One thing that bothers me about the music business are really small bands no one has ever heard of. And when they're good, it's even worse. Sometimes it's lack of promotion and air-play, sometimes it's just they get lost in the sea of more popular artists, sometimes they're album is just missing a couple more of those hit songs that could be and should be there... So where does the third release from Tragedy Ann fall?

A couple years ago, Tragedy Ann released their hard rock debut album on Organic called Lesser. Last year, they released the more southern-influenced One Nation Under God, and this year's Viva La Revolucion continues the southern sound. Bands tend to progress and mature at different rates. Tragedy has progressed at a seemingly slow pace, but Viva... is proving that they're moving in the right direction.

"Alone," a melodic rock tune with a slow tasty groove, displays a Tragedy Ann we recognize and love. With the first few guitar riffs of "The Last Time," you'd think you were on the last Poor Old Lu album, but once the song goes into full swing, TA throws the listener for a loop with a different sound for the band (with shortly being reminiscent of Eager before the chorus kicks in). The band seems to be going for a more melodic rock sound which seems to fit them rather well. "Break Me" becomes a mild speed bump in the beginning of the disc as a good-sounding, however awfully redundant song. Mikee's vocals rise to a shout, which sounds good for him, but the words "break me" seem a little over-used by the close of this 2 and a half-minute long song (the keyboards sound a little different for them, too).

"Your Escape" is a pretty good rock song with a strong, needed message against abortion. Mikee's vocals, however, don't seem to work as well as they do in the previous tracks and aren't as passionate as Grammatrain's similar-themed tune, "Execution." Their inclusion of a preacher's charismatic message seems misplaced with his Ross Perot-sounding voice and doesn't help the song much. "Nothing But the Blood" follows, a painful curveball tossed at the heads of their fans. Although it's obviously the band just having a ball, it's a child-like heavy-southern-influenced track that sounds as though the band were playing at a VBS gathering.

"Don't Give Up" resumes the band's pleasing rock cuts. Mikee's continued experimentation with his vocals work again here with the music. "Why Can't the World Love" shows another complete change for the band as they produce their first real pop song. Mikee's voice works spectacularly here and the song sounds very fit for radio airplay and is a brilliant step for the band. "His face" starts off more like a Big Tent Revival track and rolls smoothly into another album highlight. "La Revolucion" is another oddball on the project. This 9 minute rock anthem starts out as a slow acoustic rock song before picking up 4 minutes into the song. And to close out the disc, TA includes another dose of TA post-album audio lunacy for the listener's enjoyment. The highlights being 2 taped phone conversations of Mikee. One being possibly with his wife, the other with his younger brother.

Tragedy Ann is going the distance with their latest project and we suggest you check them out.

- Review date: 7/31/00, written by John DiBiase