Album Review: The Script - The Script (4/5)

The Script is a surprisingly hard album to get my head around. On its surface, it's the debut album from just another MOR pop band, a la Maroon 5. But a closer listen reveals there's more going on with this Irish trio. The Script ends up being an eclectic mix of sounds, settling someplace between the socially conscious R&B of Black Eyed Peas' "Where Is the Love" and the modern AC sound of David Gray. It reminds me a lot of Daniel Bedingfield's 2002 debut, Gotta Get Thru This, which explored a range of pop sounds such as hip-hip, dance club, guitar pop, and AC balladry. Lead singer Danny O’Donoghue sounds a bit like Daniel too.

"We Cry," the band's first single, takes itself quite seriously. It tells the story of a drug-addicted pregnant teen, a drug-addicted aspiring pop singer, an idealistic woman wasting away in a dead-end marriage, scored with strings and acoustic guitars tuned to a minor key. With lyrical phrasing verging on rap (and a few stray sirens), the song's urban influence is obvious. It doesn't quite hit the mark, but it's not bad.

The album quickly improves though with "Before the Worst." Although incorporating urban influences into a band like this is novel, The Script works best when they stick to just being a melodic pop band. This track has a beautiful piano underpinning and surprisingly dynamic drumming. Another of the album's standout tracks, "Fall for Anything" has a similar pedigree. Piano and warm synth chords take center stage on "Talk You Down," which exhibits a welcome, although obvious David Gray influence.

Then there's the album's showstopper, the lovely "The Man Who Can't Be Moved." It opens simply with a plucked electric guitar and vocals before the bass and drums kick in. It's a lovely song and a nice sentiment too--a guy whose girl has recently dumped him returns to the street corner where they first met and refuses to leave that spot until she changes her mind. People try to give him handouts to which he replies "I'm not broke, I'm just a broken-hearted man."

"Breakeven" is another winner--understated with a guitar focus livened up with strings and synths during the chorus. I also really like "The End Where I Begin," which starts with a nice guitar-based first verse and follows with an even better guitar-and-piano second verse.

It would be really great, if it wasn't for the remaining three songs that don't stack up. "Rusty Halo" annoys me. "If You See Kay"--well, just say the title out loud a few times and you'll see that this is way too juvenile a song title for a band that wants to be taken seriously. Then there's "I'm Yours," which is too syrupy.

While most band's first albums wouldn't dare show such range, nor boast such a polished production, it's no surprise really, given that O'Donoghue and guitarist Mark Sheehan formerly worked as pop producers alongside big names like Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes and Teddy Riley. While the album does have the aforementioned downsides, it's mostly a hit, and when it works it sounds really great. They got the music part of songwriting down pat, but need to work on the lyrics. That's what album #2 will be for.

Best: The Man Who Can't Be Moved, The End Where I Begin, Before the Worst, Breakeven, Talk You Down, Fall for Anything