MP3 Eric Herman and the Invisible Band - What a Ride!
Go across the universe and back with this powerful and incredibly fun rock ''n'' roll journey through childhood. An overflowing treasure chest of great family music with a host of notable guest artists from the kindie rock genre.
11 MP3 Songs in this album (35:16) !
Related styles: KIDS/FAMILY: Children''s Pop, KIDS/FAMILY: General Children''s Music
People who are interested in The Beatles Ralph’s World Justin Roberts should consider this download.
Details:
Go across the universe and back with Eric Herman on What a Ride!, his fifth CD of music for kids and families and his coolest album yet. What a Ride! is a rock ''n'' roll journey through childhood and life, exploring different aspects of growing up and observing the world as it is and as you might imagine it to be. The perspective of the protagonist in opening tracks like “Come Play” (“Get up, get up, mommy and daddy... How can you sleep when it''s five a.m.?”) and “Heartbeat” (where a toy stethoscope hears not only a heartbeat, but a “footbeat” and “nosebeat” and “elbowbeat”, etc.) is clearly that of a playful youngster... But by the end of the album, the little kid has grown to observe life (“What a Ride”), the universe (“How Big”) and his unique role in it all (“Extraordinary”). What a Ride! is not a “concept album” as such, but there is a cohesive experience to be had throughout the tracks, and the narrative of this song cycle is the strongest of Herman''s albums.
Self-reflection and creative discovery aside, What a Ride! is nothing if not fun, and the songs are catchy and adventurous and show the kind of diversity and originality of style and approach that Herman has become known for. There''s the Motown thump of “Heartbeat”, the progressive modern rock of “Time Machine” and “Building a Rocket”, the quirky earworm that is “Stink Bug”, the driving blues-rock of “How to Move a Monster”, the upbeat country-rock of “Carseat Snack”, the acoustic rock goodness of “What a Ride” and the anthemic folk-rock of “How Big”, with its powerful “Hey Jude”-esque outro, where a chorus of voices asks the great existential questions, "How big is my world? How big is my life? How big is it all?" Influences like The Beatles and The Who may surface now and then, but Herman never really sounds like anything but himself; truly an original performing and songwriting voice in the kids/family music genre.
On What a Ride!, Herman employs several of his kindie rock colleagues to help out, including Gwendolyn of Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, who fits right in as Eric''s counterpart on “Come Play”; Chris Wiser of Sugar Free Allstars, who rocks a mean organ on “How to Move a Monster”, which also features children''s performer Mr. Billy in a cameo part and Jim Dague of ScribbleMonster as, of course, the monster; renowned children''s performer Robbi K singing soaring vocals over the ending of “How Big”; and other cameos and singing parts by Glenn Colton, Tito Uquillas of The Hipwaders, Eric Ode and more. Guest musicians include Josh Dutton of The Duttons (America''s Got Talent finalists) wailing harmonica on “What a Ride” and instrumentalist extraordinaire Ryan Tilby providing tasty slide guitar on “Carseat Snack”. Popular children''s poetry author Kenn Nesbitt, a frequent collaborator with Herman, co-wrote the words for two tracks, “Time Machine” and “Building a Rocket”.
Though Herman is perhaps best known for his video hit “The Elephant Song” (which has gone viral with over 6 million views on YouTube), What a Ride! reaches entirely new musical territory and targets a somewhat older and wider range of kids and families as a whole. Videos are currently being produced for three tracks from What a Ride!, with the first, for “Ants in Your Pants #99”, debuting soon after the CD''s release on June 16 and involving an interactive video dance contest on YouTube.