The Passage

The web is all abuzz. After a year of selling their The Passage album at gigs and via their website, Boy Hits Car finally struck a deal with Rock Ridge Music to give the set a "proper" release. Then out came the worrywarts, concerned because the sleeve notes explain that Passage is a concept album, and thus presumably damning the CD to airwave oblivion. Guess these moaning minnies are too young to remember Tommy or Quadrophenia. Just because the set has an over-riding theme of exploring life's journey doesn't mean that the individual songs can't stand on their own. The glorious "Everything" certainly does, its rousing, sweeping melody and singalong chorus could easily be spun onto 45. The lovely acoustic-laced ballad, "This Song for You," is made for late-night airplay, the heavy-hitting "These Burning Memories" and "Tonight" for hard rock stations, and "Escape the World" could work there or during emo slot on an alt-rock station. Of course, not everything is appropriate for airplay, this is an album after all. The graceful "Windswept" is too "folky" in feel for American radio, but it's still a wonderful song. And really that's the marvelous thing about this album, although all the songs further the theme, they organically work on their own terms both musically and lyrically. But taken as a whole, it's even better, as the set sweeps across diverse moods and styles, and after one finally digests all the varied musical experiences, there's still the thematic concept to ponder. The Passage is indeed an epiphany of a set, and a revelation for fans, and by far the group's most stunning album to date.