With a name like STANDING OVATION your first impressions are you're either going to love them for their audacity or hate them. "Gravity Beats Nuclear" is the band's second full length album. With nine tracks, the album runs at over an hour long; gotta love Prog Metal and their lengthy songs!

The album begins soft and melodic, making me question if I had received the right album or not. The first "real" track begins shortly after and I am not impressed. While the band have an 80's feel to them, it seems as though their music is lost somewhere between now and then. What I mean by this is while they do have a more composed and polished sound, they're still a step behind and need something else. Little did I know that that something else was about to hit me in the face with the next track. Right from the get go "Killer, Iron" sounds MUSE-esque and captivates you in a mystical ball of Prog Metal light. The guitar is on point and is the focal point of the track, we're treated to a nifty little guitar solo that would make even the most established musician happy.

It is after this track that I notice a pattern; it's not the first two tracks that are hit or miss, it's the entire album. While the album does have GREAT tracks ("Hellbillies", "Run Little Mouse Run") it also has some abysmal tracks. The biggest disappointment being the eighteen minute long monolith of a disaster, "Lifeline". Not only is this track extremely slow, but it's not even the kind of slow where you can tolerate it because it's good; it's not. You're constantly left waiting on the edge of your seat for something to happen, which never does. Not only that, but whatever happened to the vocals on this track, they had a grinding effect on me; maybe that was because I was frustrated with the rest of the song I don't know. There are times where the vocals almost sound out of tune with the rest of the instruments. The only tolerable element of this track was the keyboard, I imagine the Asian kid from School of Rock rocking out behind the keys - they're awesome.

This album is 30% on the ball and 70% disappointment. If you're going to listen to this album expecting some phenomenal Prog, don't bother, you'll be left hanging and not really wanting more. This is the kind of album where you'll throw on purely for the one or two standout tracks which I previously mentioned and other than that your finger will take up permanent residence on the "skip" button.