Venice - Welcome to the Rest of Your Life

The band's name is Venice, named for their hometown of Venice, California. That was also where I happened to discover this album last August in a used bin at a place called Benway Music. (I don't remember what street they're on, but I do remember that they were near Venice Beach).

If I'm going to try out a CD from a band I've never heard of, I have two guidelines that I try to follow: 1) It has to cost less than $12, and b) the copyright date must be in the current year or the prior year. The copyright date on the album was back in 2002, which put in just outside of the second guideline. However, I still had a strong feeling about this, so I decided to give it a try anyway.

Obviously, I was impressed, or you'd be reading something else here right about now. I was especially fond of "Not Down Anymore", "Sweet Aloha", "Blue Paint", "Unbreakable Heart", and "Most of Us." It was nice to hear an album that went of its way to paint a picture of optimism that is missing in society today, not just in music, but in media in general.

This album is barely listed in Amazon.com, and seems to be out of print. If you happen to find this, it comes highly recommended. I count myself fortunate to have found this, and took their invitation to the Rest of My Life.