Never Too Late
There’s a band called Hedley that you have never heard of. A guy named Jacob Hoggard is their lead singer. Tommy Mac plays bass. Dave Rosin plays guitar for them. Chris Crippin plays the drums. Not ringing any bells? Let me give you a list of reasons (complete with bullet points) your innocent ignorance is ridiculous. In three years, this band has:
- Taken two albums double platinum
- Released seven #1 songs
- Beat out Nickelback and Avril Lavigne on Nielsen’s BDS Top 10 Artist Airplay
- Toured with Nickelback, Sum 41, Yellowcard, 3 Days Grace, Finger Eleven, and BON FRICKEN JOVI.
So why have you never heard them? Canadia has been keeping them secret, that’s why. I’m fairly certain that our northern neighbors have some sort of Weapon X-like facility where they genetically engineer rock stars. As with all of Canada’s radio-take-over artists, Hedley is now headed down our way with their exclusive U.S. release, Never Too Late. On this album, we get all seven #1 singles along with other songs from their two double platinum releases that we didn’t get to buy due to not being Canadian.
The first track on the album, “She’s So Sorry”, hits hard and gives you a taste of the band’s rock influence. I immediately thought of Billy Talent when the vocals started, and that is a very good thing. It’s a powerful start to a well rounded album.
They’ve got a bit of the “producer added electronica” curse that seems to be plaguing bands today (electronic drums on “Bone Shatter”, synth noises on “Hand Grenade”, keyboard track on “On My Own” without a keyboardist in the band), but it’s not so bad that it distracts from the obvious talent these guys bring to the table.
The reggae influence on the title track “Never Too Late” was an awesome surprise. The band pays tribute to Jacob Hoggard’s pop star days on Canadian Idol with “For the Nights I Can’t Remember”. They round out the album with a couple of well placed ballads, ensure that they’ll be played at every graduation with “Old School”, and seem to have put together a record that’s probably going to go platinum here in the U.S. just like it did in Canada. I’m going to buy it, and I got it for free already.
