All Our Kings Are Dead - Singles reviews

Subject: Re: All Our Kings Are Dead - Singles reviews Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:58 am

Quote :: Single review: Young Guns – Winter Kiss

January 20th, 2010 by The Editor

Golly, another new single from youthful Lostprophet-alikes Young Guns! “Winter Kiss” features schmaltzy strings and plaintive piano, cloying clichéd sentiment, earnestly furrowed brows beneath Toni&Guy weekend specials and clenched fists in fingerless gloves from TopMan.

In other words, it’s competent yet derivative emo-pop-metal at its most quotidian. If you think Fightstar are underrated, you’ll probably love this… and you’re welcome to have my copy, because I’m bored shitless of this generic box-ticking approach to music.

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Subject: All Our Kings Are Dead - Singles reviews Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:37 am

Quote :: Young Guns - Winter Kiss [Single]

January 18, 2010

As a self confessed Young Guns fan, I find myself having higher expectations than the norm with a single such as this. I personally loved their first EP ("Mirrors") and so any new releases by Young Guns already have a standard to both meet and exceed. Having heard 'Winter Kiss' a few weeks back when they premiered the video, I was already aware of how it sounded and to be honest I was unsure about it. Since then, I have seen it on Kerrang and Scuzz TV amongst others and I am really finding it a struggle to genuinely support and enjoy.

So, let’s discuss 'Winter Kiss' a little. There are two tracks on this single, one being the Radio Edit and the other being the Full Version. I played the latter straight away, adding an extra thirty seconds to the song. To be honest, the extra thirty seconds only gives me a slow, borderline atmospheric, orchestral introduction, so why it is included I’m none the wiser - hardly the ‘full version’ I was hoping for. Satisfied with the Radio Edit, I turned the speakers up and took in all that Young Guns could throw at ‘Winter Kiss’.

I’m pleased with the production, I’m quite pleased with the musicality but I’m not pleased with the arrangement or the song as a whole to be honest. For me, it’s too ‘safe’, clearly commercially suitable for Kerrang but the rawness and unique style that won me over with their first EP seems to have gone missing during this recording. I don’t feel it is necessary to include string sections, this is not a rock opera, nor is it a beneficial to the band by adding this element. If I might offer a critical viewpoint, I may suggest that their recent press coverage and support from previously mentioned magazines might have changed the band - in this case for the worse.

Yes, this song is alright. I’m not blown away, which I am bitterly disappointed about. When I first heard about Young Guns, this 5 piece band really struck a chord and I looked forward to their progression and development as a band. As an unsigned act they achieved a huge amount, which I had the utmost respect for, but it amounts for less and less each time Young Guns release songs that don’t really show off their potential.

‘Winter Kiss’ is better than a lot of the trash on music channels at the moment, but for me it doesn’t hit the mark. It has already won multiple 'Video Of The Week' slots on Kerrang TV, so that counts for something (I suppose). I had high hopes for Young Guns and I can only hope that there are follow up songs that represent Young Guns in the way that amazed me back when they first emerged on the scene.

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Subject: Re: All Our Kings Are Dead - Singles reviews Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:52 am

Quote :: Crystal Clear - Young Guns Single Review

I've probably reviewed more Young Guns releases than any other artist's for Allgigs during my tenure, and here is another blast of full-pelt power-metal from this young band nudging the world-stage with every move. After all, it's not every day you escape High Wycombe and live to tell the tale.

"Crystal Clear" is a taster from the forthcoming debut album "All Our Kings Are Dead" and a sign of things to come. Winning Kerrang! Awards is one thing but delivering the goods afterwards is another. They've got Slam Dunk, Leeds / Reading and Download ahead of them and the world at their trainer-adorned tootsies. Disappointingly, they have left behind the infectious twists of early songs "Weight Of The World" and "In The Night" and gone for power instead.

Not that "Crystal Clear" is rubbish because it isn't - Young Guns urinate all over many similar bands - but apart from earnest riffing and a tight slice of drumming, the verse shoots over my head and the rest of the song is what it is - a rousing and bullish punk-pop song that sounds like an album track, not a single.

Paul Pledger

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