Reviews

What on earth could possibly be better then Avon's Breast Cancer walk and Lance Armstrong's addictive little yellow LiveStrong bracelets? Why, a cancer compilation of course! This nifty arrangement of songs and styles was created by Vagrant with the intention of honoring three people: Sean McGrath, Syrentha Savio and Doris Hansell. McGrath of course, is the late ex-bassist of Saves The Day, Savio is the deceased wife of Mark Beemer and Hansell, the  mother of our very own, Timmy Hansell who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year. If you'd like to find out anything about where the proceeds of this album are going, visit http://www.inhonor.org/ Even if the bands on this album were garbage, which they are far from, I would still support it because of the cause, and the stories behind it. Punkbands.com appreciates all the work that Timmy Hansell of Vagrant Records put into this and recognize his effort and hard work, as it has surely paid off in the quality of this release.             Disc One of the In Honor compilation features stunning tracks by The Descendents, Face To Face, appropriately Saves The Day, The Bouncing Souls and Avoid One Thing and Thursday.  One of my favorites was the acoustic track "Paper, Rock, Scissors," by JamisonParker. Another one was "Mix Tapes/Cell Mates" by Rocky Votolato. It just seemed to fit.  The diversity on this disc is phenomenal as it reaches out to all walks of music genre and makes the important point that you don't need to be "punk" or "emo" or "hardcore" to join in the fight against cancer.             The second disc represented a mix of some more heavy players in the music scene.  Perhaps the most touching of the tracks was one played by Sean McGrath, The Foreign Exchange's "I hate This Stupid Bike."  Other great songs include pieces by Piebald, Gatsby's American Dream, Funeral For a Friend and Murder By Death. The compilation is wrapped up by a stellar song called "Moment Without an End" by Big D and the Kids Table. This compilation is one of the best I've ever heard. It's solid, it's fun and sentimental at the same time, it makes an impact and it means a lot to some wonderful people. Please don't download this album, and if you do, buy yourself a copy as well. If this review makes you want the In Honor Compilation, go spend the $12 on it, it's well worth it. Charities don't get the money from downloads, so don't let cancer win out on this one. Five Stars for fighting cancer, for some ass-kicking bands and for all the work that went into this one.