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Showing posts with label rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock. Show all posts

21 October 2008

[2001-2007] Ensiferum - Complete Discography (Mp3 Download)

A melodic power/death/folk metal band delving in Viking legends for lyrical inspiration, Helsinki, Finland's Ensiferum had to continually coexist with various simultaneous metal projects undertaken by its members. Founded in 1995 by guitarist Markus Toivonen, Ensiferum worked up a number of demo tapes before finally attracting the attention of Finland's powerhouse metal label, Spinefarm, which released their eponymous debut in 2001. The sophomore Iron followed in 2004, and both albums featured vocalist Jari Mäenpää, bassist Jukka-Pekka Miettinen, keyboardist Meiju Enho, drummer Oliver Fokin, and of course Toivonen. Many of these were active in black/dark metal act Arthemesia at the same time, and Mäenpää subsequently announced his departure to start a new band called Wintersun. review by Ed Rivadavia at allmusic.com











[2001] Ensiferum










[2004] Iron










[2005] 1987-1999 Demo Re-Release










[2006] Dragonheads EP










[2007] Victory Songs

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Posted by alhuraibi at 3:08 PM 0 comments  

20 October 2008

[2008] Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American [Deluxe Edition] (Mp3 Download)










After being dropped by Capitol, Jimmy Eat World returned in 2001 with their most consistent and accessible album to date. Recorded entirely on the band's dime, before they had a new record deal, Bleed American features compelling lyrics, driving guitar work, and insanely catchy melodies. Left to their own devices during the recording process, it wouldn't have been surprising if the band had turned out another layered, sprawling album akin to their previous full-length masterwork, Clarity. Perhaps sensing that they wouldn't be able to top their previous work when it came to spacy emo, Bleed American heads in a new direction. There are no 16-minute songs here, just straight-ahead rock & roll, performed with punk energy and alt-rock smarts. The title track sets the tone for the album with its blistering guitar attack and aggressive vocals. "A Praise Chorus" and "The Middle improve upon that formula, maintaining the forceful instrumentation but toying with the lyrical themes. "A Praise Chorus" uses the most basic of rock emotions for lyrical inspiration, "I wanna fall in love tonight," while lifting lyrics from Tommy James' "Crimson and Clover," They Might Be Giants' "Don't Let's Start," and Mötley Crüe's "Kick Start My Heart," among others. When used in a song about the comfort and trappings of nostalgia, this borrowing comes off more like a well-placed tribute than stealing. "The Middle" offers a pep talk about self-acceptance and fitting in, and one of the most memorable guitar riffs this side of Angus Young. Bleed American's quieter moments recall some of the band's signature instrumentation from their previous work. Gentle keyboards, bells, and stirring background vocals from former that dog. member Rachel Haden enhance the understated beauty of ballads like "Hear You Me" and "Cautioneers." Haden's most enjoyable contribution, however, is to the up-tempo rocker "The Authority Song." On the surface a song about a song (John Mellencamp's "Authority Song), it also name drops the Beatles' "What Goes On." The numerous references to other bands and other songs reveal that although Jimmy Eat World is a critically acclaimed and incredibly talented band, the members are really just rock fans themselves. If they maintain this level of quality, however, don't be surprised if the next generation of ambitious rockers start writing songs that pay tribute to Jimmy Eat World. [The 2008 Deluxe reissue of the album lives up to the deluxe tag, featuring an entire disc's worth of b-sides, live tracks, demos and an unreleased version of "Your House". Many of the tracks were released in Japan, the UK, or Germany, it's nice to have them all gathered together in one spot. None of the extras stand out as relevatory or essential, but they do add quite a bit of background to one of the few pop/punk or emo albums likely to stand the test of time.] review at Mark Vanderhoff & Tim Sendra at allmusic.com

Track List
01. Bleed American
02. A Praise Chorus
03. The Middle
04. Your House
05. Sweetness
06. Hear You Me
07. If You Don't, Don't
08. Get it Faster
09. Cautioners
10. The Authority Song
11. My Sundown
12. The Most Beautiful Things [Bonus Track]
13. No Sensitivity [Bonus Track]
14. (Splash) Turn Twist [Bonus Track]
15. Cautioners [Early Track]
16. Firestarter [Bonus Track]
17. Get it Faster [Session at AOL Session]
18. Bleed American [Live]
19. A Praise Chorus [Live]
20. Softer [Live]
21. The Middle [Acoustic Version]
22. If You Don't, Don't [XFM Session]
23. Game of Pricks [Radio 1 Session]
24. The Authority Song [Demo Version]
25. My Sundown [Inner Ear Recording]
26. Sweetness [Live]
27. Last Christmas [Limited Edition Sample]
28. My Sundown [Demo Version]
29. Spangle [Bonus Track]
30. Hear You Me [Inner Ear Recording]
31. The Middle [Early Demo]
32. Your House 2007 [Bonus Track]

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Posted by alhuraibi at 5:54 PM 0 comments  

18 October 2008

[1993 - 2002] New Bomb Turks - Complete Discography (Mp3 Download)

[1993] Destroy-Oh-Boy!

[1994] Information Highway Revisited

[1996] Scared Straight

[1998] At Rope's End

[2000] Nightmare Scenario

[2002] The Night Before the Day the Earth Stand Still

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Posted by alhuraibi at 6:11 PM 0 comments  

17 October 2008

[2008] Disturbed - Indestructible (Mp3 Download)










Disturbed's fourth full-length offering announces its arrival with an air-raid siren. It's an appropriate gesture for the popular Chicago-based metal collective, whose rapid ascension from buzzed-about Ozzfest highlight to commercial hard rock juggernaut has been as divisive as it has been impressive. While Indestructible doesn't meddle with the melodic hard-hitting Pantera-inspired formula that fueled its predecessors, the dreaded nu-metal tag that followed the band out of the turn of the century seems wholly eradicated. If anything, Disturbed owe more to early-'90s Metallica and Brian Johnson-era AC/DC than they do Tool or Korn, as each staccato, tech-heavy riff is balanced out by some truly artful soloing and frontman David Draiman's mean and melodious pipes. Standout cuts like "Inside the Fire," "Deceiver, " "The Curse," and the skull-cracking title track, even though they could have appeared on any of the group's first three records, still manage to fire on every cylinder. Like its closest contemporary, Godsmack, this is a band that favors reliability over experimentation, and each piece of Indestructible, whether it's the pseudo-horror/fantasy artwork, the drop-D riffing, or the obligatory "shout-outs" in the liner notes to the purveyors of each member's gear endorsement deals, fits together like the world's most obvious puzzle. That said, there's a reason each of the group's previous albums bested the million mark, and with metal growing increasingly self-aware and divided between hardcore and hard rock, a new Disturbed record seems like a solid foundation on which to duke it out. review by James Christopher Monger at allmusic.com

Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 6:12 PM 0 comments  

16 October 2008

[2008] Drive By - A Delicate Situation (Mp3 Download)










Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 2:53 PM 0 comments  

[2008] The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia... (Mp3 Download)










Considering that it's an album of leftovers -- one B-side from Yes, Virginia..., four unreleased recordings, one old demo, a cover, and five new recordings, to be exact -- the songs on No, Virginia... are unexpectedly strong. Comprised of material from five years together as a duo, these are the numbers that were left off the Dresden Dolls' prior releases because, according to singer/pianist Amanda Palmer, she tends to shy away from her pop side. This definitely seems to be the case, as the pop sensibilities on this record are more exposed, and shining brighter than ever before. When compared to the edgier numbers on the first two albums, the majority of tunes feel like potential singles: a strange concept for a punk cabaret group. But it's a kinder, gentler burlesque show this time around. A demo of "Mouse and the Model" shows off Palmer's delicate side, with her husky boisterousness forgone for weary swooning, as does "Boston," a slow building power ballad that by all means should have made the cut of Yes, Virginia... had it not overextended the running time. In fact, all of the new songs, which were recorded with the previous album's producer Sean Slade, could have blended into the mix of songs on the similarly themed and produced Yes, Virginia... if not for the fact that they were just too upbeat, with interfering big melodies and major chord progressions. That's the strange world of the Dresden Dolls. One where the powerful catchy hooks get the axe, while the more somber and obscured tracks make the cut. It also exposes the primary problem with trying to establish yourself as an originator of your own "Brechten" genre: if the songs aren't baroque enough, they get tossed and replaced with the ones that are more defining of your character. Luckily, the discarded gems finally found a home, rewarding fans with some of Palmer and Brian Viglione's most intimate and accessible moments, along with a solid cover of "Pretty in Pink" originally released on a John Hughes-inspired High School Reunion compilation. review by Jason Lymangrover at allmusic.com

Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 2:41 PM 0 comments  

14 October 2008

[2007] Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing (Mp3 Download)










Well, that awkward goth phase didn't last long! With all the impatience of an ADD-riddled teen rebel, Avril Lavigne ditched the gloomy façade of her sophomore Under My Skin and dove back into the well-scrubbed mosh pit for her third album, The Best Damn Thing. Frankly, the change in pace comes as a bit of a relief. The serious Avril on Under My Skin never felt genuine — the shift from the exuberance of "Sk8er Boi" to the meandering ruminations of "Don't Tell Me" and "My Happy Ending" seemed sudden and forced, a misguided attempt to prove that Lavigne was a serious songwriter — so as soon as The Best Damn Thing opens with the bright bubblegum blast of "Girlfriend" and its cheerleader chant, everything within Avril's world seems right again. If anything, this third album feels even more adolescent than her aggressively catchy-n-shallow debut, Let Go, perhaps because this is an album where Avril is allowed to run wild. She can curse, spit, and strut to her heart's content, she can taunt her rivals and steal their boyfriends, then bitch out the boy for not understanding her once he belongs to her. She impatiently rushes through the power ballads — there are only three of them, all impeccable melodic anthems designed to keep the crossover adult audience Let Go won, all better than their equivalents on Under My Skin — because she can't wait to get back and raise hell like the spoiled brat that she's thrilled to be. Avril swears like she's just discovered profanity, cheerfully spitting out four-letter words (and their compounds) with glee, but everything she does here she does with unrestrained glee. She truly believes she's the best damn thing you've ever seen, she knows it's all about her — or, as she shouts on "I Don't Have to Try," "I wear the pants!" — and if you don't agree, she knows you're wrong and you can go to hell (actually, she'd probably say something a lot stronger). This sense of entitlement will surely rankle anybody who's just a little bit older than Avril's 22 years, who will also find that the perennial Lavigne complaint holds: she ain't no punk, she's a brat that any grizzled old punk will want to beat with a baseball bat. (How do you know if you're one of the old guys? If you recognize the chorus of "Girlfriend" as a total lift from the Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," you're an old guy, even if you're 20.) But The Best Damn Thing wasn't made for them, nor was it made with any sense (or even regard) for the past: it was made to exist totally in the moment, in a time when a moment speeds by faster than light. And, frankly, that's what good about The Best Damn Thing: it's as exuberant, irreverent, and exciting as any other bubblegum pop, defiantly silly and shallow, but also deliriously hooky. If Lavigne didn't have the hooks — if neither "Girlfriend" nor the title track weren't driven by cheerleader chants, if "Everything Back But You" didn't snarl like prime Green Day, if "I Can Do Better" didn't soar on its chorus — her snotty attitude would be unbearable, but these are terrific, addictive pop songs that are harder and tougher yet feel fresher and lighter than her big hits from Let Go. True, this is far from deep, but Under My Skin proved that a deep Avril is a dull Avril. The Best Damn Thing, in contrast, builds on every one of her bratty strengths, which makes for ridiculously catchy pop — the kind of music that provides a soundtrack for teens and guilty pleasures for everyone else. review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 2:21 PM 0 comments  

13 October 2008

[2008] Dismember - Dismember (Mp3 Download)










With their eponymous, eighth studio album (and its emphatic opening track, "Death Conquers All," in particular), Dismember clearly wish to restate their enduring commitment to the genre they've stuck with through thick and thin since day one; even though most of their colleagues from the first generation of late '80s, Swedish death metal bands, wandered off towards greener musical pastures long ago, or simply went away entirely. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. First the good thing: it means that, with very few exceptions (like the clean, melodic ending of "Under a Bloodred Sky" -- very Iron Maiden) Dismember's loyal and stylistically conservative fan base can rest assured that typical new tracks like "Europa Burns," "The Hills Have Eyes," and the utterly pulverizing "To End It All," will sound like authentic snapshots of the band's early days -- down to the insistent Cookie Monster vocals and those distinctively Swedish, hollow and grinding guitar tones. The bad thing, of course, is the simultaneous creative stagnation that's sure to leave more open-minded listeners feeling that they've heard all these songs (good ones like those cited above and not so good like "Legion," "Combat Fatigue," and "Dark Depths") done before, in only slightly altered form, on those first few Entombed, Edge of Sanity, and, yes, Dismember LPs. Sound subjective enough? Well, that's just because it is, but Dismember are obviously wise not to go changing their successful blueprint this late in the game. Their devoted fans will certainly thank them for that. review by Eduardo Rivadavia at allmusic.com

Track List
05. Legion

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Posted by alhuraibi at 7:18 PM 0 comments  

[2008] Def Leppard - Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (Mp3 Download)










Given that Def Leppard sounded so fun and revitalized on their 2006 covers album Yeah!, it was easy to hope that they would try to channel that same kinetic energy into their next set of original material, 2008's Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. And try they do on this tight set of 11 songs, pushing rhythms to the forefront in an attempt to kick up excitement, dipping into a Gary Glitter stomp on "C'mon C'mon," hitting harder than they have in years on the pummeling "Bad Actress," and revving up the guitars on "Hallucinate" so they mimic "Photograph," which is not the only time they allude to previous peaks, as "Only the Good Die Young" shimmers with harmonies straight out of Hysteria and "Nine Lives," a duet with country superstar Tim McGraw (the partnership isn't all that odd, considering Leppard's former producer Mutt Lange went country in the '90s with his wife, Shania Twain), rides a riff that is a kissing cousin to "Pour Some Sugar on Me." All this effort is appreciated, especially when Songs is compared to the dull leaden grind of X, but the album is hampered a bit by having an immediate sound and elusive hooks; it's as if Def Leppard have created an exquisitely tailored suit but it's oversized, so the clothes hang funny on the model. It's not that Songs from the Sparkle Lounge is devoid of hooks -- "C'mon C'mon" and "Nine Lives" are built around big hooks in the guitars and melodies -- but they don't hit as hard as the overall sound, which makes for a curious listen as the sound grabs hold but the songs don't quite follow through as, at their best, they're growers. They're also a bit of a mixed bag, with the power ballads never managing to take hold, but overall the album is song-for-song stronger than X, and it's helped out enormously by that tight, unified production that glosses over any deficiencies in the writing. And so it's a partially successful successor to Yeah!, following through on some of the overall feel and punch but lacking enough songs to truly bring it across the goal line. review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at allmusic.com

Track List
01. Go
04. Love

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Posted by alhuraibi at 6:48 PM 0 comments  

[2008] 10 Years - Division (Mp3 Download)










Knoxville Tennessee alt-metal act 10 Years made their major-label debut with 2005's The Autumn Effect, an utterly ordinary effort much beholden to the likes of Tool and Staind, which nonetheless scored a big radio hit with the single "Wasteland." Reportedly recorded in a fractious intra-band environment (hence the title), Division nonetheless sounds like the work of a band that carefully and thoroughly deconstructed their previous hit and attempted to replicate it several more times for the follow-up. Division is a smooth, radio-friendly record with the debut's aggressive tendencies almost entirely sanded off in favor of new producer Rick Parasher's glossy layers of instruments and vocals. Even potentially powerful quiet-to-loud rockers like "Russian Roulette" and "11 a.m. (Daydreamer)" feel over-manicured and far too polite, singer Jesse Hasek's vocals losing their emotive power in the overall listlessness. Even worse, hints that the band now consider themselves "artists" occasionally rear their ugly heads: the coda of "Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)" is nearly as long as the body of the song itself, and even worse, it features a spoken-word poem read by one of the album's female backing vocalists. (Simply that the album has female backing vocalists in the first place is a warning sign for this brand of alt-metal -- call it "November Rain" Syndrome -- but really, a poem? Why not just call the guy from the Moody Blues? He can't be busy.) It may well have the intended effect of prolonging the band's chart life temporarily, but Division sounds if anything like the exact opposite of artistic maturation. review by Stewart Mason at allmusic.com

Track List
07. Focus

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Posted by alhuraibi at 6:08 PM 0 comments  

[2001] Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs (Mp3 Download)










Superficially, there's not much separating Ben Folds' first official solo album, Rockin' the Suburbs, from his records with Ben Folds Five. It's hard to note any difference, really, since he still works from the same vantage point, borrowing equally from new wave, '90s irony, and a love of classic pop. Still, there is a difference, even if it's hard to pinpoint -- perhaps it's an increased focus, perhaps it was a hot streak from Folds, or perhaps the Five really were more of a group than they seemed and he's benefited by working according to his own patterns. Regardless, Rockin' the Suburbs is as good a record as any he's made, possibly his best. It's still possible to hear his influences -- Joe Jackson still stands out, as do elements of Billy Joel and Todd Rundgren -- but there's no shame there, and he's accepted it as part of his musical personality so much that it sounds like him, even when it sounds familiar. Better still, he's tempered his tendency to be a collegiate wiseass -- it pokes through on the title track, but that's the rare time that it's brought to the forefront -- which helps his songs shine brighter. And while there are no surprises here to anybody familiar with his work, it's a remarkably consistent record, filled with great mid-tempo pop tunes and nicely sentimental ballads. It's simply a good, solid record that captures Ben Folds at his most engaging, and that's more than enough. Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at allmusic.com

Track List
04. Gone
11. Fired

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Posted by alhuraibi at 3:16 PM 0 comments  

[2005] Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman (Mp3 Download)










Ben Folds is at his best when he melds the acerbic with the heartfelt, a balancing act that he's honed to perfection on the warm and ballad-heavy Songs for Silverman. Opening track "Bastard," with a fuzzed-out bassline right out of 1995, kick-starts a record that plays like a show in reverse. The meat's all upfront, so those expecting a show-stopping encore will just have to listen to it backward, as this is Ben Folds the family man, not the embittered youth who joined the "Army" on 1999's Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. While there is a warm undercurrent of tenderness that runs through Silverman, it's never cloying or clichéd; rather, Folds can take the simplest notion, insert a gorgeous piano motif, and hit that one line in falsetto that gives you goose bumps -- the lovely "Time" is a perfect example -- without breaking a sweat. On a song for his daughter ("Gracie") he teases, fawns, and pontificates without ever seeming overbearing -- a line like "you can't fool me/I saw you when you came out/You've got your mama's taste but you got my mouth" makes even the most spawn-fearing post-hipster reconsider the prospect of parenthood. However, Folds' brand of wry observation is most effective when it's applied to an antagonist like on the aforementioned "Bastard" ("You get smaller as the world gets big/'The Whiz Man' will never fit you like 'The Whiz Kid' did"), and while his barbs have taken on more of a nostalgic bent, soaring tracks like "Jesusland," "You to Thank," and "Late" -- the latter is a stark, simple, blue-collar ode to Elliott Smith -- confirm what many already knew, that Ben Folds is in this for the long haul, and you the consumer are luckier for it. Review by James Christopher Monger at allmusic

Track List
04. Landed
05. Gracie
08. Late
10. Time

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Posted by alhuraibi at 3:04 PM 0 comments  

[2006] As Talls As Lions - As Talls As Lions (Mp3 Download)











Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 2:46 PM 0 comments  

[2007] Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me (Mp3 Download)










It's been a long time since Marilyn Manson truly seemed like a transgressive force, but when you spend a lifetime crafting a persona as a rock & roll boogeyman, it's not only hard to shake that image, it's unlikely that you'd want to shake it. Manson has never shown any indication that he's wanted to change, which somehow came as a surprise to his betrothed, burlesque diva Dita Von Teese, who according to published reports in the wake of their divorce seemed shocked, shocked that Manson wanted to stay up late and take drugs, the kind of eternally adolescent behavior that only rock & roll stars can get away with as they approach 40. Better for Marilyn to sever that marriage and turn toward a true teenager: Evan Rachel Wood, the blandly pretty star of Thirteen who provided MM with a brand-new muse for Eat Me, Drink Me, his sixth studio album. Frankly, Manson probably needed something to shake up his music, which started to become comfortably predictable in the wake of his popular/creative peak of Mechanical Animals, but the stab at soul-baring on Eat Me might not have been the way to do it. But Manson is such a true believer in rock & roll mythos that he's wound up embracing the cliché of the post-divorce confessional album, peppering this album with songs about broken relationships and new love. Personal songs are unusual for Manson, but that doesn't mean he's abandoned his tendency to write about grand concepts. The difference is that this time around, Manson himself is the grand concept -- there's no excursions into neo-glam or decadent German glamour -- which may give him a lyrical hook, but not a musical one. On a sonic level this is a bit of Manson-by-numbers -- all his signatures are in place, from the liberal appropriations of Diamond Dogs to the cheerful immersion in dirges and his tuneless vampire drone -- but it feels as if his usual murky menace has lifted, with the music sounding clearer, less affected, and obtuse, while still retaining much of its gothic romanticism and churning heaviness. If anything, Eat Me is a bit too transparent, as its clean arena rock production -- all pumped up on steroids, devoid of much grit -- makes the album sound safe, a bit too close to Manson cabaret for comfort, especially when he's penning songs whose very titles feel like unwitting self-parodies ("If I Was Your Vampire," "You and Me and the Devil Makes 3," "They Said That Hell's Not Hot"), or when he lazily spews out profanity as the chorus to "Mutilation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery." These are the moments where Manson seems like the eternal teenager, unwilling and unable to grow up, and they provide a bitter ironic counterpoint to the rest of the record, where he is striving for an emotional honesty he's never attempted before. Put these two halves together, and Eat Me, Drink Me becomes an intriguing muddle, an interesting portrait of Manson at the cusp of middle-age melancholy even if as sheer music it's the least visceral or compelling he's ever been. Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at allmusic.com

Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 2:16 PM 0 comments  

11 October 2008

[2007] Interpol - Our Love To Admire (Mp3 Download)










Though Our Love to Admire is technically Interpol's first major-label album, the way the band attempted to streamline the gorgeously dark atmospherics of Turn on the Bright Lights into something more marketable on Antics made that album feel more like their big-time debut than this album does. On Our Love to Admire, Interpol spends roughly half their time following Antics' gameplan of distilling their sound into readily accessible hooks, and the other half stretching their sound with deluxe arrangements and filligrees like strings, brass, and keyboards (all of which are used to grandiose effect on "Wrecking Ball"). Our Love to Admire's poppy tracks have been polished into black patent leather brilliance: "No I in Threesome"'s jaunty, insistent rhythms and "The Heinrich Maneuver"'s relatively bright, bouncy attack show that Interpol has gotten better, or at least more accomplished, at transforming their sound into singles since Antics. More heartening news for Turn on the Bright Lights fans arrives on Our Love to Admire's ambitious tracks, some of which come close to touching the greatness of Interpol's debut. "Pioneer to the Falls" uses the album's expansive production to the hilt, beginning with elegantly treacherous guitars, strings, and pianos; Daniel Kessler's soaring guitar solo and Paul Banks' repeated entreaties of "you fly straight into my heart" feel like the musical equivalent of storm clouds clearing. The song is filmic and full of ideas, and updates the spirit behind Turn on the Bright Lights without rehashing its sound slavishly. "Mammoth" is another standout, a tense yet hypnotic rocker that builds into a graceful fury around the refrain "spare me the suspense" and the band's relentless rhythm section. However, two of the prettiest songs vie for the title of the album's strongest track: "Rest My Chemistry" is Our Love to Admire's languid, luminous centerpiece (and the song that most clearly recalls Turn on the Bright Lights' magic), while the album's spare, vulnerable finale, "The Lighthouse," boasts some of Banks' most natural, affecting vocals yet. When Our Love to Admire falters -- and it falters a fair amount of the time -- it's because Interpol's attention to atmosphere and detail outpaces the songwriting. At this point the band is so professional that songs like "The Scale," "Who Do You Think?," and "Pace Is the Trick" can sound good in the moment, but fail to leave a lasting impression. With nearly as many awkward moments as inspired ones, Our Love to Admire is a somewhat schizophrenic listening experience. It feels like half of an album by a band making sure their songs that fit the mold of what they've done before, and half of an album by a band using their major-label leverage to push their boundaries. Who knows which version of the band will prevail, but there are just enough interesting songs on Our Love to Admire to suggest that they can't be written off entirely just yet. Review by Heather Phares at allmusic.com

Track List

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Posted by alhuraibi at 10:19 AM 0 comments  

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