Marvelous 3's Hey! Album is, well, marvelous

February 2, 1999
Hilton Price
The Oklahoma Daily

It's that time again! We're on the verge of another exciting trip back in time, just as soon as we switch out of Depeche Mode. So, until David Gahan and company stop messing around with the controls, we'll be spending this week's trip in good old 1999!

It's not so bad, though. There's a pretty good reason to stay in the present. It's called Marvelous 3, and it's a pretty accurate name.

Hey! Album is Marvelous 3's first release, and a fine release it is. Some might compare them to Eve 6. It's a decent comparison, but these three are so much more.

True, they've got entirely too many power chords, and even the vocals get a little cheesy ("You were cool as hell like e-mail, but still timeless like a letter") but if our trips to the '80s taught us anything, it's that cheesy sells millions.

Songs like "Freak of the Week" and "Write It on Your Hand" have the power to push this album to platinum, if the marketing is right. Take "Write It on Your Hand," for example. "Let me write it on your hand," lead singer Butch Walker sings, "so you won't forget. Forget just what you had." This is a powerful song, an epitome of post-relationship angst.

Unfortunately, the band has gotten off to a bad start in the image department. The album photos suggest a completely different style.

Maybe it's the excessive black clothing, or the menacing pictures in the liner notes, but the members of Marvelous 3 look a lot meaner than they sound.

This isn't mean music. It's about growing up, discovering the self, finding and losing love. Again, Eve 6 has some pretty stiff competition.

Much like all power pop, however, Marvelous 3 seem to constantly walk a fine line of quality and cheese. The group does it better than most, though, and that's where its integrity resides.

So, maybe they aren't exactly marvelous. Is that so wrong? Isn't it OK to be mediocre; to capture that one isolated emotion and run with it through 12 tracks?

These guys shouldn't win any awards. They're not the best band of the year (well, they won't be for long) and they certainly won't win any lifetime achievement awards, unless using an old and mostly outdated formula is award worthy.

What Marvelous 3 does is make music, and these guys do a fine job. This isn't revolution, and it's not the "next big thing." It's good music for good times and good emotional release.

Well, that's it for this week's machine. If nothing else, perhaps we've all learned an important lesson. Good music isn't good for any particular reason, it's good because someone, somewhere, somehow enjoys it. And that's a timeless quality.

Keep those time travel tips coming, and help make our machine your machine. Until next time, keep your eyes on the future and your ears on the music.