Byran Lavigne
Big Picture Idiot

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Byran Lavigne is a quite a story. He is a former Computer Network Engineer that decided babysitting executive idiots was not a life he would choose to live any longer. His life changed when he had a child. He then decided coming home frustrated and angry every night would not create a good environment for his family.

Big Picture Idiot revolves around his life-what it once was-and where it is going now. Music was Lavigne's savior. He started writing songs, playing guitar, drums, and bass. Eventually the songs started coming together and then enough was ready for the release of an independent album.

This CD is a rocking from the green light and it does not let up until the CD stops spinning. Lavigne plays all the instruments while recording every track without any outside help. I admire him for having the guts to leave behind a career and have enough confidence to put his cards on the table for everyone to hear through music.

I heard many influences bleeding through his power chords-Nirvana, Ween, Rush, and many others. His voice takes a bit of getting used to then it steadily grows on you as each track plays through. The music as a whole is rock with a heavy dose of punk spirit and sound around the edges that jumps right into the core of the mix at times. Lavigne's instrumentation is exceptional, on all fronts, his vocal style is very on purpose, never raising or lowering with the music. There is a reason for that, the music stays at one level so his vocals have to match that intensity without letting up. Looking at the project in its entirety, I would have to say that I found it very enjoyable from my own perspective on life and musical tastes.

I like the way Lavigne takes his jabs at the status quo of corporate America, sneers at them all, and walks away the victor. The musical setting is perfect for the lyrics and his use of the vocoder make his voice sound cold and robotic, much like the subject matter he is intent on focusing all of his frustrations on throughout this recording. It all makes so much sense after digesting everything. The highlight for me was the rockin' guitars that Lavigne is so skillful at providing. The on time rhythm section turns out to be the glue that keeps that entire thing together for the rest of it to all fall into place properly.

Guys like Bryan Lavigne are the heroes of the new millennium-they are to me anyway. In addition, the added bonus is you get to do the "Blitzkrieg Bop" as you drive along life's long and sometimes-tricky highway, turned up so high that the rest of the world goes away for a while.

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