Bamboo: Stellar Vocalist, Mediocre Band

To be honest, I was one among the people who prayed hard that Bamboo Manalac will at least grace the airwaves again, if not part of the super band, Rivermaya.

Rivermaya in its glory days (with Bamboo) was a legend. It combined the two most important musical elements: unsurpassed vocal performance and genius songwriting (and producing). It was dream band. It was a perfect band. Of all the Pinoy bands that came and went, Rivermaya (avec Bamboo) was the best.

Alas, good things never last, Bamboo left Rivermaya in its height of popularity. Now, the sensible thing to do for Rivermaya at that point (in my opinion anyway), was to audition for another vocalist with a great set of pipes. He had to have the same or better vocal power and charisma as Bamboo Manalac. In addition, as good looking as him, or better looking (let's face it, good looks sells). Maybe he cannot come close to Bamboo's vocals, but at least comparable. I dunno what possessed the band to think that Rico Blanco can fill Bamboo's shoes. I'm still scratching my head up to this day. No offense, I think Rico is a genius, songwriting and producing-wise, but as a vocalist?

I was overjoyed when I learned that Bamboo Manalac returned to the music scene. The Pinoy music scene wasn't the same without him. I have to hand it to Ira Cruz and company, who knew what the audience wanted. They want Bamboo Manalac, thus they named the band Bamboo.

Imagine my enthusiasm when I got "As the Music Plays" (repackaged) album. I wrestled with the plastic wrapper, too excited to listen to the cd and too excited to watch the videos.

When I heard the first track, all I can say was "WOW!", Bamboo Manalac's voice has improved and matured dramatically. You can still recognize that it's still him, but wow. I wish I could've said the same thing about the songwriting and the production though. No songs, with the exception of the first single "Noypi" grabbed me. None of the songs had the "couldn't get it out of my head" syndrome. I listened to the album once, twice, then that's it. I had my fill. Unlike Rivermaya's (with Bamboo) albums whom I couldn't get enough of.

And the videos... how shall I put it... yeah they sucked. It's obvious that they didn't spend any money at all. My home videos are better. It's like one day they decided they needed a video, then went thru their taped rehearsals and, yay! They have a video.

I'm sure the album's sales were great because of Bamboo Manalac's loyal following from his Rivermaya days. But if they're going to make a lot of new fans, the songwriting and production have to be improved. I have read a few fan postings about the band, and I can tell right away the old fans from the new fans. The new fans' comments were "I wanna have Bamboo's baby", "Ira, you're so hottt." Nothing wrong with that of course, good looks are important too, but not to the point that it overshadows the band.

I hope the band's second album is better than the first one. I'd still buy it, just for the sake of completing my Bamboo Manalac's collection. What can I say? He's an unsurpassed vocalist.