Senses Fail Band • Page 99

Damn, Buddy wrote back to me on Instagram and said the following:

“unfortunately won’t be doing another Renacer record as it’s part of the two records that people don’t really like. More people like Can’t Be Saved than anything off either of those records. I don’t make the rules, I just play by them so I can continue to make music.”

That bums me out so hard. I wish fans embraced the shift in sound so we could have a continuation of that sound.

Finch and The Academy Is.. also come to mind since they put out what I would consider to be their best record and then had to backpedal to make fans happy. Super lame but of course understandable.

 

I loved Pull The Thorns & Renacer. They came out during periods in my life when it was exactly what I needed and wanted to hear. The song 'We're All Returning Home' helped me out a lot, and I owe Buddy a lot for that. I was in a dark period mentally, and hearing the words 'You can wait for death to come, or you can take a chance and lead' was exactly what I needed to hear.

 

Renacer and Thorns are my two least favorites so I'm personally happy they're not doing another album like that.

 

Reminds me of The Ataris Welcome the Night. It essentially destroyed their career but it’s one of my favorite albums of all time.

 

Oh man, I remember that record. I liked it! Sucks it took 4 years to release because Sony refused to put it out.

 

I think renacer is “good” but I hate the guitar tones on it and unless I’m actively listening to it, I forget that I like it as much as I do. I love heavy, I don’t like sludgy. Thorns, on the other hand, sounds great to me but the songs are bleh.

I liked ITIL a lot because I thought the melodies were really good, but the guitar work largely doesn’t feel anything like old school SF, it’s just kinda there.

that’s all a long way of saying I’ll listen to anything buddy puts out and they all have a place in my musical world.

 

We see that record from completely different perspectives. The title track doesn’t feel pop-punk to me and the screaming section (for a lack of better-words) on that section is so guttural. That alone felt like the heaviest thing they had done to date. Sure, there was a lot of screaming on LINAWR but the screaming sounds whiny and I wouldn’t consider that record heavy.

Everything else on The Fire, except for the title track, lifeboats, and coward, felt like Senses Fail playing it safe. They are good songs but I felt like they could’ve been on the last record. Coward and Lifeboats felt like them taking chances. Up until The fire, it felt like their “heavy” songs on each album got heavier and heavier leading up to Renacer so Renacer didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere. It felt like Buddy going after what he wanted.

 

I basically just said this but The Fire felt like them playing it safe except for a few songs. They took chances on the heavy songs and you could tell that’s the direction he wanted to go. I’m pretty sure even in interviews he expressed wanting to go in an heavier direction

 

dude, same here. They were my favorite band before Renacer but those two records touched me like none of their other music had before. I have a playlist of just those two records I listen too whenever I need a pick-me-up

 

Renacer and Thorns are great records. It’s a shame Buddy feels like he can’t do that sound anymore.

 

I'm glad we'll always have Renacer and Thorns regardless of what Buddy does with the band going forward. I think if you listen to the Fire, you can definitely hear that Garrett was checked out by that recording; he wrote some great songs there anyways. The Renacer lineup was relatively new outside of Dan, and that fresh blood/energy really comes through the recording there. I'm not surprised by Buddy's comments because I was seeing it play out in real time at the shows I was going to.

Forgive me if this has been brought up before, but a big factor in the demise of the heavy SF has to be the anniversary tours, right? The band had tremendous success with them. Their most successful tours in some time, you can't deny that. But that was the trade off into really diving into that sound. LIEY anniversary is their third tour post release of Renacer and their only playing two Renacer songs in the post-album set (my show at least). It's already getting pushed to the side there. SS is the 4th tour post release of Thorns, but the first true headliner of that cycle. There's not even a Renacer or Thorns song in that set (once again my show). It's basically Gavin as the only other person that was in the band the entire time there with Buddy. The reset he does seemed inevitable.

The band was pretty "damned if they push their heavy sound" and "damned if they don't celebrate the past." The fact that Buddy gave us album 5/6 as Renacer/Thorns is pretty remarkable. Most probably wouldn't to attempt that on 2/3 so thank you, Buddy. Us here will always appreciate that.

 

I through this idea out there before, but I wish Buddy would switch between the two sounds. Do traditional Senses Fail records and then heavy senses fail eps in between. I feel like that would be a good way to keep both camps happy. Even if it was just a random song here and there, I’d love to have heavy SF in my life in any capacity

 

Damn, I would check the comment replies on that Instagram post. Buddy is very honest and pretty much explains how shitty his “fans” were during the Thorns cycle. Pretty eye opening and disgusting.

 

Buddy in general is awful on social media

 

Not really, I've had great interactions with him.

 

It’s just annoying when he plays the “I’m straight edge so I’m clearly better than you” card.

 

He doesn’t do that though

 

Peak Senses Fail remains the The Fire - Follow Your Bliss - Renacer run. Thorns was a weird era to witness in retrospect. My memory may be off, but I remember Buddy already being active on social media back then, and he was hyping the album A LOT. Talks about it being heavier and also building on the atmospheric Deftones-y undertones they had introduced on Renacer. In the end, I got my wish with Wounds, which was the first taste and immediately became an all time favorite Senses Fail song. Years later, it's unfortunately the only one I come back to.

The rest of the album is indeed heavier, but... to the detriment of their melodic chops, if it makes sense. I mean, yeah, Renacer was a slight departure from their previous stuff, but at least the riffs retained a certain groove and the melodies still had that trademark Senses Fail-ness that made the album the successful revamp it was. Thorns mostly ended up being a generic early metalcore release to me. I don't remember if there were line-up changes between the two albums, but something just felt off about that one. It's always interesting to see them being lumped together due to being part of the "heavy" Senses Fail era, because one is my favorite album and I barely like anything from the other. What a contrast.

If There Is A Light, much like the album Buddy made with the Finch guys, was an one and done listen to me. I have zero interest in that throwback style, and I don't think it comes even close to the pre-The Fire stuff. But I'm glad it rejuvenated Buddy and that, along with the anniversary tours, it pushed him to move forward with the band instead of calling it quits. I'm grateful for that.

One last thing, when he announced having two new albums in the work, wasn't one of them supposed to be relatively heavy? I feel like there was a disclaimer about both having distinct sounds.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the new records sound more like LIEY-The Fire than they sound like ITIL.

I should also say The Fire is probably still my favorite SF record.

 

I still really enjoy that album. Loved it when it came out haha.

 

I forgot that record with the Finch guys was even made, haha.

And wow that comment about being called a slur on the Silverstein tour when they would play those songs. Sheesh. It’s unfortunate that those become the people they have to cater to in order to support family. That was when they were so honest about identity and past. The Queer Hardcore shirts became a thorn in these people’s sides.

The main core of fans just decided to grow up and become huge pieces of shit?

 

But he doesn't, so nice try.

 

The Fire is easily my favorite Senses Fail record and the production doesn't bother me. Renacer and Thorns follow, as I've gotten older heavy Senses Fail is my favorite.

 

Lol yes he does but thanks

 

SS and Fire are my easy top 2 and, like above, the production on fire doesn’t bother me. On the heavier songs I think it even sounds good and unique.

I think buddy will continue the ITIL sound but play around a bit more with the heaviness. He’s got his name back in the old school fans’ mind and has earned a bit more flexibility. Not expecting much more experimentation.