Spur of the Moment'Word'

Grade: B+



That is correct, ladies and gentlemen - Brandeis a cappella group, Spur of the Moment, has released its best a cappella songs on CD, exploring the vast ocean of pop-rock music without a single instrument to guide them. They navigate those dangerous waters with ease, though, producing a record so good, even my a cappella fearing ears are happily content to listen to it over and over again.

None of the material is groundbreaking. None of the arrangements are mind-blowingly complicated. But, Spur succeeds where so many a cappella groups fail in their belief in the simplicity of covering a song. There is no need to make it sound radically different from it's original; there is no need to give it an a cappella sound. Spur's only concern is using their voices to replicate the song they are singing as closely as they can manage, and from that comes some amazing results.

Spur's cover of Dido's "Here With Me" is so close to the original, I thought I was listening to the actual song. The musical arrangement is almost perfect, and soloist Leah Glashow's '02 voice is easily mistaken for Dido's. Likewise, Shanna Zell '04 sounds so much like Michelle Branch that Spur's version of "Everywhere" may as well be the real thing, as far as I'm concerned.

The boys are given a chance to shine in their solos as well, with excellent covers of "Mad Season" by Matchbox Twenty, in which James Yeaton '04 solos, "Pinch Me" by Barenaked Ladies, in which Ethan Baird '02 solos, and "A.M. Radio" by Everclear, in which Robert Tanenbaum '04 solos. Spur also attacks a cover of "Hey Jealousy" by the Gin Blossoms, but with slightly less than perfect results. It remains a fact that some songs are harder to cover vocally than others, and that is the case with "Hey Jealousy."

There are other lacking arrangements as well: "Shimmer" is a great cover, but the arrangement doesn't follow the chord progressions of the guitar in the original song, which throws the a cappella version off a bit. And, "Breathless" by The Corrs seems to be a little over Spur's head, even though they give the song their all.

The bottom line is "Word" is a great album. It's a wonderful sampling of Spur of the Moment's huge a cappella talent, and it is a great example of what a cappella music is at its finest. Spur's collective talents shine brightly on their first recorded effort. Hopefully, this is only a hint of great things to come.