Stage should step off the stage. No, really.

One would think that a band that has opened for the likes of Bon Jovi and KISS and has worked with the engineer for U2 and Fiona Apple and the mixer for Pearl Jam would sound, well, better.

Without being harsh, the only thing I can say about Stage is that they need to try harder next time. Nah, I can be mean. Stage sucks. It’s said that after covering Soundgarden and Screaming Trees they found their own natural songwriting skills. Say what?

Stage’s eleven original tracks are so un-original its funny. They are cliché, and attempt to be inventive.

Even the song titles bother me. For example: “An Angel Screams from Outer Space,” ” Live Happy, Live With Anorexia,” “The Scientist’s Canvas,” and “Jesus Was A Test Tube Baby.”

My brother, who saw them live opening for Eve 6 concurs. Yes, even live they are terrible.

Lead singer and guitarist Ryan Stahr says, “Perfection isn’t always the key. It’s the act of creation, of putting something out there, something new. That’s progress.”

Perhaps he should reconsider.

— Andrea Wilhelm