Music
Store

Location: Home » Music » General » Precious

Music Home

Music Lyrics

Top 10 Music

New Music Releases

Music News

Movie Store

Book Store

Game Store

Software Store

Tool Store

Shopping Mall

Similar Items:

•	Distorted Lullabies
•	Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy)
•	Mi
•	Breathe
•	Polichinelle

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
If Ours's 2000 disc, Distorted Lullabies, was notable for singer-songwriter Jimmy Gnecco's vocal similarity to Jeff Buckley and his fluent command of tortured pop-rock (hardly groundbreaking traits, but serviceable), then Precious makes the case for Gnecco as genuine-article artist. There's a truckload of emotion here and while Gnecco is more screamer than crooner, his viewpoints linger long after the final chords. Opening with the spiky--and cheeky--"Kill the Band," Precious segues into "Realize," a straight rock tune with a pealing guitar lead that solders the chorus to the bridge. Paler shades are explored later in the disc; "Broken" begins as a dirge before erupting into a musical firestorm with Gnecco's howls at the vortex. "If Flowers Turn" is wistful pop abetted by tambourine and do-do-do vocals, while "Red Colored Stars" trades muscular electric guitar for acoustic and octave-defying vocals. --Kim Hughes

Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Good album but Distorted Lullabies is better November 2, 2004
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

For those who keep making the worn-out comparison between Jimmy Gnecco and Jeff Buckley - get over it. Gnecco is a MUCH better singer than Jeff Buckley, and, while I think they are in the same vein (I describe OURS to friends of mine who are unfamiliar with their music as "sort of like Jeff Buckley's singing with some U2 and Radiohead thrown in"), Gnecco's singing has entirely different sounds/dimensions than Buckley's. I would say that Buckley's voice was like Frosted Flakes (sugary sweet, almost too sweet), whereas Gnecco's voice is more like Lucky Charms: less sweet, but with nuggets of charms and diamonds. I can't rememeber ever having heard Jeff Buckley groan from the back of his throat as if his vocal chords are splitting, which is a common way Gnecco uses his voice. Gnecco likes to juxtapose dreary, back-of-the-throat groaning with searing, high-octave flourishes and vibratto screaming. Most of OURS music features discord - totally different sounds playing against one another, including the vocals. I think their sound, while obviously INFLUENCED by Jeff Buckley, is different and unique, and Gnecco elicits many more moods, even in the span of 1 song, than Buckley. And even if they do borrow heavily from their own influences (Buckley, U2, The Cure) I can't deny the result. Gnecco's singing will stop you in your tracks, and I think he is the best currently perfoming male vocalist - period. Better than Chris Cornell (though they have totally different styles), better than Thom York, better than Bono, etc etc etc. See them live and I bet you'll agree. In fact, the first time I saw OURS live (I've seen them 3 times), a local Austin singer, who played an acoustic set before Gnecco's acoustic set, actually closed his set with "Grace", and I thought, "wow, that dude can sing". But by the time Jimmy Gnecco was about 30 seconds into his first song, he had eclipsed the prior performance. His voice is extremely clear and powerful.

If you like Jeff Buckley, you will most likely also appreciate the music of OURS, but I don't think it is fair to call ours a "Jeff Buckley" clone as most reviewers seem to do. Really, the more you listen to OURS, you will hear more similarities to U2 than any other band. Especially the upcoming 3rd album - I've heard some of the songs live from the upcoming 3rd album and thought "that sounds like early U2". Maybe not totally groundbreaking but still VERY good music.

I rate Distorted Lullabies the better of the 2 current albums. Precious is less rehearsed, and more untouched/raw. Distorted Lullabies supposedly took 3 years to produce and it has a highly "retouched" feel to it, like it has alot of makeup. But I still think it (Distorted Lullabies) is the better album. Precious sometimes seems to hurried, like the band was rushing to prove that they could also make spontaneous, natural music. Try it out and if you like Precious, you will most definitely like Distored Lullabies. I kind of hope that OURS will find their true sound as something between these 2 albums.

2 out of 5 stars

Okay you can sing really loud and really high. We get it. January 17, 2005
6 out of 14 found this review helpful

I'm all for bands making departures from style and trying new sounds but seriously they should have just made another version of "Distorted Lullabies" because at least it would have been a solid album and not just showcase for Jimmy Gnecco's vocal range.

Yes I'm jealous, but in "Distorted Lullabies" all the screaming and high notes MADE SENSE because they complimented the mood and lyrical content of the songs.

But when you're singing about flowers in a field or the daily news (or some of the other God-awful lyrics on this album) you don't need some tortured Jeff Buckley-esque stratospheric screaming high note to express those emotions. Unneccessary.

Gnecco is a talented singer/songwriter and deserves better success that he has had so far but this album ain't gettin him any closer. He seems to be more about the singing than the songwriting on this album and that's why it suffers.

All in all the songs aren't bad just lame compared to 'Distorted.' I've heard some of his new stuff and he's less about showing off and back to working on the quality of the songs themselves. Maybe there's hope.......

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing Lullabies November 6, 2002
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

"Precious" was a complete disappointment... the music and lyrics seem to be meaningless. I felt absolutely nothing when listening to this album. All I could do was shake my head in utter horror after hearing such songs as "Kill The Band" and "In A Minute" which wasted Gnecco's potentially beautiful voice. There are a few songs in "Precious" that remind one of Gnecco's vocal talent but the emotion is flat and the lyrics are dull...

5 out of 5 stars

Ours do anything but let us down on this tremendous record! November 24, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Yes, I know that Jimmy Gnecco (singer / writer extrodinaire) is uncomfortable with the many comparisons he has been receiving to Jeff Buckley. But truth be told, those comparisons were how I discovered this band. For years I was looking for some music to fill the void Jeff left behind, and, quite by accident, I stumbled upon Ours, who are devastatingly brilliant.

'Precious', their follow-up album to their first major label release 'Distorted Lullabies' is both surprising and wonderful. Surprising, because it sounds notably different from their first one, and wonderful because the evident progression which has taken place between albums has resulted in the formation of a remarkable and classic album. The dark and troubled Jimmy from Distorted Lullabies has evolved into a more observant and heartfelt songwriter, whose outstanding work on this album has pushed the band out of the shadows of comparisons, and into their own light. However, 'Precious' is not a complete departure from the previous record. Still present are the piercing howls, the eerie wails, and the songs so moving and full of emotion that they rip your heart out of your chest on every listen.

Definitely an album worth investing both your hard-earned cash and your time in. A superior album that will no doubt be there to lead us through our troublesome, lonely and desperate future.

4 out of 5 stars Really good December 10, 2002
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I give it 4 out of 5 because it's not as good as Distorted Lullabies but it's still really good. Here's my really rough breakdown.

1. kill the band - don't like it and i wish it wasn't on the album
2. realize - good song
3. leaves - good song as well
4. places - another good song
5. outside - nice, short and sweet
6. in a minute - alright song, i don't like all the lyrics though
7. femme fatale - i'm not a big fan of this cover
8. broken - great song, one of my favs on this album, i can detect a bit of "medication" from DL in the melody.
9-11. Good, but not as good as the beginning songs
12. red colored stars - this is a great song and the lyrics are real nice as well, this one grew on me.

Proud member of the JimmyKat Network. Make sure you check out these other great JimmyKat network sites:

Lyrics Database Celebrity Blog Celebrity Thing Celebrity PC Celebrity Latest Celebrity Pro Travel Photos Quotes Flash Games

Is there a better
price available?

Find out:

Music Store

Music
Store