Post by Personnel Representative on Sept 9, 2008 21:03:42 GMT -5
CD Review: Anberlin – New Surrender
Track Listing:
1. The Resistance
2. Breaking
3. Blame Me! Blame Me!
4. Retrace
5. Feel Good Drag
6. Disappear
7. Breathe
8. Burn Our Brighter (Northern Lights)
9. Younglife
10. Haight St.
11. Soft Skeletons
12. Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)
As a whole, this album features a bit of their roots but with a lot more creativity and flow. The songs that aren’t all that great aren’t all that bad either. Other than one particular song, which you will read later on in this review, the album as a whole is solid, whether soft or hard, and is done magnificently. It is their best album to date as it incorporates new sounds from Britain and Europe to give the songs just a bit more push than recent albums. Usually bands take a new direction after they sign on to a major label, but Anberlin has just pushed more and more of their already great track record further. This album is taking all of their best qualities and mixing it into one. You can’t go wrong in listening to these songs. Grade: 8.5/10
The Resistance:
The Resistance kicks off the album with the energy needed to get you immediately glued to everything that is “Anberlin”. It has that computerized distortion they’ve always used for their guitars with a bit of a synthesized guitar in the background and a thick drum beat that drives the music forward. They also include a bit of a chant as the band screams “speak!” and Stephen Christian finishing the chant off with “speak for yourself! You paper tigers, you crash where you stand. You’ve got a riot on your hands.” The song ends with the chorus repeated with the band screaming and singing “speak for yourself!” With a long and powerful scream of those exact words on behalf of Christian. A great way to introduce those who do not know this band to all that they are.
Breaking:
This song shows signs of “Never Take Friendship Personal” from the same titled album. It also shares a similar feel to “Adelaide” from their last album, “Cities”. The song is appropriately title “Breaking”, regardless of initially titled as “Bittersweet Memory”, as Christian sings completely of a broken relationship throughout the entire song by criticizing his previous partner of how she is able to break people’s hearts with ease and doesn’t seem to care in the process. A very pessimistic outlook on a woman, but I guess we’ve all been there. “You make breaking hearts look so easy” is the central line to the chorus, while it ends off with “seems like you’ve done this before” and “you’ve got breaking up all but down. I can’t love a thief anymore”. As for Anberlin style, they’ve got the feel of the song matching the song perfectly. Seems like they’ve done this before…
Blame Me! Blame Me!:
This song starts off with a real British style right off the bat. A bit of ska guitars with a mini-tom drum beat and a little bit of a guitar solo riff initiating the song, while it kicks into an offbeat drumming with a sort of techno feel. A European styled song, but it is done exceptionally well. This is a continuation from “Breaking” as the song goes further into the discussion between Christian and the woman he’s broken up with. The nice part about these songs is that he never really describes the counterpart as a woman, so it pulls the female audience into it even more, allowing them to relate to the songs more easily. In this song, the counterpart reacts to his accusations of their break up with “Blame me, blame me, blame me! For mistakes you’ve made but you can’t own. Hate me, hate me, hate me! For every honest word that you postponed”. The emotion behind the song and its meaning comes across so easily.
Retrace:
Stephen Christian softens his voice up for the soft song on their album. This song blends in great guitar riffs with a great thick and soft bass riff. The songs are perfectly mixed and progresses in perfect symmetry. Once the song reaches its breaking point, Christian begins to show how he is lonely in missing the person who he’s already sang about in the last two songs. “I need some shelter, I need some safety. Photographs, they hold me lately”. His loneliness is evident in this song, and you can tell that even without paying attention to the words. That is a positive outlook on the band as just by hearing the sounds they can create you essentially understand what the song is about.
Feel Good Drag:
Yes, this is the part of the album that caught me off-guard. A song that was released on their 2005 album “Never Take Friendship Personal” was re-recorded and released on this album. In fact, the re-recorded version of the song is the one they are leading the album off with. Why do you ask? It’s simple. The band was an underground indie band for the last half of the decade, and have finally landed their first major record label, Universal Republic Records, last August. This will be their first album not released under Tooth and Nail Records. Since the album is expected to hit multi-platinum, the band decided to release their own favorite song to make it more publicized, and they’ve done exactly that as the song hit radios across North America in late August of this year. The real question is, do I think this one is better than the original? Yes, yes it is. It sounds better, it sounds cleaner, and there’s more technique in it than the original. When you compare the two, the first one sounds more computer-ish whereas this one sounds more realistic in terms of sounds. Does that make sense? It should…
Disappear:
The song reaches back to their “Blueprints For The Black Market” album. It has to offbeat drumming with the soft strumming that ultimately drives right back into the energy of the song with a bit of a synthesizer in the background for good measure. It sounds a bit like “Readyfuels” and “Cold War Transmissions” yet has its own unique feel to it that cannot be compared to their older material. It’s a step in a new direction while holding on to their roots. It has a great pre-chorus break down and the chorus just kicks you in the nuts. The harmonized vocals are exactly as they should be. The song is a clear indication of his childhood and his relationship with his parents as he explains in the second verse “dark lit streets are no place for kids, but it gives us more of a home than you ever did”. I don’t know too many bands who are as straight forward as this band is but doesn’t lack creativity because of it.
Breathe:
An acoustic beginning that paves the way to another soft song on the album. This one has possibly the most pure sound of Christian’s voice. “I can finally breathe” strikes you hard and soft at the same time. It comes in high pitched but is coated in sugar. This is the most emotional song on the album by far. The band backs him up by echoing his chorus statements, and then the song breaks down to a gentle solo with a drum solo. Once the solo is ready to kick into high gear, the song grows louder and louder until Christian’s voice comes back in with the band echoing him once again to send the song to its climax with a great harmonized orchestra of voices. The most positive song on the album.
Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights):
This song starts off with a quiet sitar, believe it or not, and then in comes in the synthesizer again. A very cool introduction to a song. The lyrics, however, fell off the map for me a bit. I really think Christian could have done better in this song. The chorus is cheaply explaining him no longer being conceited relationship wise. “Live, I wanna live inspired. Die, I wanna die for something higher than myself. Live and die for anyone else. The more I live I see this life’s not about me”. The breakdown for the song is just the intro all over again and then it concludes with the lame chorus again. This song brought the album down, they should have cut it.
Younglife:
This is more of a sped up version of breathe, but has a strange “la la la” part in the chorus, and I don’t really get it. It almost sounds like the song was done as a “pop” song to gain recognition by the lower radios that don’t play a lot of the hard rock stuff, even if this band is considered to be a “Christian” band, which they themselves don’t quite understand. The song is alright, there’s not much to say about it. It’s straight forward, and it ends with just an acoustic guitar and the whole band doing the “la la la” thing, so yeah, it’s just a song. I would guess it is to interpret the little nursery rhymes you’d hear when you’re a kid and it has those stupid chants in it. If that was the case, it would make more sense.
Haight St.:
The song is a fun driving song. It has a great sounding chorus, and there’s even some clapping in it, and really, who hates clapping? Hell, every single song in the 80s had it in it. This song is just solid from start to finish. It’s a happy song to listen to and has a decent solo with a great synthesizer breaking down in it. “Let’s you and me make a night of it. Old enough to know, but too young to care” is exactly the feel you get from this song, which makes it one of the highlight songs on the album. It will be the one you keep flipping to when you pop the cd in the player.
Soft Skeletons:
This song rushes straight back to their sensitive emotional stuff. It’s a song that is written to a friend of Christian’s who was on a big drug craze. He recorded this song specifically for her to help her through her addiction. The chorus is done unbelievably. I want to include some of the things he says, but really the entire song should be quoted. It is worth the read and the song definitely needs to be heard.
Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum):
The song title is latin for “A Terrible Event (Out From Bad Comes Good)”. It’s purely a bunch of organ sounds with a standard drum beat pushing the song forward ever so slowly. The chorus is essentially a bit of a chant, sounds like monks singing. Then once the song hits its breakdown, everything hits you like a ton of bricks. Hard, distorted, and solid. It has an incredible little guitar solo, nothing too fancy or anything, but just the right notes at the right time for the right effect. Christian then goes into a speech of talking to children of what to do when the bad times hit them hard. “Look children to the Eastern sky, when you hear voice say your last goodbyes, when the ghosts take hold of the men who died, when your fathers weep and your mothers cry. Look children to the Eastern sky”. It was a great way to conclude the album, especially with Christian’s incredible vocal work in the background near the end of the song. Anberlin has always done a great job at concluding their albums, and this is no exception.
By: Mike Aldred
Track Listing:
1. The Resistance
2. Breaking
3. Blame Me! Blame Me!
4. Retrace
5. Feel Good Drag
6. Disappear
7. Breathe
8. Burn Our Brighter (Northern Lights)
9. Younglife
10. Haight St.
11. Soft Skeletons
12. Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)
As a whole, this album features a bit of their roots but with a lot more creativity and flow. The songs that aren’t all that great aren’t all that bad either. Other than one particular song, which you will read later on in this review, the album as a whole is solid, whether soft or hard, and is done magnificently. It is their best album to date as it incorporates new sounds from Britain and Europe to give the songs just a bit more push than recent albums. Usually bands take a new direction after they sign on to a major label, but Anberlin has just pushed more and more of their already great track record further. This album is taking all of their best qualities and mixing it into one. You can’t go wrong in listening to these songs. Grade: 8.5/10
The Resistance:
The Resistance kicks off the album with the energy needed to get you immediately glued to everything that is “Anberlin”. It has that computerized distortion they’ve always used for their guitars with a bit of a synthesized guitar in the background and a thick drum beat that drives the music forward. They also include a bit of a chant as the band screams “speak!” and Stephen Christian finishing the chant off with “speak for yourself! You paper tigers, you crash where you stand. You’ve got a riot on your hands.” The song ends with the chorus repeated with the band screaming and singing “speak for yourself!” With a long and powerful scream of those exact words on behalf of Christian. A great way to introduce those who do not know this band to all that they are.
Breaking:
This song shows signs of “Never Take Friendship Personal” from the same titled album. It also shares a similar feel to “Adelaide” from their last album, “Cities”. The song is appropriately title “Breaking”, regardless of initially titled as “Bittersweet Memory”, as Christian sings completely of a broken relationship throughout the entire song by criticizing his previous partner of how she is able to break people’s hearts with ease and doesn’t seem to care in the process. A very pessimistic outlook on a woman, but I guess we’ve all been there. “You make breaking hearts look so easy” is the central line to the chorus, while it ends off with “seems like you’ve done this before” and “you’ve got breaking up all but down. I can’t love a thief anymore”. As for Anberlin style, they’ve got the feel of the song matching the song perfectly. Seems like they’ve done this before…
Blame Me! Blame Me!:
This song starts off with a real British style right off the bat. A bit of ska guitars with a mini-tom drum beat and a little bit of a guitar solo riff initiating the song, while it kicks into an offbeat drumming with a sort of techno feel. A European styled song, but it is done exceptionally well. This is a continuation from “Breaking” as the song goes further into the discussion between Christian and the woman he’s broken up with. The nice part about these songs is that he never really describes the counterpart as a woman, so it pulls the female audience into it even more, allowing them to relate to the songs more easily. In this song, the counterpart reacts to his accusations of their break up with “Blame me, blame me, blame me! For mistakes you’ve made but you can’t own. Hate me, hate me, hate me! For every honest word that you postponed”. The emotion behind the song and its meaning comes across so easily.
Retrace:
Stephen Christian softens his voice up for the soft song on their album. This song blends in great guitar riffs with a great thick and soft bass riff. The songs are perfectly mixed and progresses in perfect symmetry. Once the song reaches its breaking point, Christian begins to show how he is lonely in missing the person who he’s already sang about in the last two songs. “I need some shelter, I need some safety. Photographs, they hold me lately”. His loneliness is evident in this song, and you can tell that even without paying attention to the words. That is a positive outlook on the band as just by hearing the sounds they can create you essentially understand what the song is about.
Feel Good Drag:
Yes, this is the part of the album that caught me off-guard. A song that was released on their 2005 album “Never Take Friendship Personal” was re-recorded and released on this album. In fact, the re-recorded version of the song is the one they are leading the album off with. Why do you ask? It’s simple. The band was an underground indie band for the last half of the decade, and have finally landed their first major record label, Universal Republic Records, last August. This will be their first album not released under Tooth and Nail Records. Since the album is expected to hit multi-platinum, the band decided to release their own favorite song to make it more publicized, and they’ve done exactly that as the song hit radios across North America in late August of this year. The real question is, do I think this one is better than the original? Yes, yes it is. It sounds better, it sounds cleaner, and there’s more technique in it than the original. When you compare the two, the first one sounds more computer-ish whereas this one sounds more realistic in terms of sounds. Does that make sense? It should…
Disappear:
The song reaches back to their “Blueprints For The Black Market” album. It has to offbeat drumming with the soft strumming that ultimately drives right back into the energy of the song with a bit of a synthesizer in the background for good measure. It sounds a bit like “Readyfuels” and “Cold War Transmissions” yet has its own unique feel to it that cannot be compared to their older material. It’s a step in a new direction while holding on to their roots. It has a great pre-chorus break down and the chorus just kicks you in the nuts. The harmonized vocals are exactly as they should be. The song is a clear indication of his childhood and his relationship with his parents as he explains in the second verse “dark lit streets are no place for kids, but it gives us more of a home than you ever did”. I don’t know too many bands who are as straight forward as this band is but doesn’t lack creativity because of it.
Breathe:
An acoustic beginning that paves the way to another soft song on the album. This one has possibly the most pure sound of Christian’s voice. “I can finally breathe” strikes you hard and soft at the same time. It comes in high pitched but is coated in sugar. This is the most emotional song on the album by far. The band backs him up by echoing his chorus statements, and then the song breaks down to a gentle solo with a drum solo. Once the solo is ready to kick into high gear, the song grows louder and louder until Christian’s voice comes back in with the band echoing him once again to send the song to its climax with a great harmonized orchestra of voices. The most positive song on the album.
Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights):
This song starts off with a quiet sitar, believe it or not, and then in comes in the synthesizer again. A very cool introduction to a song. The lyrics, however, fell off the map for me a bit. I really think Christian could have done better in this song. The chorus is cheaply explaining him no longer being conceited relationship wise. “Live, I wanna live inspired. Die, I wanna die for something higher than myself. Live and die for anyone else. The more I live I see this life’s not about me”. The breakdown for the song is just the intro all over again and then it concludes with the lame chorus again. This song brought the album down, they should have cut it.
Younglife:
This is more of a sped up version of breathe, but has a strange “la la la” part in the chorus, and I don’t really get it. It almost sounds like the song was done as a “pop” song to gain recognition by the lower radios that don’t play a lot of the hard rock stuff, even if this band is considered to be a “Christian” band, which they themselves don’t quite understand. The song is alright, there’s not much to say about it. It’s straight forward, and it ends with just an acoustic guitar and the whole band doing the “la la la” thing, so yeah, it’s just a song. I would guess it is to interpret the little nursery rhymes you’d hear when you’re a kid and it has those stupid chants in it. If that was the case, it would make more sense.
Haight St.:
The song is a fun driving song. It has a great sounding chorus, and there’s even some clapping in it, and really, who hates clapping? Hell, every single song in the 80s had it in it. This song is just solid from start to finish. It’s a happy song to listen to and has a decent solo with a great synthesizer breaking down in it. “Let’s you and me make a night of it. Old enough to know, but too young to care” is exactly the feel you get from this song, which makes it one of the highlight songs on the album. It will be the one you keep flipping to when you pop the cd in the player.
Soft Skeletons:
This song rushes straight back to their sensitive emotional stuff. It’s a song that is written to a friend of Christian’s who was on a big drug craze. He recorded this song specifically for her to help her through her addiction. The chorus is done unbelievably. I want to include some of the things he says, but really the entire song should be quoted. It is worth the read and the song definitely needs to be heard.
Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum):
The song title is latin for “A Terrible Event (Out From Bad Comes Good)”. It’s purely a bunch of organ sounds with a standard drum beat pushing the song forward ever so slowly. The chorus is essentially a bit of a chant, sounds like monks singing. Then once the song hits its breakdown, everything hits you like a ton of bricks. Hard, distorted, and solid. It has an incredible little guitar solo, nothing too fancy or anything, but just the right notes at the right time for the right effect. Christian then goes into a speech of talking to children of what to do when the bad times hit them hard. “Look children to the Eastern sky, when you hear voice say your last goodbyes, when the ghosts take hold of the men who died, when your fathers weep and your mothers cry. Look children to the Eastern sky”. It was a great way to conclude the album, especially with Christian’s incredible vocal work in the background near the end of the song. Anberlin has always done a great job at concluding their albums, and this is no exception.
By: Mike Aldred
