Tydyl Wave – Break Down The Walls / 2005 Tydyl Wave Records / 10 Tracks / http://www.tydylwave.net / Reviewed 20 March 2005

Tydyl Wave plays a type of rock that is as equal to the current wave of rock (Nickelback, Papa Roach) as it is to the hair-bands stalwarts of the eighties (Cinderella, Guns ‘n” Roses). The vocals of Dave on tracks like “So Easily” most successfully rival those of Chad Kroeger, and the arrangements on the aforementioned track really put it into the realm of what is currently being played on all new-rock Clearchannel stations. The same general sound permeates the disc, owing much to tracks like “Past The Past” that do not break fall from the general sound established at the beginning of “Break Down The Walls”. This is not to say that the tracks are bland or not thought out, but the case truly is that Tydyl Wave plays a style of theatric rock that successfully straddles the line between heavy emotions and melodrama. The mastering of the music on “Break Down The Walls” allows for the tracks to soar up to their level without putting constraints on them, and also ensuring that the empty, hollow sound of too ambitious a mastering does not denigrate the music. What is new and interesting about “Break Down The Walls” is the continual cycling through band members; on this disc, a total of 14 different musicians create what is a very coherent sound.

The simplistic, Spartan sound of “Down To Nothing” makes another leap back to the 80s brand of rock that flitters just below the surface of all the tracks on “Break Down The Walls”. In fact, the track sounds as if it came directly from the period, especially when Dave’s vocals caress the listener’s ear. The soft silkiness of “Down To Nothing” departs to be replaced by the diametric opposite in the rap-rock of “Long Way Home”. The track is still done to the same high quality that marks the rest of the disc, but seems to be playing to the audience a little too much instead of really achieving a continuity between the two similar tracks, “Down To Nothing” and “Something More”. The bass line of “Something More” comes in the perfect position, providing a deep emotion that only showcases Dave’s vocals more. The average fare on “Break Down The Walls” is so far above the myriad of hack-rock bands that have surfaced after Chevelle and others of that ilk made it big, and Tydyl Wave knows that with each confident stride they make.

Top Tracks: Down To Nothing, Something More

Rating: 6.1/10