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#9
Skillet - "Invincible"
Year: 2000
Label: Ardent/Forefront
Favorite songs: The Fire Breathes, Best Kept Secret, Invincible, You're Powerful, You're In My Brain, I Trust You
Lyric sample: "You know you just can't kill a man when he's dead / You know the spirit survives / You can't stop the advance of the Kingdom to com / You know the truth is alive (invincible)"
Electro-industrial rock. That's what singer/bassist John Cooper of Skillet called their musical style circa-2000 when Invincible was released. As I've been saying in my previous reviews of Skillet records, the band perfects a style once every other record. Hey You, I Love Your Soul was a transitional effort, veering wildly from the raw grunge rock of their debut into a completely new territory dominated by electronic effects. With Invincible Skillet found their niche, a sublime combination of hard rock and electronica that is about as perfectly balanced as I can imagine it. The unorthodox praise band rocks harder and more confidently than ever before, blending distorted electric guitars and real drums with electronic percussion and all manner of computerized synth sounds, beeps, bloops, and swells. They also incorporate more traditional keyboard tones on some of the softer tracks.
The record opens dramatically with one of the ripest, most satisfying synthetic sounds I've ever heard. Immediately, they have my attention. I figure any song that sounds that sweet in the first 5 seconds is going to be great all the way through, and I'm not let down by "Best Kept Secret," one of Skillet's all time best tracks. It sets the tone for the album and for the rock tracks that are to follow. Seeped in style, a little bad-boy-esque - its grinding, somewhat fuzzy compressed guitar sounds punching in time with the danceable electronic beat that offers a lot of bass response. Cooper's voice also seems to have found its way by this time. In the first record he sounded hoarse all the time, and in the second the mix was simply too quiet. Here he gets a more prominent presence in the songs and commands a smoother sound than at any other point in his career. This lends itself nicely to the airy spaces often left in the songs between all the keys, yet still retains enough attack to drive the heavier tracks. This is the most refined Skillet prior to Comatose. Yet, unlike the latest release, it has a focused lyrical approach in addition to a coherent and unique style.
You'll probably notice as you listen that most songs are written in second person. "You" is the most common noun of address. Why? Because Invincible is at its core a praise and worship album. Easily half the record is vertical, sung to or at least about God. "You're the best kept secret." "You take my rights away." "You're powerful." "I Trust You." "You're in My Brain." "You're the One that I need, the One who makes me complete," etc. That's six songs directed to the Father in Heaven, not counting the tender and beautiful "Angels Fall Down" which appears as a hidden track. In 2000 this seemed more difficult for people to grasp than it does today. I mean, these guys wore crazy hairstyles and funky clothing and played strange rock music. It just so happens they found their own unique way of expressing their faith and emotions, and I for one am glad they did.
This is another one of those albums that is sometimes hard for me to explain. What is the appeal? Either you like the style or you don't, I think. I love it, and nobody else sounds like this. Even Skillet doesn't sound like this, except on this record. "The Fire Breathes" gets me so pumped up. "Rest" is calm and chill. The only one that I think doesn't work as well as it should is "Each Other," a bit of a stock ballad. After Audio Adrenaline's Some Kind of Zombie, Skillet (and namely Invincible) was one of the first heavy bands that I started listening to. This record to me was a gateway to a world of great alternative music, and it stands as a benchmark today. "It lives inside of me / burning, burning, burning."
One of my favorite music videos is the one for Best Kept Secret. I love how it looks like they are wearing wrapping paper! And near the bridge ("let it out..."), the imagery seems influenced by the X-Files movie. ;)
#10
Five Iron Frenzy - "The End Is Near/Here"
Year: 2003
Label: Five Minute Walk
Favorite songs: Wizard Needs Food, Badly; On Distant Shores; Cannonball; See The Flames Begin to Crawl; At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys
Lyric sample: "The crowds recoil, demand our survival / Fists in the air, mouths caked with saliva / But you are the ones, the spark that was spawned / Who picks up the pieces and passes it on"
I'll go ahead and say it right out - this is an emotional record for me. I purchased it at Liberty University following a Five Iron concert that I had just attended as part of the Winners Never Quit Tour, also featuring Bleach and Holland. This final tour for the world's most famous underground ska band, and so while it was exciting to be there and hear them before they disbanded, it also provided a certain air of somber realization. The songs took on a weight in light of future events, because we knew this was the last time we would hear them in this way and see the band in this formation. We treasured the moment and danced and sang and screamed for all we were worth. It was a night to remember. Then I bought the album, having never heard any of its songs except for the few they had played that night. On the back was a field marked "The last time I saw Five Iron Frenzy was..." and the merch people stamped it with the date and place. So I held my record and said my goodbyes.
Five Iron Frenzy, more than most bands, were aware ahead of time of their intended demise. So, rather than piddle out and have people wonder endlessly about their fate (*coughDCTALKcough*), the group composed not one but two records to end their career in a blazing fireball. The first was the controversially titled Cheeses of Nazareth shorted to simply Cheeses... for the bookshelves, a joke record made solely for hardcore fans giving them rampant silliness as only FIF can. It also featured several old demos, a B-side from Boogaloo and an entirely different song to the tune of "Ugly Day." It wasn't a good album by any stretch, but it was for us and we loved it. The second was their final full-length studio release, The End is Near, which IS a good album - even a great one.
At this point in their career, the band had all but perfected their hard rock with horns sound. I keep saying rock because this is not a ska album in any discernible sense. It is rock with horns. Five Iron's ska era ended with the uncertain footing of All The Hype Money Can Buy, giving rise to the unbelievably solid Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo. That record featured a much more mature sound and more serious lyrics, as well as Reese's best vocals to date. The End is Near continues that trend, creating a seemingly effortless string of catchy and hard-hitting rock songs. The only hints of ska guitar are found on "See the Flames Begin to Crawl" and "Wizard Needs Food, Badly;" the only punk rhythms are found on "That's How the Story Ends" which is more reminiscent in the chorus of their older songs like "Milestone." Fittingly, much of the record deals with different aspects of the group's dissolution. You can almost separate the tracks into those that are stand-a-lone songs and those that compose the connected arc leading us to the conclusion. The message of album rests on the songs "So Far, So Bad," "It Was Beautiful," "See The Flames Begin to Crawl," "That's How the Story Ends," and "On Distant Shores."
The one caveat is that the group can't totally resist the temptation to be a little melodramatic and at times whiny. "Anchors Away" is a little funny in perhaps unintended ways as it takes its message about media and consumerism a bit too seriously. Fortunately, the rest of the record keeps the sense of humor that the band is known for. "So Far, So Bad" might seem a little bratty, but you can't deny its truth. "Don't worry what this song would say / You'll never hear it anyway // They won't play this song on the radio / So far, so bad, that's how it goes." "Wizard Needs Food, Badly" is probably one of Reese's most classic lyrics. The "it's funny because it's true" factor is ratcheted up high, and it ought to become an anthem for men everywhere, as well as helping the women in their lives to understand them a little better. The crux of the song is a plea to the women we admire so very much that, yes, we love you, but... *little kid eyes* can't you see that the wizard needs food? I'm certain John Eldredge would approve.
Then there's "At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys," which is in a class by itself. It's unlike anything else I've ever heard. With a chord progression so odd it's incredible that it works so well, the song is Reese's protest against being old (he was 29 at the time). It's short and sweet, and the crisscrossing harmony in the chorus is fantastic. I'm still trying to figure it out. We all like sandwiches, right???
"American Kryptonite" might be the most extreme song FIF has ever released. Five Iron are no strangers to theatrical faux-metal, and here the object of their overenthusiastic derision is western consumerism. Reese sounds like his vocal chords are literally being filed down to nothing as he repeatedly screams during the bridge. "Farewell to Arms" is a call to peace, but it also calls out those who let their hate lead and rage against the church, decrying it while nursing their own belligerence.
When they aren't commenting on society, they take to burning bridges. "See the Flames Being to Crawl" is literally about destroying their musical equipment as they go up in metaphorical flames. Never devoid of the hope that they have always been about, the song notes that the flame passes to the rest of us to carry on now that their ministry as FIF has run its course. However, there is not much consolation in the bittersweet "That's How the Story Ends." Darkly amusing, this is the season finale in which the group ties up all the loose ends they've amassed in their joke songs over the years. I won't spoil it, but allow me to say that some of the songs referenced are "Where is Micah," "Blue Comb '78," "Kitty Doggy," "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs," "Combat Chuck," "The Untimely Death of Brad," and perhaps most astonishingly, the answer to the mystery of "These Are Not My Pants." One can debate whether it was wise to provide an ending to all of this and shut fans up, but it is kind of nice to have a reference, and apparently this is what they wanted to do. Hearing the song is something akin to seeing a loved one in a coffin - it beings to sink in that they are really not coming back. Fortunately it isn't that serious and so there are plenty of crooked smiles to be had along the way.
Whatever your thoughts or feelings on the rest of it, there can be little doubt that The End is Near concludes on the right note. In fact, I can hardly imagine a better way to end the record than the stirring "On Distant Shores." Like "Every New Day" before it, words fail me to truly capture the essence of this song or the emotions that it invokes. Many bands go their entire careers and never write anything half this good. Five Iron Frenzy was able to make magic multiple times, here crafting a song that, really, is every bit as good as "Every New Day." An epic closer of the highest calibre, "On Distant Shores" begins almost lightly with a picking guitar and horn accents, and an extremely melodic, hopeful chorus. The chord choices throughout the song are perfect - if a supercomputer were equipped with extensive knowledge of music theory it seems impossible that it could have come up with anything more starkly fitting or compelling. The song then evolves from its two-verse, two-chorus structure, quieting and darkening as the bridge approaches and the vocals begin soft. Soon, though, they will build in strength and intensity, somewhat like in "Every New Day" but at much more even pace, allowing ample time to set the mood and slowly stir it. When the height of musical intensity and the emotional delivery from Roper nears its peak, the tension is sustained until finally it's time to explode. With the words "I finally believed / That you still loved me" he reaches into his highest registers and his voice breaks in a heartfelt scream, and the song collapses into a rousing reprise of "Every New Day," the familiar climactic ending. As I said, I can't imagine how the band could have gone out any better than this. It's a breathtaking, exhausting, satisfying conclusion to a wonderful record and a radically distinctive career. R.I.P. Five Iron. You live forever in my heart and in my MP3 player.
The End is Here is a two-disc collection that was released later. The second disc contains live recordings from the final tour, and I would have bought this one if it had existed at the time. It's more supplemental material for anyone who can't get enough of the band. For those who actually attended the concert, it's a great way to relive the nostalgia.
Jump on this video I found for "Wizard Needs Food, Badly," apparently made by the same animators who do E-surance. It has nothing to do with the song but it's a lot of fun and the style pretty much lines up with FIF's weird artwork over the years. If you haven't heard the song, listen to it now!
#11
Switchfoot - "The Beautiful Letdown"
Year: 2003
Label: Columbia / Red Ink
Favorite songs: Meant to Live, Ammunition, Dare You To Move, This Is Your Life, Redemption, Gone
Lyric sample: "Gone like Frank Sinatra / Like Elvis and his mom / Like Al Pacino's cash / Nothing lasts in this life / My highschool dreams are gone / My childhood sweets are gone / Life is a day that doesn't last for long"
Whenever your favorite band releases a new record, it's always an event. It's like going to a carnival, only instead of funnel cakes, grease and body odor, it smells that crisp, slightly musty new CD smell. And instead of spinning around in circles until you hurl, the compact disc does all the spinning for you (unless you happen to have a swivel chair and enjoy abusing it) and you just kick back and take in some new tunes. Switchfoot's fourth studio record was an event. It was their first on a major mainstream label, so fans got to hear how they might sound with an additional band member and a lot of digital polishing. The truth is I've always thought of Switchfoot as a fairly earthy garage-ish group with a good bit of raw energy, so while Letdown is anything but hard to listen to, it doesn't do rock enthusiasts any favors by taking the edge off. In fact that could have easily been the end of their appeal - but fortunately Switchfoot has always been a poppy band with ample time spent in quiet reflection through their popular ballads, so the sense of atmosphere here allows those moments to thicken. Even more fortunately, they are still writing great songs, and it's hard to kill a great song. If you're interested in killing great songs, watch "Across the Universe" and you'll find plenty of examples. However, this isn't about that.
Speaking of the atmosphere, the whole record is drenched in it. The addition of keyboardist Jerome Fontamillis to the SF lineup (he had previously been seen playing live with them) provided them more opportunities for noise - beeps and bloops, swirls and swells, the kind of thing that seems to help add sonic depth to existing song structures. Jon Foreman's versatile and recognizable vocal has never sounded better, clearer, or stronger. He starts off in "Meant to Live" making some aggressive expressions we've never heard from him before, assimilating them effortlessly into his sound. With this new-found confidence, he goes on to add some similar punctuation to their re-recording of "Dare You To Move" from Learning to Breathe. Understanding that they were reaching a lot of new listeners with their expanded influence, they wanted to make sure one of their best songs received airplay - understandable. I think some of the new embellishments actually helped the song, though it's difficult to change something so well-loved without messing some things up as well. I'm also not sure that having it appear at number 5 on the disc works the way it should.
What does work is the bombastic opener, "Meant to Live." Easily the heaviest Switchfoot song up to that point, "Meant to Live" is a rollicking, soaring radio rocker with plenty of distorted electric guitar. The main riff has probably at some point been stuck in the heads of everyone who has heard it. I know a lot of people must be tired of it by now - that's one of the drawbacks of receiving a lot of radio play - but not me. I still love the song every time I hear it. Lyrically it brings the theme of the album into focus. Nearly every song in some way will touch on the ideas of dissatisfaction with life, the pitfalls and transience of the culture, and the search for something greater, for purpose and meaning. The band continues to rock with "Ammunition," an explosive expose' on our self-destructive nature. Chad's Butler's drumming takes center stage during the intro, featuring some odd timing that seems disorienting until it slowly builds into a discernible pattern.
I never feel like Switchfoot is doing something just to do it. They are not overindulgent and their work is always heartfelt. In some ways they resemble U2 in their ability to take simple progressions and make something special out of them. "On Fire" is perhaps the song most reminiscent of their classic ballads. It's a fantastic slow and tender moment, maybe the quietest point on the album. Between this extreme and the opposing rock tracks exists every shade of intensity. "This is Your Life" and "More Than Fine" bubble along at an even pace, both demonstrating the band's ability to add interest where lesser groups would probably deliver un-memorable stock songs. "More Than Fine" has an unpredictable verse melody that catches your attention immediately, and "This Is Your Life's" oddly haunting synths embody the space between fear and regret. Then there are the songs with a more robust pace. "Redemption" may be the oddball on the record with nothing else that really corresponds to it in terms of sound. It uses clear, clean instrumentation but keeps a brisk gait and boasts one of the better choruses on the album. "Adding to the Noise" and "Gone" are the bouncy, fun songs similar in style to something like "Company Car" from the New Way to Be Human record. "Gone" is perhaps most notable for its lyrics rather than its radio-groomed groove, an upbeat reminder that our life, like today, is fleeting and our earthly wealth has no lasting importance.
Perhaps the heart of the record, appropriately, is the title track. "The Beautiful Letdown" is the first song I heard from this record, played live by the band before its release. It it is a simple song full of jangly instrumentation that speaks of being a sojourner in a land unfit. The hopscotch lyrical meter sometimes feels like it's running to catch up, emphasizing the feeling of being out of place. The term "Beautiful Letdown" is a classic Jon Foreman expression. Switchfoot has made a habit of exploring the paradoxes of faith, and this is another approach at that theme.
As Christians we may not belong to this world, but this album belongs in your collection - and up high on my list. The main video for Meant to Live is pretty cool, but you've all seen it and the sync for most of them is off. I think this is cooler with the concert footage. Check it out.
And - stay tuned for the final 10!
#12
dc Talk - "Jesus Freak"
Year: 1995
Label: Forefront
Favorite songs: So Help Me God, Mind's Eye, Day By Day, Colored People, Jesus Freak, Like It Love It Need It
Lyric sample: "Saw a man in the desert with naps on his head / The sand that he walked was also his bed / The words that he spoke made the people assume / There wasn't too much left in the upper room / With skins on his back and hair on his face / They thought he was crazed by the locusts he ate / The Pharisees tripped when they heard him speak / 'Til the king took the head of this Jesus Freak"
If this were a list of the most famous, lucrative, or influential Christian rock records, you'd see this one in the top 10. There simply isn't any question that Jesus Freak has embedded itself in firmly in the Christian youth culture whose battle cry its anthems have become. The title track itself has been covered by local bands nearly as much as all of Relient K's catalog combined, which is saying something. I imagine that many people have heard dc Talk's breakout smash hit so many times that its passages have become simple buzzwords more than a musical experience. For me, these tunes are familiar like my church sanctuary or the back seat of the family minivan. They've been with me since early adolescence. Familiarity can breed contempt, or at very least boredom and shelf-setting. What I think many former youth-group kids may fail to recognize is how good the record really is. Like the fragrance of your own home, it's something you aren't always aware of until you've been away from it for a while and are able to take it in anew. Not simply a shoe-in based on its pedigree, an examination of Jesus Freak reveals to me that it has earned its keep.
One of the things I find most astonishing about this album is that it actually only contains about 8 original songs. "Day By Day" is a cover, and "In the Light" is a reworked Charlie Peacock tune. "Mrs. Morgan" surely doesn't count as an actual song, nor does the silly "Jesus Freak Reprise." I suppose you could count the hidden poem "Alas My Love," bringing us to 9. With dc Talk it is apparently quality over quantity, and it seems that each song is almost something larger than life. It has to be in order for the album to be so cohesive and full.
So what makes Jesus Freak so great? For one thing, it represents a giant leap forward in the development of dc Talk. Their previous release, Free At Last was still primarily a hip-hop record, even though it began to add more rock guitar riffs on songs like "Luv is a Verb." With Jesus Freak, the influences of the early '90's grunge movement are evident. The packaging has taken on the dirty, urban monochrome preferred by rock groups of the time rather than the more expressive colorful displays that often accompany rap projects, signaling a change of form. Indeed, Toby MacKeehan's rapping takes a more minor role while the hooks and guitars become more prominent. The tendency would have been to follow a trend, losing the original appeal of their work and drawing the ire of fans and critics alike with an inferior imitation of a popular sound. That Jesus Freak subverts this gaping trap is a testimony to its success.
dc Talk is one of those rare groups who can simply not be categorized. They almost entirely defy genre grouping, and this landmark album shows their sound at its most diverse. Rock, pop, alternative, grunge, rap, funk.. it's all here in some form. Combining the influences of Toby, Michael and Kevin has always been a strong point for the group. Surprising due to its diminished rap focus is that Toby co-wrote most of the songs on the record. These songs are fantastic in their musical deftness. Melodic, moving, well-paced and well-sequenced, the song chain on Jesus Freak doesn't harbor any weak links. There is no evidence of rushing or filler material. Each and every measure has been carefully, lovingly crafted and tweaked. It absolutely reeks of quality, in some ways an ethereal quality that I can't quite explain. Consider the blistering rap breakdown in "Like It, Love It, Need It," the infectious pre-chorus of "So Help Me God," the dense tapestry of acoustic instruments and harmonies on "Between You and Me." These songs have special moments that invite revisiting. It's raw enough not to sound totally overproduced, but it's clear a lot of work has gone into the making.
The remarkable perfection of these original recordings is accented by recent projects such as Freaked!, a compilation featuring covers of every song on the Jesus Freak record by various Gotee and Mono Vs. Stereo recording artists. Several of them are quite likable, but they can't seem to reach the balance and depth of the originals; what's more, the songs that I enjoy the most are almost always the ones that have changed the least. Of course it isn't really sporting for these young bands to have to compete with the vocal powerhouses of Michael Tait and Kevin Max. Both of these men have stunning vocal range and expression, and their styles mesh extremely well together. The other thing that these homages demonstrate is the resilience of these same songs. They are so well-written that inasumch as their primary melodies and structures remain intact, they pretty much always sound good.
The only song on the album that I just plain don't like is "What If I Stumble." I have never much cared for the song, and I think it has to do with the instrumentation as well as the mostly low-key presentation. Add to this that it's too overplayed on Christian radio stations (along with "In the Light," a great song that I can hardly listen to anymore due to overexposure) and it becomes a section of the disc that I'm prone to skip. I thought perhaps it would be better without the French-sounding instruments, but a brief listen to Sarah Kelly's cover sent me running back to the dc Talk version in a hurry. I do appreciate the humility that the song offers.
Jesus Freak is so well known and liked that it doesn't need me to bat on its behalf. I consider it dc Talk's question album. Listen to all the questions in the lyrics. "What will people think? What will people do?" "What if I stumble? What if I fall?" "What have we become?" Supernatural in some ways has more answers, as well as completing the transition from rap to alternative rock. I consider both records absolute necessities, dc Talk's zenith before they dropped sharply into murky limbo. Will they ever return? Who knows. In the mean time I can still savor this classic, as well as Kevin Max's occasional release.
dc Talk was always up for combating racism, and Colored People made the message loud and clear. This video captures the feel of the album in my opinion. Good memories.
#13
Five Iron Frenzy - "Our Newest Album Ever"
Year: 1997
Label: 5 Minute Walk
Favorite songs: Every New Day, Handbook for the Sellout, Fistful of Sand, Most Likely to Succeed, Oh Canada, Superpowers
Lyric sample: "Under the sands of the mighty Sahara goes / Our hero bold in search of gold / A casket for a dying world / Our hero stands, wealth in hand / The prize for his endeavor / The masses cheer to hide their fear / That no man lives forever"
Ah, Five Iron Frenzy. I suspect that there are those out there who think that the gang from Colorado is just a bunch of silly goons without any real talent or foundation. After all, they present a rather playful image of themselves as ska bands are known to do. It took me a while to begin seeing the value in them myself. One of the first Five Iron songs I ever heard was "Where is Micah" from this record, playing on the radio station that my friend's church used to operate. It was an odd song, and I wasn't sure about the quality or purpose of the whole thing. It didn't exactly convert me into a die-hard fan of the group. It took me being reintroduced to them during the Boogaloo era and then getting into their older songs through the live album Proof That the Youth are Revolting before I was ready to come back and give Our Newest Album Ever, the newest no longer, a second sporting chance. Indeed, the live record sums up much of the best of Five Iron's early career, and the amount of material that comes from this record is telling. Our Newest Album Ever's track list reads like a catalogue of the band's greatest hits. It's easily the strongest outing from the first (more ska) half of their run, and gives all the other records some solid competition as well.
Yet what surprised me most was that the actual product is not simply a collection of songs from an unusual bunch of punks and band geeks finding their place. It's actually a cohesive, moving piece of work, the trademark humor serving as a jarring contrast to the profound themes that it also confronts. The record is almost split half and half between silliness and poignancy, and that split sometimes occurs down the middle of songs.
It takes eight people to comprise the wondrous wonders of Five Iron Frenzy, but let's take a moment to look at the ones that stand out the most. The voice of the band, one Mr. Michael Reese Roper, does much to distinguish Five Iron Frenzy from a host of cheap imitators. His vocal delivery here is much improved from the first record. It sounds much smoother and meshes nicely with the sound that the band is establishing. His greatest addition, though, is surely his lyrics. Playful, sarcastic, poetic, blunt, angry, worshipful... it's a staggering mix that delivers many moments of poignancy throughout the album. Matched with perfect musical touches thanks to a melodic writing team including trombonist Dennis Culp and then-guitarist Scott Kerr, Roper's lyrics pierce to the heart of various issues in ways that I can't really describe. I don't know if anyone feels the way I do about this record. It kind of makes me feel at a loss to explain myself. It's a lot of fun. It's a peppy, energetic sing a long. But as I'm bobbing my head, I end up feeling deep emotions.
"Handbook for the Sellout," one of the band's best and most famous songs, starts out the record. It's a rousing opening, giving you Five Iron's trademark sound. Two overdriven (but not grungy) guitars panned left and right playing harmonizing power chords, a brass section peppering melodies on top, punk-ish drums and bright chords on the upbeat during the verses. Palm-muting in the bridge, a swelling prechorus and a very catchy four-line, four-chord chorus. The enduring song is about the politics of record labels and band popularity, pointing fingers at the ridiculous game that goes on in the industry and governs popularity, what you can and cannot sing about, and whether a band is perceived as original or as sellouts. "Where is Micah" is an in-joke about the band's guitar player Micah Ortega disappearing and being left behind at shows. Then comes "Superowers," a zany depiction of the band themselves as having powers gained from smelly bus rides and no practice. "Five minutes left to write this one / la, la la, la la, la la la."
Then comes one of my favorite songs in the FIF canon, "Fistful of Sand." This darker turn about the worthlessness of worldly treasures in the face of man's mortality marks the first of several sublime passages on the record. There's something in the lines "Where cities stood, soon deserts found / Now sink beneath the swelling ground" and "The masses cheer to hide their fear / That no man lives forever" that gives pause. Even as these lines lead us, toe-tapping, from the verse into the chorus, they hit on very real anxieties that have plagued not just individuals but entire empires since the earliest times. A similar instance appears near the end of the album in the song "Most Likely To Succeed." "And as you go / Call to mind the things you've come to know / Be sure to wave goodbye / On the day you die / To all that you wanted / You're leaving behind." It's chilling words for those whose last hope is in their accomplishments on earth.
In the meantime, Five Iron writes about lost family heirlooms ("Blue Comb '78"), the treatment of Native Americans ("Banner Year"), the treatment of nerds in grade school ("Suckerpunch") and, of course, Canadians ("Oh, Canada"). Then, at the end of it all, comes perhaps the band's best song, the one both they and their fans seem to esteem above the others. That song is "Every New Day." One of the all-time great ending songs, "Every New Day" is a catchy little praise song in its first half - but then the bridge kicks in and Reese begins speaking his lines, slowly raising his voice until he nearly shouts (on the live album, he screams the last part). The finale is beautiful, affirming, and transcendent. It gives me chills just about every time I hear it. It's a perfect finish to an amazing record. This album has to be heard to be believed, though I'm not sure what it takes to be understood. Maybe just a willing heart.
My newest link ever! Dance on over to this rad video for Handbook for the Sellout with some classic FIF concert footage. Oh, and the scenes at the beginning and end are from the movie King Kong vs. Godzilla.
#14
Anberlin - "Never Take Friendship Personal"
Year: 2005
Label: Tooth & Nail
Favorite songs: The Feel Good Drag; Stationary, Stationery; Paperthin Hymn; The Runaways; Aubrey, Start the Revolution, Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen
Lyric sample: "Remind your parents we're tomorrow / Lead with morals and we'll follow / When they wake up they'll see / That youth fades and glory days deceive / What are you waiting for, let's move on this / Time is of essence like your kiss / So say you're in / With cards down and guns drawn this is it // If this isn't love / This is the closest I've ever been"
Anberlin is one of my favorite bands, so it seems only fitting that one of their records should get near the top. Originally this was a placeholder in my top 10 but I simply couldn't justify leaving it there. They are in my top 10 bands but no single record of theirs is really that calibre. In fact, they are all very much alike with a few alterations. Most great bands pioneer their own sound, a savvy synthesis of their influences. That's what makes them notable, makes them last. Others define their genres so completely that they become inextricable from them. Anberlin is a genre band. They have a certain sound that they pretty much keep to, but no one else can do that sound the way they can. And I happen to really like that sound, so color me a fan.
As far as choosing a defining record, Cities is really growing on me as their mature effort, and Blueprints has the wonderful "Readyfuels." Straddled in between is the boisterous sophomore effort, the awkwardly titled Never Take Friendship Personal. The name of the game here is catchy pop-punk tunes. That's really it. If you liked the Anberlin from their first record, this is mostly more of the same - it's just more infectious, upbeat and a bit more varied. It it maybe has a bit more midrange, which I like because it brings out the guitars. The winning ingredients - a distinctive male vocal with impossible range; an energetic, driving brand of emo-flavored rock; a sharp, cynical attitude that coats the lyrics and melodies in a danceable melancholy. There are some exultant tunes that glory in close friendship, like "Time and Confusion" and "Aubrey, Start the Revolution." There are some really dark, angry songs like "Never Take Friendship Personal" and "The Feel Good Drag." There are the radio-ready riffsters "Paperthin Hymn" and "The Runaways;" the pop pieces "Stationary, Stationery," and "A Day Late;" and the long progressive closer "Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen." Then there's the soft song, "Symphony of Blase" that no one really cares about, and the sarcastically named instrumental "A Heavy Hearted Work of Staggering Genius."
Anberlin excels at big hooks that get you singing along, and so the songs that amplify this trait tend to be the strongest. One of the better moments is the decidedly dark "The Feel Good Drag." Like "Readyfuels" on the previous album, the lead guitarist gets one song to show off his chops, and this is the one. His solos are always fitting, tasteful and fun. Add to that some nice root movement during the bridge and a strong hook and you have yourself a hot rock single. "Paperthin Hymn" and "Runaways" play with some elements previously untapped. The former is a more reserved sounding track with a prominent riff and poetic lyrics, and the latter features some nice guitar work and even a bass solo. Maybe the biggest departure from the established norm is the final track, a 7 minute undertaking that would become the model for the likes of "*Fin" on Cities. There are not that many songs this long that I can enjoy listening to all the way through. "Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen" admirably keeps my attention. It displays a well-defined sense of atmosphere and one of catchiest choruses on the record.
Shortly after Never Take Friendship Personal was released, I had ripped it from my brother and listened to it quite a few times on my MP3 player. Later on, I went to Family Christian Stores to look for some new music. I looked through quite a few options that I had hoped to get, but ended up buying my own copy of this album. It was just that much better than anything else I was contemplating. I felt no regrets about that decision, and it hasn't much worn out its welcome. In the case of this review, you should take it personal. My bias towards this album is not very objective. In fact, I readily acknowledge that by critical standards it's not nearly as good as many records that it sits above in placement. However, this is my list; and the style is one I wish I could find more of. Plus several songs on the record came at a good time in my life to kind of bring out my thoughts and feelings better than I myself could. These have become entwined with certain relationships such that corresponding emotions often arise with their playing. If I have a complaint, it's that it's too short. I play these CD's for myself as I'm writing the reviews, and it's rare that one ends before I'm through typing. This one just finished, so I'll stop too.
"Don't need no drugs / You're my chemical / Now I'm dependent / Swear I'm clinical." Get your Anberlin fix with this video for "Paperthin Hymn."
