it alone. Not when he has the competent backing vocals talents of two of his siblings: sister Claudia and brother D.J. Hanney ably feature on a couple of tracks, the former providing the voice of the operator on "Line of Love" which, in my opinion, contains influences of both Beatles and Barry Manilow.

  Lucy Smith provides some nice saxophone accompaniment on Track 11 "Another Day Over".

  Other influences I detected, apart from Jake's inseminal influence of the Beatles, are: (early) Bowie on the verses of the opening track "Don't stop smiling", where the intro quickly slips into hyperdrive assuming a distinct, punchy glam-rock feel.

  Also, one can hear a more rambunctious Wings plus Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), (or even its 'precursor' band The Move) on tracks like the confident strut of  "I am going to get you" - just one example of a departure for Jake, from the more endearingly romantic vein. Track 10, the "Smell the Roses" medley has not only touches of ELO, but maybe the Zombies (from their 'Oracle and Odyssey' era).

  Track 6 "You and Me", with its capering and joyous guitar and piano work, and its overall bubble-gum quality, suggests even Alvin Stardust !

  For my money, a strong standout track is "Blank Slate". After a T. Rex-like intro, the song might mainline on a two-chord sequence but it is a vehicle for a testier and vexed vocal delivery from Jake. This sentiment is echoed in his sharp, twitchy guitar soloing.

  The final song, Track 12 - "Back to the Beginning" - is a roller-coaster ride through various styles and stands out as Jake's most experimental, self-searching track.

A babbling, erratic guitar into segues into a smooth  melodic passage, later reverting to strident Mick Ronson-style guitar and the mayhem of a Jerry Lee Lewis.

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