Becoming Something Else [Import]

Becoming Something Else [Import]

Track Listings

1. Windings

2. Come Up

3. Last Orders

4. Shots

5. Stitch It Up

6. Just Like You

7. Because September Ended

8. Lost Morning

9. What Goes Around

10. Gun

11. Start Of The End

12. (You Drive Me) Crazy

13. Zero Star

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
2002 debut album for the pop-metal foursome includes the singles, '(You Drive Me) Crazy' (Britney Spears), 'Windings' & 'Zero Star', as well as the EP title track 'What Goes Around'. Music For Nations.

Becoming Something Else,Sugarcoma,Mfn,Heavy Metal

Average customer rating:

Not bad until she starts . . . whatever that is.

I'm a pretty big sugarcoma fan

im in a coma

What a headache ...

Sugarcome: Heavy v.s. Light

Becoming Something Else
Sugarcoma
Manufacturer: Koch Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000069LCJ
Release Date: 2002-08-27

Tracks:

Windings
Come Up
Last Orders
Shots
Stitch it up
Just Like You
Because September Ended
Lost Morning
What goes around
Gun
Start of the End
Crazy
Zero Star
Zero Star (Enhanced video)

Customer Reviews:

Not bad until she starts . . . whatever that is........2006-05-06

Screaming? More like being strangled. How could they possibly have played that back and decided it was a good idea? Pity, because otherwise the mixture of good girl vocals and hard chunky guitars, combined with good hooks in the songwriting department is very pleasing to the ears. And then . . . they decide to put a plastic bag over her head and mic her yelling. Bizarre; almost every track starts out compelling and becomes unlistenable to the point of being laughable.

I'm a pretty big sugarcoma fan.......2006-03-15

First of all I have to comment on what someone said about Otep down there, Otep will always kick Sugarcomas ass, in every aspect. Better screams, better lyrics, better music. Actually the screaming here just sounds like she's constipated, but I still love the cd.

im in a coma.......2004-11-24

listening to them is like listening to well i don't know but i really love the band you gotta listen to so must have

What a headache ..........2004-07-29

What's with all the negativity towards this cd? It's mediocre? It needs "balance"? . . . ugh . . .
I'll start this off with what I heard when I played "Becoming Something Else", Sugarcoma might strike one as a band not too dissimilar to Kittie ... and it's almost what killed it for me in fact ... however, the more I gave this cd a chance, the more and more I liked until I grew to love it. Truly Sugarcoma is among my favorites. Who are they? Well ... Wehrmacht, Loudness, Death Angel, Grotus, Sweaty Nipples, Amaran, Testament, Circle of Dust, Tankard, Detente, Znowhite, After Forever, Nuclear Assault, ... and so on and that's enough of that ... the point being that most of the bands I've listed above could be classified in one classic metal genre or another, and the fact that Sugarcoma is among them is rather ... unusual. Here's what did it: Sugarcoma has a particular songwriting formula that incorporates nu-metal (unfortunately ... :| ) with a form of other music that I wouldn't exactly call pop ... but a more super-catchy type listenable rock. How is this a formula someone like I grew to be a fan of? Well, I don't generally have a problem with bands simply because they are in one genre or another, so long as they are able to make something of their own. Check out "Last Orders", it's a sort of ... Jimi Hendrix meets Kittie type sound (!) ... now I just got through saying that sounding like Kittie was a rather awful thing, and indeed for me it is ... but I find it's the only way I can describe this certain song, as it's quite an original, yet listenable tune ... and the more I listen to this cd, the more this band distincts themselves from Kittie for me, to the point where I no longer sound like Kittie to me at all ... to me there is no similarity what so ever ... it's just as close a reference point as I can come to here ... if I have given you the impression that this is a Kittie knock-off, please know that is not true at all. Now moving on ...

Last Orders I gave its own section as it's a rather unique song that doesn't really sound like the rest on the album. As for the rest of this cd, it contains the formula I was describing earlier nu metal with listenable catchy rock. Now you might be picking up a stigma about "nu metal", let me say that this band contains no clicky bass (in fact the bassist is quite good, and excels the rest of the band at being good at what she does except Jessica Mayers, quite a talented frontperson.), no pingy "St. Anger"-ish or "s/t Slipknot" or Korn-ish drum sound, and no annoying guitar erks, bleeps, gizzits, or whatever you want to call the guitar noises that are being incorporated in today's modern "metal" music ... no I use the term nu metal simply because this music contains all the heaviness the metal should have ... it's just not exactly the most complicated of compositions you've ever heard ... while the guitarist is not exactly Yngwie Malmsteen, she performs at an acceptable level ... yet this is not what you should be looking for when you listen to Sugarcoma, you should expect songs you can go off singing later because they are stuck in your head (in a good way) but bear all the impact you desire as a metal fan. No it's not Megadeth or anything, but given a chance it can still be quite enjoyable, as the bassist puts together a rather complicated bassline, Simson (the guitarist) plays precisely in tune with Mayers' singing in a rather unique way, and Mayers' voice delivers with conviction some of the best lyrics I've heard in awhile. Don't let any stigma surrounding this band keep you from checking them out, it's worth it. Check out "Stitch it Up" "Gun" and "Because September Ended", I feel these songs best convey the sound I'm trying to describe.

To the other reviewers ...
The vocal "balance" issue -- Upon hearing "Becoming Something Else" I'd conclude that Mayers is pretty much vocalizing 50-50 in singing AND screaming, I don't know how much more balanced it could get. She does both, and does both enough.

"STOP SCREAMING" -- Screaming is part of what Sugarcoma does ... Jessica Mayers screams just fine, and as for your Otep screamer, she has nothing on this girl ;)

Anyone giving this cd a three star rating or calling it "mediocre" -- the fact is Sugarcoma has come into a sound their own, and while no one said you had to like it, the fact that you don't like it should not justify you trying to sound like you are the only authority on such matters. Sugarcoma's songs are unique, heavy, ... and realistically, the three girls and one guy in this band have quite the knack for writing exceptional songs both lyrically and musically ... at least I found ... I'm not sure what such musical pessimists aren't hearing that I am ... but honestly, don't be discouraged by all the negative reviews seen here.

If you read all of this, I thank you, I apologize for being long-winded, but I found it all rather necessary to say about this cd, as I saw the average-review star duhiki getting lower and lower ... hopefully this will give it the boost it deserves.

Sugarcome: Heavy v.s. Light.......2004-05-03

Their Sound/Their Music-All of the songs would fit into the category of hard rock except for the last one, which is semi hard rock edged with a dark form of pop. Jessica Mayers is very talented in the singing department, where she has a varied range of notes and can sound "sweet" while still pulling off the screaming. FYI: Her screaming voice is completely different from her singing voice. When she sings, she sounds feminine. When she screams, she still has a feminine edge but sounds slightly more "guyish" and takes some getting used to. She's also a good lyricist, at least for the lyrics we can understand. The booklet gives little to no lyrics, and sometimes when Jessica screams, she warbles (Which is not a bad thing exactly, but it would be nice to always understand her message.) The main problem with the CD is that there's rarely a balance even in the same song between heavy music/lyrics and light music/lyrics.

Their Best Songs-
1)"Windings"-"All by myself...Everything we had is gone..." and "Nothing to tell..." leads me to believe that this is an after-the-break-up song. There might not be a lot of emotional pull in this song (like you really don't care about the break up and why it ocurred) but this also isn't one of those "He left me, why? Now I'm gonna cry!" type songs. Jessica sounds way beyond that point. Oh, and there might be some sort of balance in the song, not with instrumentation but with lyrics (her screaming tends to have angrier lyrics than when singing) and can become misleading to the rest of the songs.
5)"Stitch It Up"-This song almost has a "death" feel, as Jessica sings "I'm sick and tired of feeling..." and "I always cross the line/The line is always red/Nothing really matters anymore..." The surprise in this song is that it isn't as depressing as the lyrics make it seem and there's some really nice instrumentation at the beginning. The problem for this song is that Jessica doesn't scream enough and the song becomes more on the boring side.
12)(You Drive Me)Crazy-This is a song Sugarcoma covered from Britney Spears (or however she spells her name; I really don't care)and made some desperately-needed improvements to it. The beginning of the song starts out poppy (yes, Jessica's voice is even suited to "pop" music) but with semi-loud guitars, which instantly hooked me. An extra bonus is that when Jessica is singing in that "sweet" way, you get to hear her accent. The problem is that the chorus is the part Jessica screams and it almost lasts too long.

Final Recommendations-Basically, just listen to samples of the songs before buying the CD. There's just so many good points that can outweigh the bad points and vice versa, so it's really just a personal decision.

Average customer rating:

Becoming Something Else
Sugarcoma
Manufacturer: Mfn
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000068VPB
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

Windings
Come Up
Last Orders
Shots
Stitch It Up
Just Like You
Because September Ended
Lost Morning
What Goes Around
Gun
Start Of The End
(You Drive Me) Crazy
Zero Star

Album Description

2002 debut album for the pop-metal foursome includes the singles, '(You Drive Me) Crazy' (Britney Spears), 'Windings' & 'Zero Star', as well as the EP title track 'What Goes Around'. Music For Nations.