Review and Giveaway: Melee “Devils & Angels” CD

I love listening to music – especially when it doesn’t involve cartoon characters singing. Unfortunately I don’t get a lot of time to listen to my ‘own’ music lately, but have made more of an effort over the past week or two – once I received a copy of Melee’s album, Devils & Angels.

What it is:

Melee has been described as a cross between Maroon 5, The Fray and One Republic. Their newest album Devils & Angels is an international SMASH, garnering them the opportunity to be nominated for MTV Europe’s Best New Act Category.

From the band’s website bio:

Influenced by the songwriting classicism of piano men Elton John, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and neo-soul star John Legend, Mêlée present their own style of carefully crafted melodic pop on Devils & Angels, the quartet’s debut album for Warner Bros. Records, was released on April 3rd. The songs, which range from driving pop-rock anthems to uplifting power ballads, are characterized by solid hooks, lilting melodies, and frontman Chris Cron’s soaring vocals and expressive piano-playing.

Melee has been together since the early 2000’s, although three of the members have been friends since high school. They got serious about music during college and haven’t looked back since.  They signed with Warner Bros. Records in September of 2005.

There are 13 tracks on the Devils & Angels CD – you can see a list of the song titles, the lyrics, listen to a few of the songs, and even view two videos below:

Thanks to the One2One Network, I received a copy of Melee’s Devils & Angels CD to review.

Here’s my take on it:

Being a fan of the bands that Melee’s been compared to, I expected to like their music. What I didn’t expect was exactly how much I would like it. From the gorgeous voice of their lead singer, to the beautiful piano accompanying their songs, I simply can’t stop listening. The music and lyrics pull you right in and don’t let you go.

My favorite song on the CD is Built to Last, with Can’t Hold On, and Drive Away close behind. The only song that doesn’t speak to me as much as the others is Frequently Baby (She’s a Teenage Maniac), but it’s by no means a bad song either. Just not personally a top choice of mine.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear their rendition of You Make My Dreams, which is one of my favorite songs by Daryl Hall & John Oates (yes, I’m dating myself here, lol), and think that Melee does a great job with it.

As a parent, one thing that I definitely like about this CD is that it’s appropriate to be playing around my kids. I’ve had it on in the background while making dinner in the kitchen or working on the computer in our home office, and haven’t had to worry about what my girls might hear – the lyrics are refreshingly free of the profanity and violent language which is so prevalent in a lot of today’s music.

The bottom line:

Melee’s Devils & Angels CD has quickly become one of my favorites and I’ve already got it loaded up on my iPod, so I can listen whenever I want to. Their music is very much different from the ‘pop’ I hear on the radio whenever I turn it on, and reminds me of the rock ballads that I used to love back in the ‘90’s, but with a modern edge.

Where can you find it?:

You can purchase Melee’s Devils & Angels CD (along with other band merchandise) at http://www.meleerocks.com/store/, or at other locations where music is sold – such as Amazon (and you can listen to a preview of each of the 13 song tracks there as well). The list price is $13.98.

Would you like to try it?:

Thanks to the One2One Network, I have a Melee prize package to give away to a lucky reader! If you’re interested in checking out this great band by winning a Devils & Angels CD & a Melee Tote Bag ($28.99 total value), here are the rules:

1. Enter by checking out the band’s website at http://www.meleerocks.com and leave a comment here to tell me the first name of any of the band members (hint, check here). Please don’t just say ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Wednesday, October 15th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY.Fetch. US entries only, please.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If you don’t wish to leave your e-mail address, please make sure that you leave a unique name and check back with PRIZEYWinners to see if you won. If either of the winners haven’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like an extra entry or two, you can either subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar), or mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post – or both. Please leave an extra comment on this post for each of the extra entry options that you choose, letting me know – for a total of 3 comments if you do both extra entry options.
5. For even yet another extra entry option, listen to the four tracks available on the widget above and let me know in a separate comment which is your favorite!

Good luck!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – the random number generator has chosen comment #40 as the winner:

Congratulations to Margelina who said, “Great giveaway! Chris!!“. I will be e-mailing you shortly to work out the details.

This post courtesy of: