The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 222

This is awesome, I'm looking forward to the TBS review. I heard Tidal Wave once and enjoyed it, but haven't listened since and don't remember much. I should really give it another go!

 

The Walk is probably one of my favorite pop records of the new millenium.

 

Senses Fail – If There Is Light, It Will Find You (2018)



I had a side trade with @JediMasterKevo182 last week and he gave me this album. I know who Senses Fail are and liked their first couple of albums back in the day but I haven’t listened to them in a very long time. I’ll keep this review fairly short as this album has been reviewed a few times in here recently.

I’ll come straight out with it, this album didn’t really gel with me (sorry Kev). I found myself with a similar feeling to the Hawthorne Heights album I reviewed the other week. Where I feel my tastes have changed a fair bit in the last decade and that I just can’t connect with this band anymore.

It’s by no means a bad album, musically it’s very much in line with their earlier sound and they’re all very good at what they do. Lyrically it’s got some interesting and personal subjects that Buddy tackles from his wife’s near death experience to his problems with addiction and depression. The lyrics that stood out to me the most though are found on the title track where Buddy sings about his personal issues and how he doesn't want to pass these onto his child. I think putting that sort of lyrical content onto a track is extremely brave. I actually really enjoyed that track, I think because that urgency and desperation that was in their early albums really shines through on this track.

I’ve always respected Buddy as a person, he’s never shied away from being candid in his lyrics and interviews and you just have to give the guy props for that. I can’t even critique this album too much as there’s nothing that’s turning me off it per say but I’ve listened to it 3 times now and just found it not really resonating with me.

Thanks for the rec @JediMasterKevo182 and sorry that I didn’t get on that well with this album. I know you’re a big fan of this album and I was hoping it would click with me but it hasn’t yet.

RIYL: That classic emo sound

 

I 100% agree with these STP takes (apart from I haven't checked out the album, just heard the singles). I get that the rest of the band need to fund their lives and don't have any problem with them continuing as STP but I really wasn't feeling the new guy.

As for STP, I love all the Scott albums up till they split and feel Tiny Music and Shangri-la Dee Da are seriously underated as far as their back catalog goes. He really was such a great front man and I miss him not being in this world anymore.

 

The second record I was assigned by @Nate_Johnson was Vertical Horizon- The Lost Mile.

We came to this assignment because he sent me a list of records he has listened to so far in 2018. The thought of a Vertical Horizon record in 2018 fascinated me. I had not heard the name in years, and was not aware they were still active. I truly enjoy their record Everything You Want when it was released. It’s was 90’s alternative bliss, and the song “Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)” will always take me back to when I had my first true breakup in high school, and I was walking down the street in Miami with my MP3 player that held at best 50 songs.

In doing some research I learned they had gone through some lineup changes through the years, and that their singer Matt Scannell was the only original member remaining. The record sounded like he did a majority, if not all the songwriting as it sounded more like a solo record than a proper full band album. I did see that he produced the record as well, which is very believable in hearing the songs.

The album starts with “I’m Gonna Save You” which sounds like 1999 Vertical Horizon with an electronic element thrown in. His voice is very distinctive and nostalgia took me over for a second when the record started. The songs going forward leaned more heavily on the electronic side with moments here and there that sounded reminiscent of their earlier work (“True Illusion” being a good example) There were some interesting moments in the record like a jam band-esque guitar solo in “Lighthouse”, and a dance-synth-pop outro in “More” I never would have expected from Vertical Horizon when I listened to them in the early 00's. Some songs were a little too long and drawn out despite some of the longer songs finishing in my top songs. (4 songs were above 6 minutes, two of those being over 7 minutes)

The writing is simplistic and straight forward, and it is a very listenable, accessible record. It does start to sound a little too much the same in some songs as the record goes on, and it feels like a long 57 minutes towards the end of the album. It’s not a record I see myself going back to often, but it was a nice trip down memory lane that brought on some nice (and some not nice) nostalgic moments and memories. I commend Matt for keeping the band going all this time, and being able to stay relevant enough in the music scene to push on.


Thanks for a great week of recommendations @Nate_Johnson !

 

Nice review! You and I had a lot of the same criticisms. It is a good record but feels a bit long in the tooth. With that being said, you can't deny he has a great voice. When @anonimito gave me this record he had told that the last few albums had studio drums done by Neil Pert! That's pretty huge.

 

One of my favorite songs by them!

 

That's incredible! No way!

 

It's between these 3 for me:

I proper love the video for this one too

 

My favorite STP song:

 

It's weird because over time I became more than happy with William Duvall in AIC. But this I can't.

 

Thanks! I didn't want to come off as too negative because I recognize that it is a good album. Just didn't quite click with me. I'll check out the other two albums you mentioned!

 

No way you were fine - some records don't click. I have plenty of albums that miss the mark for me but I can tell the record is well written and constructed.

 

Yep same here, Williams is great. I think at least for me it might be down to a couple of things. The fact that William doesn’t sound like he’s trying to do a Layne impression. I think it also helps that Layne was never in AIC while I was listening to them as I got into them around 2000ish.

Where as I was used to seeing Scott being a charismatic front man in both STP, Velvet Revolver and his solo stuff.

 

Yep! This song features Peart on drums:

 

The album cover even looks like something Rush would use

 

@anonimito gave me a bonus trade and it was the album:

Olafur Arnalds: For Now I Am Winter (2013) Mercury KX

Let me start off this review by first stating that there are some records out there that demand (and deserve) listening with a great set of headphones. It was not until I started listening with them did this record truly shine due to the depth of it. With that being said, I will continue to attempt to listen to all my recommended records with headphones to truly absorb all they have to offer.

Olafur Arnalds is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Iceland. His sound can best described as mixing strings and piano with loops and beats crossing over from ambient/electronic and pop. His resume is extremely impressive including helping one of my personal favorite bands, Heaven Shall Burn, with their album, Antigone to soundtracks from movies including The Hunger Games and TV shows such as So You Think You Can Dance. I can also mention the fact that he has toured with Sigur Ros.

I had no idea what I was getting into with this record but @anonimito told me that he is a big fan of classical music and if this is the new wave of that genre then I am totally in. With that being said, this record takes a great deal of discipline in being able to just sit with it and do nothing else. I felt very calm and peaceful listening to this and it inspired me with the ability to do so. The production is just beautiful and you can hear every instrument so clearly, especially the piano. You can feel him hitting every note as if he were sitting right next to you. There are very few vocals on this record but they are provided by Arnor Dan and the best way to describe them is "porcelain". They just feel so vulnerable and open as if they could literally crack at any second.

As I mentioned before, his sound is a mix of strings and piano with loops and beats crossing over from ambient/electronic and pop. That is exactly what you will get with this record. Opening track, Sudden Throw, literally throws you for a loop with how different it is from the rest of the record with these swirling synth lines that dance around your ears and him just hitting this one note on a piano and slowly adding more and more notes to create a melody. These beautiful strings come in and you just lose yourself in the song as it builds and builds.

Brim has to be one of my favorite tracks with these strings accompanied by a these EDM like beats and it works beautifully. He uses the strings to create this impressive version of trap music.

The title track starts out very slowly with these fuzzy synths and a piano. Right around the two minute mark, we are introduced to Arnor Dan repeating the name of the song over and over again but the atmosphere surrounding the vocals is breath taking. We can experience him again on tracks A Stutter, Reclaim and Old Skin.

My favorite track on the album is Reclaim and shows just what Olafur is capable of with strings swirling everywhere, Arnor singing and then around two minutes we get these incredible trap beats. It really captures everything that happens on this entire record. It is great how he layers the vocals so it sounds like there is a backup singer.

I was lucky enough to be able to listen to the deluxe version of the album that had a couple of remixes of the title track and they are just as well done. It also includes the bonus track, No Other.

I also love his ability to create such an atmosphere in tracks such as This Place Was a Shelter. It almost sounds like rain drops that fan out of the water and the microscopic sound they might make to something small enough to experience it, all the while utilizing his classic strings and synths.

As I mentioned before, this is an album that demands your attention in order to capture all it has to offer. With that being said, it is not an everyday album. It is not going to be for everyone but I strongly recommend that everyone give it a shot.

Thanks for this really cool recommendation @anonimito!!!

7/10

Favorite Songs:
Brim
Reclaim
This Place Was a Shelter

 

Awesome review, Nate! So glad that you found it enjoyable!

 

stone temple pilots were kinda cheesy but at the same time, i'd call their early-era sound pretty singular. those singles hold the fuck up

 

@anonimito and I traded bonus albums again and he gave me:

Tonic: Head On Straight (2002) Universal

I think most people on here know who Tonic is in some form or another, especially from their hit single "If You Could Only See". There are one of the more successful bands to come out of the early 2000's era alternative rock scene and still tour here and there today. Head on Straight is their third record and actually won them two Grammy's because of it.

I know all of their singles but never really went beyond those. Just like my review with Vertical Horizon, I really wish I had kept up with them because this record is incredible and if it was written today, people would eat it right up. They have such a diverse sound incorporating so many different styles but consistently sticking to the radio friendly poppy alternative rock we know them for.

The album opens with possibly my favorite track on the whole album, Roses. It is a straight rocker that completely threw me off. It has this thick bass and crunchy guitars. Emerson has a very warm and welcoming voice and makes you instantly like him. This heavy rock sound continues into the following song, Take Me As I Am, Liar and Irish.

The song Do You Know is one of the many songs on the album that lean towards the country end of the alt rock spectrum with an almost steel guitar like sound and some of the most uplifting lyrics on the whole record. It is another one of my favorites.

On Your Feet Again sounds just like Third Eye Blind and has this fuzzy guitar contrasting a country vibe. His vocals even remind a lot of Stephen Jenkins and has this sort "lighters out" feel to it.

Lyrically, the album deals with failed relationships and overcoming adversity. Topics I am sure anyone can connect to. There are times where I swear I can hear hints of Andrew McMahon. Maybe he gained a lot of inspiration from Tonic!

I truly enjoyed this album and love their ability to dabble in different genres but never feel like they strayed too far from home. That is admirable. I will be revisiting this album a lot and thank you @anonimito for another great recommendation!

10/10

Favorite Songs:
Roses
Do You Know
On Your Feet Again

 

Wow, what a review! I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much! It's my favorite album from my favorite band, so it's very near and dear to my heart, for sure. It's never too late to start listening to a great band!

 

Can I be benched for the next two weeks or so? Work and personal life stuff are getting me way behind on stuff, still have four outstanding reviews I want to work my way through before I add more to that pile. Will get to those reviews next week, most likely. Thanks for the patience y'all!!

 

Can do, hope things ease up soon so you can join us again!

 

Ring Around Her Finger has always been my favorite song on the album!

They’re touring with Gin Blossoms and Vertical Horizon this summer :)

 

Oh, that’s another great song. I just picked my top three.

I need to see if they are coming near me.