Artware Allstars – Shards Of Our Hearts
Artware Allstars – Shards Of Our Hearts – Album Review
Interesting! I’m not like, the worst at the internet…I’m usually pretty good at tracking things down when it comes to information & whatnot, especially when you’ve been around for a while. From what I can tell, it looks like Artware Allstars have been releasing music since about 2015 with their album Lost For Words, but beyond that, I haven’t been able to find much out there to share with you about this band. They put out an EP called I’m Alive back in 2017…but if you’re looking at Spotify you’d be able to figure that out on your own, so like…you know…I’m not really providing you with groundbreaking news here. I suppose it’s safe to assume when you run into situations like this that a band or artist with no real footprint or extraneous information available simply wants things to be about the music. So be it!
With albums like Shards Of Our Hearts that are versatile in sound & style, and utilize multiple singers & whatnot, we’re kind of bound to like what we like and love what we love – but make no mistake, it’s only human nature to end up playing favorites in a scenario like this. Like for myself personally, I really dig the piano-led melody of their title track as the album begins…and that’s probably where my list stops when considering my own personal taste. I’d readily acknowledge that the vocals are really well sung, but they sound like they’re coming from the school of Evanescence, and that whole Amy Lee thing has never really been my jam. She sounds perfectly on-point though, don’t get me wrong – it might not be my thing, but there’s nothing stopping it from being your thing as far as what’s coming from the microphone is concerned. I’d be more apt to say that the odd design of “Shards Of Our Hearts” would be more of a potential hindrance than anything to do with the way it’s being sung. There’s uniqueness here, and art involved…and I dig both of those things…but I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that this opening tune is the kind of cut that’s strong enough to get people excited about what comes after. Around the 1:55 mark, when the drums have more of a role and presence in this song, it feels like these Artware Allstars are finding their way for a moment, but it’s fairly fleeting. The hooks are razor thin here overall…the bridge is arguably the most compelling piece of this song…and whenever that’s the case, I’m tellin’ ya, you’ve probably created a cut with little accessibility that ends up being hard to stand behind.
So when things were switched up from the melodramatic sound of “Shards Of Our Hearts” into a more upbeat Pop/Rock Alt/Indie vibe like you’ll hear on “I Will Show You” I felt like we got thrown a lifeline early. It does open up the question as to how Artware Allstars came to the conclusion that “Shards Of Our Hearts” would have been the right fit to open up the record and be the listener’s first impression, but I felt fine to move on. Ultimately, I feel like Artware Allstars is a project built with songwriters that have likely been around for quite some time now, doing their thing how they’ve always done it – and while there isn’t anything wrong with that whatsoever, you can feel a bit of a disconnect when it comes to what’s out there in the scene today. “I Will Show You” is a well-written and well-executed tune that also happens to have the advantage of a much higher degree of accessibility when it comes to how it’ll be received by the masses. We’re not recreating the wheel here, but that’s fine with me – sometimes you just wanna play a song that feels good to play it, and I’d argue that’s what “I Will Show You” is. This tune reminds me a bit of what we used to find in The RA-6600 from Hembot records on these pages of ours, crossed with something a little more mature in the songwriting department, like Toad The Wet Sprocket. In any event, I don’t think things need to be overcomplicated to make a favorable impression – I like what I hear on “I Will Show You” & feel like most folks out there would probably tune in for this.
I end up with concerns around track three, “She Had No Time.” Don’t get it twisted, it’s another fairly well-written tune at its core, but I do feel like the Artware Allstars have a versatility they’re not using to their full advantage. If they’re capable of drawing us in so easily with sounds like “I Will Show You,” then you have to wonder why you’d want to create moodier barriers between them and listening ears with tracks like “Shards Of Our Hearts” and “She Had No Time” so early on into the set. I’m not even arguing that they couldn’t or shouldn’t be included on the album – if that’s what you wanna create, there’s no more or less justification for any kind of art in my personal opinion…stay true to who you are. Consider the potential audience in the places that matter though – I’m not saying shape your world around them, but think of it this way…Artware Allstars are working with fairly desolate energy on both “She Had No Time” and their title-track to open their album, and that makes everything afterwards a very tough sell when it comes to the court of public opinion. By track three, regardless of whether we appreciate that we’ve got decent songwriting and execution, we now know we’re in for an album that’s going to be filled with deep cuts that is going to be very mood-dependent on the listening side of things. We’ll all know when we wanna reach for Shards Of Our Hearts, but I don’t get the sense that energy like this will be sought out each and every day, know what I mean? Artware Allstars have a whole different side of their sound that we’ve already experienced, and it’s like PUT ME IN COACH, I’VE GOT THIS. So…again, it’s clear that there’s a respectable level of craft here, but there’s still major risks being taken as well in the way an album like this is laid out when considering the potential accessibility Artware Allstars have.
Case in-point, “Maybe It Takes” would have been great as a track two, coming after “I Will Show You,” and then MAYBE at that point you’d wanna hit the audience with the moodier vibes around track three or four – but at least by then you’ve got them willing to stick around, you feel me? Even that’s a fairly old-school way to look at record design in a world that’s filled with singles these days…but I feel like it’s still a format you can rely on to get people tuning in. “Maybe It Takes” is blessed with a kickass main hook that is highly memorable…a moment strong enough to overpower shakier spots like you’ll find in the vocals of the bridge, or verses that don’t quite measure up all that close to the power of the chorus. I gotta be real with ya…I don’t know if we’re going with programmed drums or a more inexperienced person on the kit, but I haven’t been feeling the drums on this record at all…I’m not usually so direct about that, but I haven’t really found a bright spot by track for and that’s another major concern. The rest is alright…I’ve heard some solid ideas in the bass-lines and guitar…the vocals and melody of the chorus on “Maybe It Takes” are both straight-up irresistible…there are many positives to build on here. Just be cautious Artware Allstars…listen carefully to a moment like “love is the thing that makes you feel good” and be brutally objective about it…lyrically, that’s paper thin…vocally, it’s not where it needs to be – and in the context of a song where everything else is generally going very right for ya, you don’t want to have anything holding it back. So if a part doesn’t undeniably add something, just remember that it’s likely taking something away instead. Rewrite, redo, refine…whatever has to be done, but I’d definitely caution against keeping anything that doesn’t live up to the highest standards being set along the way, because that’s when listeners will notice and critics like me have no choice but to call you out. I will say this…”Maybe It Takes” has a chorus so freakishly strong that it could overpower just about anything else that we might hesitate over, and sometimes a single piece of a track can be enough to secure a victory with listening ears when it’s THIS good…so they might come out alright with this song. Those are single-worthy vibes Artware Allstars are rocking with in the chorus of “Maybe It Takes,” 100%.
Another case in-point for ya, if it’s sadness & heartbreak that Artware Allstars wants to communicate through their songs, then even “Tears Are Falling” would have still probably made a better fit earlier on into the lineup than the title track or “She Had No Time” did in terms of its sound and how that would likely appeal to listeners. Personally, I feel like “Tears Are Falling” still needs another month in the ol’ incubator and it’s way far away from what Artware Allstars should be looking to put on a record, but I’d still tell ya that it’s got a more accessible vibe than the two songs I’ve cited in comparison theme-wise. Where I get frustrated, is where you hear a band like this struggling to force the square peg through the round hole continually in the songwriting of a cut like “Tears Are Falling,” and make things fit where they kinda do & kinda don’t – and then with like, what, thirty seconds left to go in the song they present you the strongest hook in the entire song right before it’s over? Again…all I can do is call things like I hear’em y’all…if that makes me the villain, it’s always a role I’ve been willing to play in order to help the artists and bands in our scene reach the potential they have. The chorus of “Tears Are Falling” is pretty good really – I think that’s another really memorable part that works extremely well. Then you’ve got verses that a bit of an odd fit and a little all over the map, a bridge just past the two-minute mark that isn’t serving the song as well as it needs to be, and a hidden hook in the music saved for the finale, which arguably should have been the main meat of this entire song! Listen to that spot around the 3:30 mark will ya? Are we rationing great moments in music for some reason I haven’t been made aware of? That was the hook that Artware Allstars would have been better off building this whole song around as opposed to leaving it for a tiny fraction we find at the end of “Tears Are Falling.” This is where criticism is crucial…I mean…I’d never tell anyone they have to take everything I say and get right under the hood to tinker with this or that, but sometimes it really helps to realize what we hear on the other side of the speakers can be completely and totally different than how it is heard by those closest to its creation.
Even on a song like “She,” where you can tell the lead singer isn’t what you’d probably consider to BE a lead singer, the idea is tighter, makes more audible sense, and has that much more accessibility. All-in-all, pretty much every one of us listening will take a less experienced singer in exchange for ideas that aren’t quite fully formed – so for me, I’m onboard with “She” – at the halfway point on Shards Of Our Hearts, in my opinion it’s one of the album’s better conceived tunes. The lead vocals aren’t that far off from where you’d want to find them, and tonally they’re still on-point…that’s pretty much all you can ask for outside of the polished mainstream. All this dude needs to do in order to do what he’s doing better is believe that he can sing as well as he can, and remember that when it comes time to execute. He’s got the talent, he’s got a voice with great character…now it’s just about believing in that & getting into the studio booth with the full confidence he needs to bring to a lead. Other than that, I think the performance instincts are great, the passion is clearly there, and he’s able to communicate the sincerity in the melody…again, that’s a lot of positive things to build on. I also felt like “She” was a great example of how to create the kind of moodier vibes that Artware Allstars wants to create without adding in too much despair that the energy becomes desolate. “She” has more of a shifting set of moods within it that displays tangible hope inside of its melancholy demeanor…overall, the ideas are really good here.
Like I was telling you at the start of this review, versatility can work both for and against you. On the one hand, you WANT the freedom you’ll find in a record like this to go wherever the sound takes you and do whatever it is you wanna do with your music. On the other hand, that extreme diversity in the mood, sound, tenor and tone, can make things feel very imbalanced if you’re not too careful. The consistency of a record like Shards Of Our Hearts becomes the inconsistency – make sense? All we know for sure is that the song that comes next probably won’t sound like the one we just heard – and while that’s an admirable way to approach things artistically, the trade-off becomes accessibility. Like, it’s admittedly tough to make transitions in listening from tracks like “Shards Of Our Hearts” to “I Will Show You,” or between something like “She” and “You Find Me There” later on as you pass the halfway mark. We’re ultimately talking about different sounds that would be suited to different EPs as opposed to being found on one album…that’s my take on what I’m hearing. Obviously no one wants to listen to an album filled with songs stuck in one single gear either, but too much diversity can get the better of you pretty darn quick, which seems to be the case on this album. “You Find Me There” is alright…I’m not really feeling too much like objecting to it…I’m not necessarily wowed by it either, but it seems to have everything where it should be. I’m gonna say that the final thirty seconds are the strongest part of this song again, because that’s the undeniable truth…but…overall, it’s not a bad tune. I don’t know that a track like “You Find Me There” is giving people enough reasons to be excited about it or a sound that would make people instantly want to hear it again, but it’s quaint, inoffensive, and fairly pleasant too.
For me, it’s a matter of the strength in the material for the most part. Artware Allstars have some work to do in that regard. Even in the context of a song like “Fly Like An Angel,” that has an absolutely amazing moment in the vocals at the heights of its main chorus hook, ends up deflating itself or watering down the idea by the second half of chorus not measuring up to what we just heard quality-wise in tone. I’m not saying you gotta go from big note to bigger notes – but I am saying that when you listen to the first half of the chorus of “Fly Like An Angel,” the tone is spot on – and when you get to the latter half, where you hear “goodbye until then,” the consistency in the quality of the tone drops out. So again…that becomes frustrating on our side of the speakers, because only mere seconds before, we just witnessed one of the most outstanding moments on the microphone and we KNOW that the talent is there. Which tells me that it’s one of two things really…either Artware Allstars are rushing things, which seems like it would be very strange to do after six years between recordings…OR…those tough conversations aren’t being had when they need to be in order for them to collectively achieve their best together. Think of it this way – those conversations don’t NEED to be tough, they just need to be honest and authentic. Could a singer sing something better than they just did? Sure! It happens all the time in the best of the best of what we listen to – and no one needs to be offended by someone asking if they can give something another shot. That’s a professionalism thing at the end of the day – but make no mistake, those conversations need to be had, otherwise you end up with moments that compromise the quality of a song or performance overall. In the context of a collective working together like I’d assume we have here in Artware Allstars, think of it like this – you might have to have a tough conversation with one member in a performance but the results of doing that might make the other five members happier.
Again…I feel like the standards for the drums have gotta come up. On a track like “Tell Me,” that is arguably one of the album’s more innovative and clever tunes…I don’t know that I’m convinced that the drums aren’t just flat out getting in the way of what could be a great song. Like, I loved the breakdown around the two minute mark of “Tell Me” – and “Tell Me” what it is you notice that’s different there? It’s the absence of drums! The part itself is clever, but it’s also enhanced by the fact that the drums just disappear for a moment and we get to absorb the song & melody without them cluttering things up. I think the lead vocals came out great, I like how the vocal melody is phrased throughout the verses and feel like that stands out for its uniqueness in the right ways…and I was less sure about the backing vocals towards the end. I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re off in what we hear in the background, but I’d probably say that there’s a better fit that’s still to be found as well. Artware Allstars sound like they’re struggling a bit with this comeback album in my opinion, even on the best of its tunes like “Maybe It Takes,” “I Will Show You,” “She,” or “Tell Me,” there are still opportunities to make these tunes even better with a bit more patience, objectivity, and refinement overall – but that’s up to them y’all, not me.
Like, I respect the idea of doing things differently…but it’s way tougher when it feels like it becomes a forced element that doesn’t quite fit. As I heard the start of “I’ll Remember” and looked over to see that this was the longest song on the record at more than five minutes in length, I kind of had to shake my head a little this time around. We’re all fans of music – we’re all listeners outside of being creators or whatever else it is we do – our ears know when things are on the mark and when they’re drifting wide of the desired results. “I’ll Remember” isn’t going to hold up over time Artware Allstars, and ultimately, I feel like you know that…that’s where my frustration comes in, because they hear this song with two ears just like I do. I’m not going to knock the songwriting…I’m not going to knock the music or the sound – I think both of those parts of this song COULD be great – but what I am going to tell you is that we don’t really get a chance to appreciate either of those aspects of “I’ll Remember” because the lead vocals are too far away from where this melody needed to get to. I never want to be the guy that would outright say that someone can’t sing – and I’m not gonna be that guy now either – I feel like the lead vocals have potential, and with a bit more objectivity and focus, could possibly get this song to where it needs to go. As it stands, I’ve gotta be real with ya and call things like I hear them like I always do – we’re right on the borderline of what could be described as grating…and obviously that’s probably not what Artware Allstars are going for, you feel me? So with a more droning style of vocals coming out with a sound that’s going to resonate the wrong way with people out there, and the longer length of “I’ll Remember” – there’s no doubt that the odds are stacked against what could possibly be one of the album’s better tunes if we could get a more balanced glimpse of what it could be. Right now, all the best parts of this song are buried underneath a performance that seems like it’s last call at the bar while still sad at home.
When there are no vocals, like you’ll find on “Don’t Look Back,” I feel like the music has a much better chance at making the impression it should and receiving the credit the effort should get. Heck, I don’t even mind the drums in this particular tune either! It’s still not my favorite part about it, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves – but there were several moments along the way where they felt like a much better fit into an instrumental tune like this than they have been when vocals have been involved. In my personal opinion, “Don’t Look Back” is inarguably one of the album’s better songs…and in a way, I’d be a little bit surprised if many people felt any differently. Having vocals can obviously be a great thing – when they serve the song and when they fit…when they ADD something to the experience – and I feel like that’s been the main challenge for Artware Allstars all throughout this record. It’s been tough to find that vocal flow or pattern or melody that feels like a naturally suited pairing to the music surrounding them. It’s not until you hear the successful instrumental vibes of a track like “Don’t Look Back” that has you wondering why Artware Allstars would continue to struggle when they could just do this instead. “Don’t Look Back” is entertaining, expressive, well-played, and engaging from start to finish – it has the kind of energy that you wanna find in an instrumental song that you’ll wanna turn UP. So in the context of something like this, they get a big thumbs up from me…I think the pathway forward is right here in the blueprint of “Don’t Look Back” if you’re asking me for my opinion. From there, it’s just the little things and attention to detail that’s still required – like I was saying earlier, it’s been nearly six or seven years between releases, so to hear things like that spot around the 2:09 mark where the sound just completely cuts out for whatever inexplicable reason…c’mon y’all…you’re rushing where you don’t need to be. Take the time to get things as right as possible, and know that if you get a song 95% right in the end, it’s never going to be what you hear in the years to follow – you’ll only ever hear the 5% you could have potentially got better with more patience, and practice…trust me on that one; I’ve done that several times in the course of my own career as a musician and it’s a tough thing to live with. It’s like audible proof that you took a shortcut as opposed to going the long way around when you knew that you needed to. If you gotta start everything back up from scratch, honestly, it’s still worth it, every time.
“Fly Like An Angel” reappears at the end of this album, this time labelled as “Goodbye” and featuring a different singer than what we heard in the previous version. I’ve said many times on these pages of ours that having one song appear on the inside of one lineup of tunes gives you the opportunity to have it wear out twice as fast with listeners, even in the best of scenarios – and I advise against doing that, every single time this comes up. Folks are usually tempted to do this with what they even consider to be their BEST tunes – and now ask yourself, objectively, why you would want to risk your BEST tunes wearing out twice as fast because listeners heard them twice as much? Seems almost crazy when you think of it that way, right? Well…I’m here to tell ya, it happens all the time, still to this very day and it will continue to happen long after we’re all gone – so apparently someone out there thinks it’s the right call to make & that it’s a risk worth taking. Anyhow. I’m not entirely sure what to say here…”Goodbye” ends up maybe finding a more ballad-driven sound that kind of suits it, but I don’t know that the lead vocals quite reach the heights or standards set for this song earlier on. Even though I didn’t feel like “Fly Like An Angel” ended up with a chorus that worked flawlessly from start to finish, I would still probably say that it might have very well contained THE vocal highlight to be found on this entire record at the heights of the main hook. “Goodbye” doesn’t go for the big notes, and I guess you could say there’s a bit more consistency to it as a result of the evenness in the performance…but it also kind of feels like a version of “Fly Like An Angel” that’s searching for the spark we know it’s capable of having. The only way I’ve ever known how to serve the music scene in what I do is to be as honest and objective as I can be – not to make fun of anyone, but to encourage folks to reach for their best. Sometimes that means I gotta point out where things could go better, like here on Shards Of Our Hearts – I haven’t heard the previous records from 2015 & 2017, but this one we have here in 2024 feels rushed for what would be inexplicable reasons after being away for so long. They might not think I’m on their side, but I truly am – I just know there’s more to this project than we’re shown. We’ve been flashed a lot of talent in the music along the way, and we’ve caught glimpses of some great ideas too – but there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done here, and Artware Allstars still needs to level up in their attention to every detail.
Find Artware Allstars at Apple Music here: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/artware-allstars/315608663
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