Once upon a time, pop and rock musicians were storytellers with their music, telling tales of yellow submarines and tambourine men. But that was once upon a time. Now, we’re fed clever hooks and catchy melodies in the hopes the teens and 20-somethings will dance along. Breaking this modern-day cycle of redundant rhymes and techno trash and bringing the story back into music is Five for Fighting’s Slice.
Slice is the fifth studio album released by John Ondrasik — aka Five for Fighting — and the first single, “Chances,” was released this summer for digital download. From the guy whose tender and soulful sound in 2001’s hit single, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” which thrust Ondrasik into the spotlight eight years ago, we get what we should expect — radio-friendly piano melodies and earnest lyrics of nostalgia.
Five for Fighting’s real strength in music is the way in which he has become a modern-day storyteller — a blogger if you will — introducing a mini-plot into each of his songs, taking stories of friends and family and putting them to music. The 11 piano-based tracks hit on those remember-when memories and universal themes of humanity and love.
The title track, “Slice,” is the kind of song you have an urge to sing along with after listening to just the opening lyrics. It conjures up memories of the good ole’ days, reaching out to the mom-and-maudlin fan base. It’s a clever play on Don McLean’s oldie but goodie, “American Pie”: “There was a time a long, long time ago/ Chevies and levies played on the radio/ No cell phones just 20,000 lights, swaying on a Saturday night.” Lyrics like these wink at the fans that get the reference and offer a good sing-a-long for fans that don’t.
Always the philanthropist, Ondrasik delivers odes to the USO and Augie’s Quest, two charities in which he has been an active participant. “Tuesday,” is an anthem to the attacks on 9/11, and “Note to an Unknown Soldier” relays a salute to the American servicemen.
This is not an uncommon theme in his music; in November 2007 and 2008, Ondrasik released 200,000 free CDs for military members, entitled CD for the Troops. “Augie Nieto” tells the story of a fitness pioneer who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and is now the face of Augie’s Quest, a charity with the sole purpose of finding a cure for ALS. But, Ondrasik’s work doesn’t stop there. His site, Whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com, collects money for various charities.
With an emotions-on-his-sleeve quality, Five for Fighting also offers up leap-for-love ballads that feature his soaring falsetto. Lyrically, he honors his family with songs like “This Dance” and “Story of Your Life,” which are paeans to his wife of 12 years. The notes hit in the chorus of “Story of Your Life” have a clear rhythmic relationship that is almost identical to the chorus of Faith Hill’s 1999 hit “Breathe.”
Besides a few “I’ve heard this before” moments in the album, most of the songs don’t meander into a contrived or syrupy sound. Instead, they are reminiscent of love songs past.
Five for Fighting brings meaning back into music, paying homage to his soulful sound by telling stories of humanity, love and days gone by. And, like all good stories, this one is sure to end with a happily ever after, as Slice is sure to be a success and no stranger to the top of the charts.
4 stars out of 5.
