Anberlin Band • Page 211

They should. But the two new songs aren’t gonna be for everyone (like me! I reallllly dislike them both), and it’s ok for fans to feel that way too imo.

 

Look, as a guitar player, I wish I could agree with this, but it's just not the case for every band. Bands with primarily harsh vocals? Sure, we can probably work around that.

But as much as I love Anberlin, they are not unique enough sonically without a singer to warrant keeping the name with a new singer. I know not everyone will agree with that, but that's how I feel personally.

I'll use an example to make my point, not to be harsh: if you showed me an unreleased Anberlin demo with no vocals, I would have an EXTREMELY hard time guessing what band it was based on instrumentals alone.

 

I think Stephen’s vocals and lyrics made Anberlin distinct. Remove both changes a lot.

 

Anberlin without Stephen is like U2 without Bono. You can call it U2, but it's never going to hit the same.

The best bands in the world would not be the same without different vocalists. That's not a knock on the bands as a whole, it's just the reality. I'd argue that it's the mid bands whose sounds don't change with different vocalists. They're not usually distinct enough.

Let me clarify, for all my complaining, I'll always love this band and I'm glad the guys are having fun while Stephen is living his best life. Just wish they wouldn't be weird about it and not troll fans.

 

Yeah I think once people start fading away after saying "this isn't Anberlin anymore!" the band will gain whatever traction moving forward in this direction, and that's good for them. It's good for them to still be active and I'm happy for that. Also, if you did not like Walk Alone, you will hate "Seven".

We'll see what the future holds!

 

i'm in agreement with everyone that nobody has to like the addition of Matty or the new material he sings on. Stephen's obviously a big reason people listen to the band (if not the primary reason), and everyone (myself included) has a very legitimate right to be upset that he's not touring anymore or that the recorded material with Matty isn't as good.

my point is that despite Stephen not touring with them, that doesn't change the fact that the majority of their core lineup is still playing those songs live that they wrote under their moniker supported by Stephen himself. even if it doesn't feel like Anberlin anymore, they have the right to keep using the name, just as we have the right not to see that lineup (i have no desire to). they would need a ton of new music to make touring under a different moniker work, and even if they did that, lots of people would still primarily show up to hear those older songs.

the recording side of things really isn't changing at all other than Matty singing lead on at least two songs thus far (there will obviously be more). Stephen is still the frontman in a recorded capacity, and while i wish it was only Stephen recording with them, the whole band has gone on record multiple times saying that he is not leaving and will continue singing on future albums. adding Matty into the mix in the studio doesn't suddenly change the fact that the songs the other 5 make aren't Anberlin songs.

i also get where y'all are coming from re: a lack of sonic uniqueness, and i feel the same way about a lot of bands that people really love on this website (no shade to any of you or those bands). my comment wasn't to say they're the most unique band out there or that other bands haven't done what they've done (early Anberlin sounds a lot like their contemporaries). it was more about ownership of those songs and the legacy behind them.

again, it's a shit hand to be dealt. obviously nobody really likes it, and nobody says you have to listen to it. but i just don't see someone filling in for Stephen on tour for an indeterminate amount of time and occasionally singing on recordings as the death knell everyone thinks it is - for the band or their sound. hope i don't come across as too pissy here, i've had a bit of a shitty day.

 

Seems like it’s mostly the combination of them making an odd choice for a replacement singer so that they could continue their legacy and then openly making fun of the fans that allowed them to build that legacy for not being crazy about the choice is what has a lot of people bothered.

I get that they have probably had some ignorant comments but they should have expected that.

 

Oof, don't remind me.

 

I posted earlier in this thread about a bunch of Anberlin/A&B t-shirts I was ready to sell. I've finally listed them on eBay if anybody wants to grab any of them, along with some rare 7'' vinyl releases (Feel Good Drag, Impossible, Godspeed) and that funky CD-vinyl hybrid disc for I'd Like To Die/We Owe This To Ourselves, plus the photo book that Nate put together called One Million Miles of Photographs. Cheers! Remember the good old days.

 

A band that’s been making music for a long time is allowed to be upset when fans constantly compare it to a hit from a while ago, but I don’t know if the dude who joined the band two months ago gets to act that way…

 

Alright so I'm glad Seven is exactly this. Wayyyyyy better than Walk Alone for me personally.

 

it should've been the first single, tbh

 

lyric spoilers:

the whole "slowly enter the Vega era now" part is super cheesy though, even if it's catchy

 

genuine question: do we even know what a "Vega era" is?

 

Wow that's dorky.

 

The song is called Seven, potentially referencing the Seven albums that came before it? I literally didn't pay attention to any of the other lyrics, but I wanna say they've used that catch phrase leading up to the album, which makes me think it's exactly what it sounds like.

 

Vega is that dude from Street Fighter that used to be Balrog until they had to do the Truffle Shuffle with the boss names. Hope this helps.

 

i thought it was because the song was in 7/8 time (correct me if i'm wrong, i haven't had any music theory in over a decade)? i've tried looking up what specifically the lyric means ever since i heard the live version and etymologically it doesn't really make sense to call something a "Vega era" (unless they're genuinely referencing the star, which is stupid and also doesn't make a ton of sense)

 

I mean, I thought the Vega era was about the new era for the band with Matty. Probably specifically the time until the next album. But I don’t really know.

 

i mean i figured the same, but what the hell does the word Vega have to do with that?

 

Probably trying too hard to make this not mean what it obviously does, which is Matty being self-referential in the lyrics and saying Anberlin with him are now in their Vega era. Super cheesy, but it is what it is.

 

It’s the name of the album. I do not think it is meant to be that deep.

 

i guess? i'm just questioning the choice of the word Vega for this album cycle. i know it's the name of the album and is supposed to be representative of Matty joining the band, so they could just be referencing that in the lyric (which is stupid), but that doesn't explain why they called the album (or the "era") that. they could've said "slowly enter the _ era" with any other word and it would've probably had the same effect. other than them thinking the word is cool, what is the significance of the word Vega supposed to be in the context of this album?

 

I’m not expecting any depth in the Marty era LOL

edit: love that my phone keeps autocorrecting it to Marty.

 

Probably not what they mean, but hilarious in context.