Back in 2007, a band called Thrice began working on a concept of having four EP’s spread across two albums, with each EP representing a classical element: fire, water, earth, and air.  Each element contained six songs, twenty-four songs in total.  Many regard this project, titled The Alchemy Index,  as their greatest recordings to date; each song bring brilliantly written, produced, as well as performed.  It was an original concept, deeply loved by their fans and many in the music community.  Three years later, a band called The Dear Hunter began working on a concept called The Color Spectrum, a concept of nine EP’s with four songs each, encompassing a single album of thirty-six songs.  Initially, many were skeptical it ripped off the idea of The Alchemy Index, with members of Thrice even joking about it during interviews, saying they would respond with a new project called The Periodic Table, with multiple songs dedicated to each chemical element, totaling hundreds of songs.  As big a fan as I am of The Dear Hunter, even I was skeptical at first, but in the end was blown away by the result.

The Color Spectrum, though you may argue the originality of the idea, is a great concept.  The colors (black, red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet, blue, and white) each entail four amazing songs.  The groups themselves differ in genre, and though a couple songs may perceptively fit better within other colors, the album as a whole speaks wonders on the talented versatility within the band, namely Casey Crescenzo. Casey has proven his writing and vocal talents several times before with previous albums, and this project pushes the point further by showing his ability to create beauty outside of what seemed to be his comfort zone.

The album starts with the color black, a darker, heavier electronic/digital feel, and swiftly moves through other colors to get to the white finale.  Any listener can find something great on this album, be it country or heavy rock or folk or acoustic piano, there seems to be something for everyone (outside of hip hop) on this album.  You can find the classic Dear Hunter style of violin, horn, guitar driven story-telling (indigo, violet), but you need to hear the differing styles you’ve yet to hear from them (black, yellow, orange, red, etc.).  Key tracks on this album would pretty much be the fourth song from each EP, as they all sum up the color perfectly.  ”This Body”, “We’ve Got A Score To Settle”, “But There’s Wolves?”, “Misplaced Devotion” (a personal favorite of mine, strangely reminiscent of Mumford & Sons), “The Inheritance”, “The Collapse of the Great Tide Cliffs”, “Therma”, “Look Away”, and “Lost But Not All Gone.”

I honestly cannot say enough great things about this album.  You can argue all you want whether they ripped off Thrice, but in the end, you have to appreciate the talent, versatility, and beauty that is The Color Spectrum.  As much as I’d hate for this concept to be a trend, I would love for more bands to do things like this.  The Color Spectrum is my favorite album of the year so far.  Please give it a listen.  Five out of five stars. *****