I've been busy lately with life, work, the upcoming school year, and my thoughts and doubts about my future. I've been incredibly worn out this whole week, and I promise to be back to writing reviews and other duties this week. I have Hidden In Plain View and Sum 41 to be posted on Monday, as well as a Mae review up my sleeve. All is well.
The song "Keeper" off of Paper Walls makes me think of JD and Elliot's relationship on Scrubs a lot. Weird, maybe they'll use it in an episode haha
I wanna love, I wanna leave
I Want You To Love Me
I want you To Leave me
I Wanna Stand Where I Can See
I’m Watching you Love Me
I’m Watching You Leavin Me Now
I Wish I Could Be Somebody Else
Wish I Could See You In Myself
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me And
Say What You Really Feel
You Know I Need Something That’s Real
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me
I Wanna Know If I Could Be
Someone too Turn Too
That Could Never Hurt You
But I Know What You Think Of Me
Yea, You Had Too Break Through
And Now I’m Just Bad News For You
I Wish I Could Be Somebody Else
Wish I Could See You In Myself
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me And
Say What You Really Feel
You Know I Need Something That’s Real
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me
I Should’ve Told You Everything
I Never Gave You Anything
I Should’ve Told You Everything
If I Could Give You Anything
You Know I’ll Tell You Anything
I Wish I Could Be Somebody Else
Wish I Could See You In Myself
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me And
Say What You Really Feel
You Know I Need Something That’s Real
Wish there Was Something Inside Me
Too Keep You Inside Me
Going to see the Brewers play the Giants tomorrow. I am so excited because I haven't seen a Brewers game in Miller Park since it opened. The fam is thinking about moving back to Wisconsin, so that's way exciting news. Anyways, I love the Brewers, they are playing great ball right, they're 39-31 and in first place.
Music-wise, I've been digging Straylight Run still and obviously Yellowcard. Amber Pacific grows on me everyday, as does Boys Night Out. I should be hearing the new Against Me! record in a week or two, so that is very exciting.
On the review front, look for a review on the new Junior Varsity album tomorrow or Wednesday, with a review on the new Boys Night Out record popping up on Friday.
First impression is I like it. It's really catchy, great vocals, really gets stuck in your head. I pretty much agree with everything Jason wrote in his review (score included) save for I don't feel weird listening to anything. Favorite tracks are: For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic, Miracle, Born For This. And the mariachi band before Misery Business is great. I recommend it to anyone who likes pop-rock.
Last night Lebron James catapulted himself from a great NBA player to "one of the greatest ever." Cleveland is going to win the Finals. No doubt in my mind.
The more I listen to Paper Walls by Yellowcard, the more I fall in love with it. It's been a long time since a pop-punk album has really enthralled me. Everyone is going to dig this.
Anyways, the new A Thorn For Every Heart album came in my mailbox the other day, very average. Some songs are pretty decent, but overall very forgettable. Produced by Matt Squire (save for 2 songs which were produced by Mark Hoppus, coincidentally those two songs are the best ones on the album), this album is just flat. When will bands/people realize that Squire is not that great at producing? I'm sick of the same 3-4 producers producing (and usually not very good) a ton of albums in the scene. Really, I'm just mad that Lou Giordano butchered the new Sherwood and Boys Night Out albums.
Finally, reviews to look out for: I'll be posting my review for Amber Pacific's new one later tonight, with reviews on the new Maroon 5, Sullivan, and the aforementioned BNO albums being posted in early June.
Random tidbits: On Letting Go is growing on me like crazy, Umbrella by Rihanna is my summer jam, and I can't explain it, but I am crazy excited to hear the new Paramore record.
When you're all alone with a melody/do you close your eyes and think of me?
Basically Paper Walls is like Ocean Avenue, only with more balls. Yes it's true, Yellowcard is fuckin back. Favorite tracks include Afraid, Paper Walls, Shrink The World, Cut Me, Mick. But really, all the tracks are very good. This is going to be one of the best releases in the genre in a long time.
Over the course of their musical career, Good Charlotte has jumped on almost every major musical trend. Their first album (arguably their best album) was upbeat and infectious with pop-punk goodness. The next two albums that followed tried to go the “dark and goth” image route, which brought on major success but left them with little cred. On their fourth and latest album, Good Morning Revival, this four-piece have jumped on the latest trend, which is the synth/dance-punk movement. How does this work out for them? Well, as this very site’s webmaster puts it: “Good Charlotte has lost it.”
After hearing the first few tracks of the album, one starts to wonder about the conversations Benji and Joel Madden had while making this album:
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Benji: Bro, we haven’t released an album in like forever! What’s the kind of music the kids have been listening to these days?
Joel: Dude, everyone has been eating up this crazy circus band called Panic! In The Disco or something. I heard their single blasting in someone’s car yesterday when I took Nicole to The Ivy for lunch.
Benji: Ok, awesome, so we definitely need to amp up the synth use on our next album.
Joel: Yeah, definitely, but we need to keep our dark punk cred up, so our single needs to sound real intense. Alkaline Trio is still pretty dark, right? Let’s rip off one of their guitar riffs for our single.
Benji: Good idea, but I want it even darker, let’s ask those bros from Avenged Sevenfold to sing and play on it.
Joel: Avenged Sevenfold?
Benji: Yeah, apparently they’re huge now and they sing about bats and Hell and stuff.
Ok, so that may be a stretch, but you could use that logic for the majority of the album. “The River,” which is the first single, is tolerable because it sounds so much like Alkaline Trio, but the use of M. Shadows totally ruins the song. Songs like “Dance Floor Anthem” and “Misery” fall flat on their face. “Keep Your Hands Off My Girl” and “Victims Of Love” are laughable, as they sound like night-club reject songs. “All Black” tries its best to be chilling with its pipe organ intro, but all that is lost when the music kicks in. And how can you take lyrics like “Take a look at my life/All black/take a look at my clothes/all black,” seriously when you see pictures of the Madden boys eating at posh restaurants, spending millions of dollars, and going out to trendy night clubs with their model girlfriends? Give me a break, guys. The rest of the album is equally hilarious, as you can’t keep a straight face during the sappy “Where Would We Be Now” or the country twang of “Beautiful Place.”
In the end, every chord of music played, every note on the keys hit, and every lyric sung by Good Charlotte is completely bogus. The lyrics are hypocritical, the music watered-down versions of other bands that do it better, and the enjoyability of the album is the equivalent to my 6-month checkups at the dentist’s office. Those well-versed in music will be able to hear the fakeness of this album from a mile away, but for those on the fence, please, spend your cash on a good pop album, like the new Sherwood album. Really, I thought Good Charlotte would bounce back from 2004’s horrible, The Chronicles Of Life And Death, but they’ve fallen to a new low. It makes me somewhat sad to see Good Charlotte’s career go to this, but not nearly as sad as the fact that thousands of kids out there will be buying this garbage. Revival my ass.
BRAND NEW - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
The day is about to dawn upon us. We've waited 3 years for this, making numerous countdowns, various predictions, and the like over this span of time. But, it's here. Brand New is set to release one of most anticipated follow-ups in recent memory. The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is the end result of all our anticipation and after twenty plus listens, constant discussion, and various thoughts, is this the record I was anxiously waiting for?
Only time will tell.
Truthfully, the devil and God were raging inside me (how many reviewers are going to use this horrible pun?) while listening. Musically, the band has slightly progressed. The guitars are thicker and more prominent in songs like "You Won't Know," "Limousine (MS Rebridge)," and "Luca." They also know when to take a step back, like in "Millstone" and the beautiful album closer "Handcuffs." However, the "soft-loud" shift in music can become formulaic, but is executed nicely in "Sowing Season (Yeah)" and "Luca."
One of the highlights on Devil And God is the first track, "Sowing Season (Yeah)." Somber verses lead into thunderous choruses, and Jesse Lacey’s vocals are very powerful in the climatic ending. “Millstone” is average musically, but the lyrics are some of the strongest on the album. “Jesus” is a mid paced song covering Lacey’s looming questions about faith and what happens after death. The strongest part of the album comes in the trio of “Degausser,” “Limousine (MS Rebridge),” and “You Won’t Know.” The chilly verses set the tone for “Degausser,” which features the Smith’s – influenced choir chiming “Take apart your head!” which leads into the guitar-frenzied chorus. “Limousine (MS Rebridge)” is a seven and a half minute opus which features an intense bridge that builds and builds. “You Won’t Know” is my favorite track on the album, while it begins slow and builds up into a frenzy, the drumming from Brian Lane is very emphatic and is the highlight of the track, along with Lacey’s passionate yelps.
Following this is the instrumental, “Welcome To Bangkok.” At first, I hated it, but it’s grown on me like a bad rash. The guitars are piercing and the whole thing has a very menacing undertone to it. Would it have been better to have this open up the album? I believe so. The fast paced “Not The Sun” follows. While incredibly catchy, the line “Will you be my babe?” is very obnoxious and Lacey’s delivery of said line can come off as very whiney. Thankfully, “Luca” picks up the slack. This track is not for the faint of heart, as for the first three and a half minutes, it is a gentle track, bordering on the acoustic-pop side. Only, it doesn’t continue on like this, rather Vinnie Accardi and Lacey’s guitars along with Garrett Tierney’s bass combined to awaken the high heavens, as the track ends in near-lunacy. The completely worthless second instrumental track, “Untitled,” needed to be left off the album and perhaps replaced with, say, Demo 2 or Demo 5. I get that Brand New was probably trying to be “artsy” with this, but in reality, they just flat out miscalculated here. “The Archer’s Bows Are Broken” is another fast song, with a needling guitar riff in the chorus and Lane’s pummeling away on the drums.
As mentioned earlier, the album closes with the beautiful “Handcuffs.” Lacey’s voice is on point, barely holding on to each line. His voice combined with the gorgeous use of strings makes this one of the more memorable tracks on the album, and keeps up the pattern of each Brand New album closing with a track that truly leaves a lasting impression on you.
Musically, this album is really strong, and the most glaring flaw in the album are the lyrics (I never thought I would be saying this about a Brand New album). While Lacey’s lyrics here are still better than most, some lines on Devil And God aren’t up to par. Does it take away from the overall enjoyment of the record? No, but it is worth noting.
In the end, I still cannot make a complete comparison on whether this is better than Deja Entendu or not. On first impression, it is easy to say Deja is the better of the two, but one must remember how long it took for that record to grow on people. It takes more than a few weeks, even months, to fully know how a record will impact you. And this is the same for the those who think Devil And God is the superior record. The record isn’t even out in stores yet, and many are claiming it to be the best after a few weeks. Let it sink in and just breathe. The true test will be when the novelty of it being the “new record” wears off and how many people will come back to it and constantly listen to it. So, my advice for everyone (this includes me as well) making claims about which is better:
Stop.
Relax.
Enjoy.
Let’s stop comparing and putting albums/bands on a pedestal and just enjoy the record for what it is. Is it one of the better records of 2006? You’re damn right it is. It’s ok to be excited or disappointed, but keep it in check. Brand New has released a very fine major label debut here. So, let’s stop all the rage inside of ourselves about this record and truly appreciate The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me.
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