Despite the lack of anything really standout, they do come together well. The music is tight and well written, I can't quite put my finger on it, but they don't have that one defining song. You know, the kind of song that gets stuck in your head and refuses to leave. "Who Feels," with its Incubus-like feel comes close, but doesn't quite make it.
Taken as a whole, the songs here would probably rank slightly better than your average nu-metal type act. If they had more time to develop and grow as a band, I would have said that they could develop into something really good down the line. Sadly, they are all off on other projects now, so whatever Switched could have been was cut short. They had all of the tools needed, they had a good grasp on the balance between heaviness and melody, they had the musicianship, and their songwriting was not bad, with some polishing perhaps they would have found that breakthrough song.
The second disk turns back the Switched clock, delivering some pre-debut demo cuts of tracks from that first album. The disk also incorporates a few live tracks. The best cut here, demo or otherwise, is "Anymore." It has a good groove and plays the fine line between the crunchy heaviness and the needed melody. The tracks are a bit rough and under produced, which is what you would expect from a demo, yet does a good job at capturing the unfettered potential possessed by these guys. The live tracks captures the essence of intensity bottled within them. I get the impression that they put on a hell of a live show, but I will never get to see if that holds true.
Bottomline. These guys had the potential, yet lacked that one killer song, in my estimation. This is, however, a nice collection of music. A treat for the fans and an introduction to potential never realized.
Mildly Recommended.
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