Morning Parade – Morning Parade review

A simple band with a simple recipe. Morning Parade’s self-titled debut album makes it obvious why their rise to success followed the fast track (but it may not be a good thing). Officially forming in 2007 the band was quickly signed to the major UK label Parlophone in 2010. They have released several singles prior to this album, some of which appear on the album.

This album sits comfortably in the genre of alternative rock and while the band’s sound certainly isn’t reinventing the wheel, it is confident and heavy. On first listen to this album it sounded almost familiar and I tried placing where I had heard them before. Finally I realized that their ‘simple recipe’ (responsible for their quick success) comes from their effort to sound like every other alternative rock band on “top 40 radio”. Don’t get me wrong, the album isn’t necessarily a bad one, its just nothing new, uninventive if you will. It seems likely that this comes as a result of the band joining such a major label at such a young age (band’s age, not the members). It should be no surprise, (and is very propable) that a powerhouse label such as Parlophone keeps their hands close to the dials on the soundboard with young bands like Morning Parade. When money and music mix too closely the result is an over-produced, ‘safe’, radio-ready album.

Perhaps if Morning Parade work their way up the success ladder, they will gain some leeway within the Parlophone label and begin experimenting with their sound. As a group of clearly talented musicians I would be very interested to hear what they (as independent artists) could create. Stay tuned for future music and Good Luck Morning Parade!