Yes, Allison Weiss "Was Right All Along"

With her latest album, Allison Weiss has proved that she “was right all along” — you don’t need a record label or radio airplay to gain fame, all you need is a little self-promotion via the Internet.

Weiss, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., recently released her first full-length album, Allison Weiss Was Right All Along with the help of countless fans who financially supported the making of her record through Kickstarter.com.

In May, Weiss set up a page on Kickstarter.com to raise $2,000 for her record in two months. Much to her surprise, her fans donated the proposed amount in less than two hours. Over the next two months, she was able to gain over $7,000 to fund the record.

To thank those who donated, Weiss played every song she had ever written live via webstream and then released the tracks for download to anyone who had pledged money to her cause. Fans who donated over a certain amount received albums, t-shirts, stickers and songs written in their honor based on how much they contributed.

As a result of this project, Weiss headed to the studio to create the album. A few months later, Allison Weiss Was Right All Along was released for sale on her Web site as well as the iTunes store.

While the album is similar to her previous studio efforts — Weiss has released a few EPs like Allison Weiss & the Way She Likes It — it differs greatly from her live act. While touring, Weiss usually plays with just her acoustic guitar, but the album includes other musicians on drums, electric guitar and bass and even some background vocals.

The main difference between her live act and her studio track is that her acoustic songs have such loud angry vocals and acoustic guitar that there is a completely different feel to the songs in less of a raw, emotional state.

The album starts off with “I Was an Island,” which sounded the most similar to the acoustic version with just a few small additions. The lyrics on this track are pure melancholy. Weiss is known for singing her sad songs to cheery pop music and with lyrics like “I can’t do this alone anymore/’Cause I’m no good on my own anymore,” this track is no exception.

The next track, “Fingers Crossed,” improves upon the acoustic version with added drums, guitar and bass. The ending sounds even better with this amplified sound as it starts off quiet and gradually gets louder to compliment her rising vocals.

“From You To Me,” however, sounds much better acoustic as it was originally a quieter tune and the album version has turned it into something it’s not. The added drums aren’t necessary and make the song sound like an old rock’n’roll hit instead of Weiss’ usual indie pop.

“July 25, 2007” sounds fairly similar to live tracks as it features just her acoustic guitar. The song is slow and less cheery than her other songs, but makes for easy listening on a rainy day.

“You + Me + Alcohol” starts off with a wolf howl for the listener’s amusement. This track is one of her louder songs and this version is fairly danceable with a bit of an 80s synth feel that brings to mind Crowded House.

The next track, “Try to Understand,” sounds much better with just her acoustic guitar. The added electric guitars and drums sound almost awkward paired with her vocals. Towards the end when her voice raises on the lyric “And I know I’ll miss the bad jokes/And the way you never called,” the instruments stay at the same volume and completely tone down the anger she projects with just her acoustic guitar.

“Why Bother” is one of Weiss’ less cheerful tracks with slow, quiet guitars and a piano coming in towards the end.

Where “Try to Understand” failed to capture the same emotion of its acoustic counterpart on this album, “Yer Goin’ Down” an anthem of revenge, sounds even more angry with electric guitar and drums. The music stops towards the end as her voice gets lower to repeat the song’s bridge proving just how angry she can get.

Like “From You to Me” the next track, “Ghost Stories,” could do without the added drums. The acoustic version was perfect for this quiet tune, although the violins added to the studio track are an improvement.

This sad song about a road trip segues right into a happier road trip-themed song, “Let’s Leave,” which, while slightly different from the acoustic version, is still a great song to play when you’re headed out of town.