Review: Colors-Outside the Lines
by Dick Diamond
Colors – Outside the Lines.
Distributed by Excel Distribution (801-355-1771), also available through www.colorsmusic.com
John Hancock, Mike Roskelley, Colors (Producers)
John Hancock, Barry Gibbons (Engineers)
The halls are crowded and clamorous as hundreds of teenagers pile into the Davis High School auditorium in Kaysville, Utah. The entertainment for this 1994 school day assembly is a group of three buddies, taking the stage for the first time, armed with musical desire, a lot of heart and the right dose of inherent talent. Standing before the toughest audience imaginable, an audience of (teenage) peers, Colors passes their first and most impressionable test. Now six years and three albums later, the name Colors continues to gain fans and audiences throughout North America and even Thailand. Now in their seventh year, Russell Dixon, Ryan Merrill and Brian Tibbets are just starting to reach their musical strides.
As numerous Colors concert attendees will attest, Colors is three guys having a great time, singing about good times. On “Outside the Lines,” the group’s third album, you do not find the guys wallowing in the all too common “depression therapy” mode of lyric writing. The music and messages are positive, and performed with a youthful innocence anchored by veteran confidence. They possess all of the scandal free (yeah right!) clean-cut popular appeal of the Back Street Boys or ‘N Sync, but avoid the “boy band” trap by keeping the music far more interesting than the trite and typical I-IV-V-I movement of top-forty hits. The music is an unusual mix of Accapela, Alternative, Contemporary Folk and Boy Band with a refined acoustic sensibility.
“Outside the Lines” grabs you immediately with the tune Road to Moscow, which opens the album with a great acoustic guitar intro and a subsequently hip, alternative vocal track. Color’s use of acoustic guitar throughout the album gives “Outside the Lines” an honest, organic and unprocessed feel yet somehow manages to sound current. The contemporary folk, rhythmic acoustic guitar stylings on Everyday and Anxious are very reminiscent of the likes of Shawn Colvin or Steven Curtis Chapman. Another strong anchor of the latest album and one of Color’s trademarks is their remarkable vocal harmonies. This trademark can be heard in all of its glory in the songs Everyday, No,No,No, The Reggae Song, Give a Little, Walk Alone and Up all Night, in other words, most of the album. All of these great qualities would be for naught if it weren’t for some great song writing. Clever hooks, inspired chord changes and well written lyrics assure that the listener will return for repeated enjoyment. Tracks like Step By Step and Road to Moscow give ample evidence of strong song crafting skills. Also, be sure not to miss bonus track number twenty-four, a fun, electronic song writing diversion.
Fortunately for us, Colors has stuck together, and grown from those early high school performances into a band that has something special to offer. That special ability to connect with our own experiences while giving us a little tune to hum during the day.
2001 Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
