Like their fellow countrymen in Nickleback, the Canadian group Finger 11 are a smooth post-grunge hard rock act that is accessible to the mainstream rock audience. However, unlike Chad Koeger's band, Finger 11 has yet to find large scale success.
With the release of their third full-length album, a self-titled affair on Wind Up Records, the band is heading in the right direction. The one thing that may keep the band from attaining the same success or sales of bands like Nickleback is a lack of single-worthy songs. This isn't necessarily a bad quality but, in this limited attention-span society, listeners most likely won't take the time to sit back and enjoy the album in its entirety. To their credit The Greyest of Blue Skies and Tip were the same way; the band has built upon those albums and polished their sound on this release.
Nowhere is the music tighter and smoother than on “Absent Elements“. The band is at its best with emotional lyrics, a solid, prominent bass line, the dual guitars complimenting each other and quality skin work. “Good Times” features quick fire vocals a la Disturbed, the clearest indicator of the influence of producer Johnny K (who, of course, has produced Disturbed's work). Other songs worth checking out are the angst ridden “Stay In Shadow” and “Thousand Mile Wish“, a reflective acoustic piece that serves as a nice interlude between all-out rock tracks. But, the best bet is to just pick up the album and put it on, kick back, let it play in its entirety.
