Well, it's certainly been a while since I did a review of a Brony musician and
with TrotCon 2017 now fairly well behind me. I think it's about time for me
to correct that oversight. Up first the EP of a brony I had the pleasure of
meeting at TrotCon, who gave me some great advice on how to improve my
musical reviews.
"Soaring Higher" by Luck Rock is an EP that was given to me during TrotCon 2017.
The CD features six of Luck Rock's songs, five of which can also be found on his
YouTube page. The CD also has a wonderful cover image designed by Scarlet-Spectrum
on DeviantART. Simple in design but beautiful and execution it is a
great first introduction to Luck Rock's first released EP. Now before I examine
the songs, I first want to state that my critical background and training is in
narrative and visual analysis; with only a cursory knowledge of audio and musical criticism.
I understand how to read thematic elements in lyrics and how to
catch certain musical cues and patterns but a great deal of my examinations
where technique or quality of rhythm are considered will be based upon my
personal music preferences and past experiences. Having listened to Luck
Rock's work several times now, I can notice certain patterns throughout his
work. First and foremost is that Luck is noticeably and comparatively recent
content contributor. Looking at his YouTube page confirmed this as the
majority of the content available was also on his EP at the time of this
recording. Listening to the quality of his lyrics, I and a few other listeners
noticed and agreed that there were occasions where Luck's delivery of
certain lines was noticeably shaky and his lyrics sometimes didn't quite mesh
with the background music, especially in "Spike, I'm Cheering for You" and
"Altius Volantis". This isn't really a bad thing as the music in the brony community has
always had a relatively independent or homegrown sound to it, for obvious
reasons, and Luck Rock not only has a very nice voice but the flaws that do
show become less prevalent and noticeable in his more recent material
implying growth. I think with a little bit more practice and training in
singing and mixing, Luck can definitely go far. Moving from the quality of his
lyrics to their content, I can tell that Luck Rock's songs have a very narrative
flow to them. They are telling stories and their lyrics are often extremely
thick, sounding almost more like spoken word
poetry at times. "Spike, I'm Cheering for You" is the first song on the EP and it
is a loving rock tribute to the best character in the show, outlining his
greatest moments and the fantastic traits of Ponyville's resident dragon.
As a spike fanboy I was excited to hear this song when Luck Rock described it to
me. While the verses can be a little thick
with content and the technique flaws I mentioned above are stronger in this
song than probably any of the others on the EP, the underlying music itself is
wonderfully performed, the chorus is delightfully charming and there were
quite a few moments where I genuinely laughed, especially in the description of
all the princesses.
I had a smile on my face throughout reminiscing on spikes
various adventures throughout the series. While probably the weakest song
technically on the album, I still enjoyed myself immensely. "Altius Volantis" is the
next track. A rock song about the Wonderbolts, as told by Rainbow Dash.
The song has a great rhythm, moving both speedily and gracefully through the
verses and giving the image of flying through the clouds. The song is very well
mixed, with Luck making use of some new techniques to deliver his message. With
rather thick lyrics once again, this song is much better at hiding technical or
lyrical missteps; with only one really coming to mind. On the whole, I loved
listening to "Altius Volantis", as it had an extremely liberating vibe to its
sound. As one of Luck's more recent releases, it's
truly proof that Luck is getting better at his craft. "Luna's Dream" is quite
different from the rest of the tracks on the EP, being much slower in pace and
having more of a ballad or lullaby sound to it. Content-wise, the song seems to be
inspired by the conclusion of "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep" with the
singer singing to Luna, wishing her sweet dreams. Extremely relaxing and
technically stronger than most of the songs on the EP, "Luna's Dream", while not as
exciting as the other songs on the list, is no less an enjoyable listen. Of course,
you all know that since you've been listening to it since this review
started. "Starlight's Anthem" is the last of the non bonus tracks.
This track has some incredible mixing work done on it. Luck clearly had fun
working on this, as the music is incredible. The lyrics are extremely
creepy - even using Starlight herself to strengthen the overall themes - and it has
a great chorus that I can't help but be a little creeped out by. This is a great
tribute song to a great villain and probably my favorite song on the entire
CD. Now I was informed by Luck Rock himself that the two bonus tracks,
"MA Arson" and "The Supreme Leader of All Things Pony" were designed to be humorous
and not taken seriously. This is a good thing as "MA Arson", produced by
Quicksilver, is absolutely demented. Hilarious and very well done, but
demented nonetheless The idea of Applejack being an arson
trying and failing to light Rarity's boutique on fire, followed by other
failed efforts, is very funny to me. The song is incredibly short but the lyrics
are also slimmed down to the bare minimum, which I think really improves
the overall sound. Luck Rock sounds great and Quicksilver's instrumentation
is enjoyably catchy. The last song on the EP, "The Supreme Leader of All Things Pony"
is also a joke song, made when a friend of Luck Rock's said he didn't like
Braeburn. Only a minute long, this song is almost sinfully catchy and probably the
funniest song I have heard in a while. The song is great with a fast paced and
simple melody but if you really want a treat, click the annotation above to see
the accompanying video. You won't be disappointed. So that was Luck Rock's
"Soaring Higher" EP. As a first release, it is extremely admirable. With a few
technical or technique issues, but nothing which destroys the enjoyment of
the whole. I am glad I listened to it and I hope to hear more from Luck Rock in
the future. You can subscribe to him on YouTube and follow him on Twitter, both
of which I highly recommend as I want to see him continue and improve within the community.
Thank you for watching and remember that every fandom needs a critic.
My thanks to Luck Rock for all his help in providing the files and music for
this episode. He really went above and beyond to help and I really do hope you
all give him a ton of love and support. If there's a work of the Brony fandom
that you would like me to review, be sure to follow me on Twitter and submit your
suggestions. Also be sure to Like, Comment and Subscribe for more fandom reviews
and reactions. And for more pony content, be sure to support me on Patreon so I
can provide you guys with more in the future.