Forest Rain- My Little Pop-Punk Pony: As much as the title excites me, this album starts off with something I cannot stand: filk. It's like parody, except it's not funny, and the genre runs the gamut from "song about ponies based off someone else's song" to "replace words with 'pony'". This one is more like the former at least, but I still hate it. However, I'm including this album in my reviews because, filk aside, Forest Rain is an amazing guy. There are three covers on this album, but a lot of those are excellent, and his original work is even better. Check out "Family Ways", "Memory Lane", "The Party Hasn't Ended Yet" and "Trixie". 6.5/10
Claire Anne Carr
My Little PonY RocK!: Found this through the sequel, but figured I'd listen to it first. It's set up as ten tracks and the instrumental versions of only 8 of those tracks, for some reason. Also, Claire here seems to be remixing the show songs by making them rock. I'm okay with this. If the opener, "Giggle at the Ghostly", is any indicator, both the instrumentation and the original vocals are used well. Maybe a little too much cowbell. He injects some Stairway into "Winter Wrap Up", which is kind of ingenious, even if it doesn't work quite perfectly. Unfortunately, he also uses his own vocals over the chorus, which don't sound as good as the original. And then there's "Call Upon the Sea Ponies", which comes completely out of left field and is maybe the rockinest track on this album, though I'm disappointed he didn't make the same use of the original vocals. Most likely, they're not as readily available as those for the current-gen songs. I so hope he does the Applejack song. Not to completely malign his singing ability, it works far better on the CMC theme rework, which soars on awesome keyboards. And then he surprises with a cover of "Flutterwonder", but I'm not sure it was really meant to be rock, though I love the 8bit 'choruses'. His appending of the word "Rock!" onto the end of every song title (well, except for "Parasprite Cumbia") leads to "Find a Pet Rock" near the end, which I find hilarious. Sadly. the last track doesn't seem to work. This isn't a great album by any means, but it does make me interested for the second. 5/10
My Little PonY RocK! II: He opens with "So Many Wonders", demonstrating both a significant improvement in ability since the previous album, and also that this works way better as rock than "Flutterwonder". His version of "Becoming Popular" is good, though it's followed by a cover of a song I've never heard and find I don't particularly like. The one based on Shed.MOV is... amusing, if likewise offbase. I do like the punkiness of his "Cupcakes" cover, even when it turns into "Killer Queen" halfway through. "Pinkie Pie Medley" is great. While this is definitely an improvement over the previous one, the missteps are also much greater in scope. Still, definitely check this one out if you want to hear one of them. 6/10
F3nning- Gala: Now this is interesting. It's essentially six remixes of the same song, but each is centered on a different character's part. But given that they are all based on the same song, each track shares similarities, despite the varying approaches. Applejack's, for instance, has more of a funky disco feel, while Fluttershy's is pure dance. Rainbow Dash's is of course the standout because her part is so different. F3nning makes it into a harsh electro track, almost dubstep. This album also features three remixes of the Fluttershy track, and a remastered version of it as well. This isn't the best album I've heard by far, but I won't fault the artist for following through on a very intriguing concept, if with mixed results. 6/10
Tarby
Uncooked: This guy presents a seven-track acoustic album with some pretty intense vocals. "Burnout", the first real track, took a bit to grow on me, but it's those vocals that caught my attention. I notice a few bobbles here and there, which is kind of surprising; the solo in "Burnout" has a slipup, and his voice seems to give out halfway through "The Ballad of Autumn Dreams", which is otherwise fantastic. "The Wings You've Earned", however, is excellent, and a track I've heard previously. I've not heard another brony artist with this soft and exacting a touch on the acoustic, and there's a lot of great music to be heard on this. It's really an excellent album despite the occasional slip. 8/10
E.S.C.A.P.E.: Looks like this is not in fact a pony-related album. It opens with a marvelous industrial metal track called "Rejected" that I've enjoyed by itself for a while now. There's a definite NIN influence here, unsurprising since one of the songs, "Sunspots", features vocals by Trent Reznor. Unfortunately, after that fantastic opener, the rest of the album doesn't really hold up. It's just lacking something, and I'm not sure what, but given that it's more or less a solo effort, it's still pretty worthwhile. Other standouts include "Sentimental". 5.5/10
Everfree: I'm surprised to find out that this only Tarby's second album. (Wait, but it's his third...) This shows off a wide variety of genres, from the ambience of the intro to hard rock and some seriously heavy metal, to softer rock. This is some really good progressive shit, and we should expect no less from Tarby. This gets a little screamy in places, but honestly doesn't detract from the overall presentation. This is about the Everfree Forest, after all. Fans of all forms of rock should give this a listen, and pay attention to "What You Hoped to Find", "One Wish", "Nothing", "Silent Still", "Everchanging", and "The Other Side". 8.5/10
Matthew Ebel- The Lives of Dexter Peterson: I put off listening to this album for six months. Probably had something to do with me getting a job the week after receiving the album in the mail. Possibly also because I'd heard all of one song off of it prior to buying it. But, I have faith in Matthew Ebel, so here we go. The first track is really strong, as an opener should be. "The Last Pirate" is a hilarious romp dealing with Anonymous and music piracy. "A Question of Sanity" is a great drifting instrumental with a nice buzzy guitar in the background. "I Wish I Were" is kind of just a big geek fanwank, which I am all right with in some ways. I think it really exemplifies the central idea of this album and its accompanying comic, though. Lots of the lyrics are about identity, feeling lost, finding oneself, and so forth. Honestly, a lot of people should be able to identify with the songs on this album, and it's definitely Matthew's most solid album to date. I rather liked "These Wars We Fight", "Frozen Oasis", "I Met a Girl", "Wait Here", and "Normal Is Not for Me". 8.5/10
