Sound: The Boy Vs. The Cynic was conceived afet John Reuben approached his record label with two albums, and fused them together. In the same way, John takes his background of rap, and his fellow musicians love for rock (including his mother, who owns a metal label), and fuses them to make a well rounded sound. With the aid of bands such as Relient K and House Of Heroes, John Reuben creates a hybrid sound of rock, funk, rap, and even pop to make one of the most diverse sounding albums of the underground scene. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: John Reuben does not seem to write song lyircs, he writes poetry and sets music to it. 'The Boy Vs. The Cynic' sums up the tone for the album perfectly, one song looking at the bright side of life and the party scene, but the next will take a cynical approach, making damnning statements about the state of contemporary society, especially in the USA. 'Nuisance', co-written, and performed, with Matt Thiessen (Relient K), takes a hard look at society and how apathy throughout the generations, wheras 'Sunshine' transports the listener to an opptimistic sound, reflected in lyrics on 'The Good Side Of Life'. // 10
Impression: John Reuben's best offering to date, The Boy Vs. The Cynic is a whirlwind approach to contemporary music, offering all sorts to delight. Albums like this don't come around every day, so if you have not heard it, you are most certainly missing out. Neither a rap nor a rock album, nor anything else I've heard before, John Reuben has certainly surpassed his mere branding of 'some song-writer who looks like Bob Dylan'. Though his appareance is debatable, his talent is certainly not. // 7
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