George

George is a rock band that came to be in Brisbane in 1996. The band only became recognized when they signed with Festival Mushroom Records in mid 2001. The band consists of Katie Noonan on vocals and keyboards, her brother Tyrone Noonan on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Geoff Green on drums and percussion, Paulie Bromley on bass and Nick Stewart on acoustic and electric guitar.

Their latest album 'Unity', released in 2004, had been highly anticipated after the release of their double-platinum debut album, 'Polyserena' reached #1 in the Australian Charts on 17 March 2002. 'Unity', for George members conjures images of sunshine, persistence and of hope. Paulie Bromley states that, "Polyserena was us learning how to make a record, Unity was making that record." This is the album that George had been slowly and determinedly working towards for the past seven years and fans hope as much as I did that it would be a soulful and mindblowing album, rating of higher quality than that of 'Polyserena'.

Katie and Tyrone Noonan are incredible singers and each of these songs prove their ability. The band has been labelled intimate at concerts and with Katie and Tyrone's voices, I could understand why. George are an extremely talented band both lyrically and musically and this album was no disappointment.

Track Listing

1. Falling Inside
2. Still Real
3. One
4. Beauty Of All Things
5. Captive
6. Today
7. Fall
8. Fortunate Smile
9. Change
10. Jaded
11. Surrender
12. Growing With Love

In "One" the siblings sing together to create an amazing track further proving their talent as a band. The vocal roles switch between the two and although both beautiful singers, I prefer, not necessarily the songs, but when Katie sings. The songs each have elements that make them so different and unique. Lyrically, I believe that they group is very talented. The lyrics are fairly simple but still firm and believable. The music changes rapidly as i never ceased to be amazed at what the band came up with. "Once we reveal ourselves we're so quick, so quick to analyse I just want you to be free and enjoy this ride", Lyrics from 'Still Real'. All of the songs are written about love, life and positivity, all good things, and the band's faith is demonstrated through the amazing lyrics. Tyrone Noonan explains his "...more confident lyrics and statements being expressed through those lyrics. Overall it's a more positive approach in dealing with personal issues and socio-political issues, more positive light. As a band, this to me feels like a really mature album for us."

The band look to each other for strength and solidarity and, growing together, have succeeded incredibly and I was thankful for such a beautiful album. After listening to 'Unity' possible hundreds of times, even from the first few songs, I made my mind that I would recommend this album to anyone I find who, would have an appreciation for this sort of music. Its a shame that talented bands like this arn't more widely recognized because I think that they could become very famous and wellknown. Overall, a very deep and satisfying album.

By Jamie Nairn