The Alternate Routes Albums (4)
What The Critics Say
The Alternate Routes' second album isn't exceptional or much different than you would expect after their previous effort, 2006's Good and Reckless and True. It did in its own way reflect a large segment of the national mood upon its early-2009 release: determined to plough ahead with a certain grim resolve, acknowledging desperate times but not yielding to despair. The songs are straight-ahead guitar rockers with a dash of atmospheric sustain and distortion, addressing tough bumps on the road in both the American sociopolitical landscape and personal relationships. Ordinary anthemic rock & roll is their most traveled musical landscape, but they're capable of gentler folkier approaches too, and those tend to bring out more appealing melodies, "All That I See" and "Quiet Highway Road" (the latter of which, like some of the other tunes, has a hint of vintage Elton John) being two such cases. Of the songs that allude to tough circumstances in typical Americans' lives, "A Better Way" is the most ambitious in its tale of characters confronting dire circumstances. Singer/songwriter Patty Griffin adds vocals to one of the quieter tracks, "Desdemona." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Good and Reckless and True'
Release Date 7/4/2006
Tracks 11
Label Music Resource
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What The Critics Say
The Alternate Routes' debut release is uplifting but rather nondescript guitar-oriented rock, with plenty of soaring guitars and anthemic vocals in the hard-charging tunes that dominate the disc. In the occasional quieter tracks, singer Tim Warren has a light timbre reminiscent (yet not explicitly imitative) of singer/songwriters like Paul Simon or James Taylor; the piano-acoustic guitar-dominated "The Black and the White" is the strongest effort in that regard, though it's not too typical of the album. A bit of hard rock guitar cockiness rears its head once in a while (as in the closing "Please Don't Let It Be"), but that influence isn't too overwhelming either. A group that hews so close to mainstream forms has to have really strong songs, or at least melodic hooks, to make an impact, and they're not in evidence here. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'This Is When'
Release Date 1/30/2004
Tracks 8
Label The Alternate Routes
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'Over Your Shoulder'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 9
Label The Alternate Routes
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