Well I figured I would start out my reviews with my favorite band, Anberlin. This September Anberlin is planning on releasing a new album titled "New Surrender". However they have since posted all of their songs onto their Myspace for everyone to listen. Anberlin is one of those bands that many people call a "Christian band", so I suppose if you consider a band that has all Christian members, to be a "Christian band" then Anberlin would fit your category, but if your definition of a Christian band is a group that references God directly in most, if not all their songs, you would be mistaken to think Anberlin is one of them. Anberlin is a band that has all Christian members, and has many songs that have a Christian message, however most of their songs are up for interpretation and can be seen either as a relationship with a girl, a family member, or God. New Surrender is no exception to this, even though many songs have strong connections to Christianity and God, many still have connections to earthly relationships with people. Well now that I have finished giving you my little Anberlin review lesson, lets move on to the music.The Resistance
In true Anberlin fashion, the first song on New Surrender is a very upbeat and fast song that's very similar to their music from Blueprints for the Black Market. As for the meaning, it's very clear that it's about a group of people that lack respect for their government and are only steps from a revolt. The line "You paper tigers" makes a reference to political leaders that appear on the outside as powerful people that want justice for everyone, but fall under pressure when the true time to stand up comes. The chorus is full of lines saying how they plan on overthrowing the disorganized government, and establishing an anarchy until a true, fair government is put into place. In the last section of the song, Stephen Christian sings "Ignite and watch us burn Til every embers turn, My God we'll feel inspired, When we set your walls to fire". What a better way to end an Anberlin song than by burning things and leading the way for the next generation? As for the mood of the song, I would have to say it has a serious tone, yet still is meant more for as a fun song when you need to get pumped up before a track meet or a football game. Now as for rating the song, I feel it has a good message, good mood, but the melody and vocals could be a bit better. Rating-4/5
Breaking
One thing I truly appreciate in a song is when a chorus is faster, and louder than the rest of the song, and Breaking is a perfect example of this. In my opinion this is a very well crafted song, with its changing melody throughout the song that changes from fast to slow to fit the lyrical content. The meaning of the song is another classic Anberlin theme, girls and breakups. It's apparent that the song is about a girl he had a prior relationship with, or wish he did, but in the end, hurt him and treated him with little respect like she did with all the guys before he came along. This can be evident in lines like "You've got breaking hearts all but down and you've done this, you've done this before", and "Do you collect the souls you've lost in the top of your dresser drawer". The mood of the song also fits perfectly with the lyrics, going from an almost disappointed feeling at the beginning, to a feeling of realization that life still goes on in the end. I feel this is probably one of, if not the best song off their new album. Rating- 5/5
Blame Me! Blame Me!
Much like how the worst part of a storm proceeds the eye, the worst song on this album proceeds the best. In my opinion this song is disoriented on all levels, the melody is random and rough compared to their other songs, the lyrics are a cliched love song, and the evidence of any mood is non-existent. The meaning of the song itself is, like I said, a love song. Possibly about a girl he's in a relationship with that only finds faults in him? I will have to skip the mood since it's so vague that I can not find one. Definitely not one of their best songs, but then again it does have a lot of competition. Rating-2.5/5
Retrace
Breaking
One thing I truly appreciate in a song is when a chorus is faster, and louder than the rest of the song, and Breaking is a perfect example of this. In my opinion this is a very well crafted song, with its changing melody throughout the song that changes from fast to slow to fit the lyrical content. The meaning of the song is another classic Anberlin theme, girls and breakups. It's apparent that the song is about a girl he had a prior relationship with, or wish he did, but in the end, hurt him and treated him with little respect like she did with all the guys before he came along. This can be evident in lines like "You've got breaking hearts all but down and you've done this, you've done this before", and "Do you collect the souls you've lost in the top of your dresser drawer". The mood of the song also fits perfectly with the lyrics, going from an almost disappointed feeling at the beginning, to a feeling of realization that life still goes on in the end. I feel this is probably one of, if not the best song off their new album. Rating- 5/5
Blame Me! Blame Me!
Much like how the worst part of a storm proceeds the eye, the worst song on this album proceeds the best. In my opinion this song is disoriented on all levels, the melody is random and rough compared to their other songs, the lyrics are a cliched love song, and the evidence of any mood is non-existent. The meaning of the song itself is, like I said, a love song. Possibly about a girl he's in a relationship with that only finds faults in him? I will have to skip the mood since it's so vague that I can not find one. Definitely not one of their best songs, but then again it does have a lot of competition. Rating-2.5/5
Retrace
In Retrace, Anberlin has managed to retrace their steps back onto the right path. This is an excellent example of a classic reminiscent themed song. The introduction has a very mellow, almost thought provoking melody to it that reminds me of walking on a deserted street at dusk thinking about my youth. The meaning of the song, from what I can gather, is about a guy that goes back to the town he grew up in, and everywhere he goes he remembers a girl he had a relationship with. He then goes on to say that he can not get her out of his mind. Things like photos, places, and even the time of year bring him back to the time when they were together. It's hard to tell if whether the girl he is talking about simply left him heartbroken, or also the possibility that she may have died when they were together, and he is finally facing his fear of remembering her. Rating-5/5
The Feel Good Drag
Now here comes the song that just clinches the whole album. This is the type of song that makes any rock band complete, the one everyone remembers from the album. Even though I prefer the original version of the song, (I felt the melody matched the lyrics much better) this version is still is a great song that I recommend any Anberlin fan listen to. The songs meaning is something Anberlin likes to use a lot, girls. Except this time he sings about how he gave into having a relationship with a girl, who was in a relationship with other guy. He then expresses how he regrets doing this, that she was his "Greatest failure" and that he wishes he never gave into her sin that she presented to him when her boyfriend was out of town. As for the mood, it's very clearly anger. I would even go as far to say that this is possibly Anberlin's most energetic and angry song, that has an almost violent theme to it. I don't have many negative things to say about this song, except that I wish they made the song a bit harder rock sounding, and I also wish they didn't take out Stephen's short scream during the bridge. I felt that scream really summarized how he felt during the whole song, and was finally able to express it, so for that I will rank it a bit lower than the other songs. Rating-4.5/5
Disappear
I have very little insight on this song, simply because it's an OK, nothing special song. In my opinion it is neither great, nor bad, it's in between. I felt the melody was typical for one of their songs, mixing a rock sound with a little bit of an electronic sound. However it was the vocals that made the difference between good and great, I felt Stephen Christian shouted at the worst possible times during the song and made it sound like an amateur Underoath song. The meaning is a bit confusing, but is also open for interpretation. When I first heard it, I thought of a teenage or college couple that are spending time with each other, after all their other friends deserted them. Later though, I read a post from an Anberlin fan saying they think it's about how homeless people are treated unfairly and often looked down upon, and after reading the lyrics over, this idea makes much more sense than mine did. Rating-3/5
Breathe
It's that time now for Anberlin to have their first real slow song on the album. When it comes to slow songs, it's hard to impress me, since slow songs rely heavily on lyrical content, and being able to form the perfect mood with them. As far as Breathe goes, I once again find it to be a moderate song, not excellent, but not poor either. The melody of the song is well, slow as you would have probably guessed. The meaning of the song is also rather vague, but if you look closer you'll see he is talking about an internal battle with himself, and having his own "Civil War". My guess is that this change was brought upon him because of God, since one line is "I can finally breathe. Suddenly alive. I can finally move. 'Cause I realize.", however, I suppose the song could be about that of a girl, since many Anberlin songs are. The mood is also very vague, and simple, like most slow songs it has an almost sad mood too it. Overall I feel Anberlin could have done better, since they've had meaningful songs like The Unwinding Cable Car and Inevitable. Rating-3/5
Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)
This song is a perfect example of judging a song too early. After hearing the odd sounding introduction, I did not expect much better out of the rest of the song. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had been wrong, and the song was in fact of very good quality and substance. The melody is probably the only thing that could have been better in this song, like I said previously, it was a bit odd, and kept changing throughout the song. The thing I liked most about Burn Our Brighter is both the lyrics, and the vocals of the song. I felt Christian did an excellent job of overlapping his voice during the chorus to really express the lyrics in an accurate way. I also give praise to the song for its meaning, which is about a man asking for redemption for his past mistakes, and saying how he wants to "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". So in other words, he wants to try and live a selfless life, and leave some kind of legacy that people will remember him by. The mood of the song is that of happiness, and a feeling of relief. This can be seen by the quick, smooth vocals throughout the song that give it an almost soft quality to it. Rating-4.5/5
Younglife
Younglife is one of those catchy, get up and go songs that's just overall fun. Not that there is anything wrong with happy songs, but they tend to lack much meaning to them and have very repetitive melodies, and this song isn't much of an exception. The melody is fast, quick, and catchy with the very apparent sound of an acoustic guitar in the background. The meaning is remembering the good times of your childhood or teenage years, yet the lyrics are repeated at least four times throughout the song. The mood is once more that of happy, and uplifting, it's intended to remember the good things about the past, not the bad. Rating-3/5
Haight St.
What's this? Another feel good song by Anberlin? Must be a record. Thankfully though, they managed to get this one right and fix all the mistakes they made in Younglife. The melody in Haight St. is, once again, fast and catchy, like most feel good songs are. The thing that sets this apart from Younglife though is the use of a more electric guitar, giving it more of a rock sound, which Anberlin is very skilled at pulling off. The meaning is another Anberlin classic, girls, and escaping from the world. He sings about taking a drive with his girl, and having a night to themselves, away from the world and everyone in it. I don't think I need to explain the mood again, since it's exactly the same as the two songs above. The one thing I do not like about this song though is that they still left the repetitive lyrics that they had in Younglife. Rating-4/5
Soft Skeletons
When I first heard this song, I thought it was the saddest, most depressing Anberlin song they have written. The melody is that of a slower rock on, the guitar is very evident and I think is a good way to set the mood, the vocals are however not as great I as would like, but still a another quality song. The meaning was the thing that really caught my attention. It's about Stephen Christian talking to a girl that was abused, either sexually or physically, and has since turned to drugs to decrease the pain, and he tells her to "When the light starts to burn And the pain returns I just wish that I could heal the hurt you feel tonight There's life in your veins These needles are chains Don’t you doubt". This is a perfect example of an Anberlin song that has very deep, meaningful lyrics to them. And as for the mood, well, that should be obvious, depressing and sad. Rating-4/5
Miserable Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)
So we've reached the last song, the song that is usually just thrown on the album without much prior thought, the song that's rejected and no one remembers. But this is far from the truth when it comes to Anberlin, and they sure do know how to go out with a bang on all of their albums. Besides, who couldn't love a song with a Latin title and have absolutely no idea what the song is about? Well as for the melody, it changes from being slow, and rather droning, to having a rock sound with overlapping vocals in the end. As for the meaning, it's full of symbolism and confusion that if you want to truly understand it, you will have to dig deep for it. From what I've uncovered it's an apocalyptic song about the end of time on Earth, when Jesus comes back down, when they talk about the man from the see, they refer to the false prophet that will preform many miracles. The line "A man is coming in thirteen one" refers to Revelations 13:1, most of the song is based around this verse. Surprisingly, I can not pick out any specific mood to this song, possibly because there is no need for one? I think that the lyrics explain all that needs to be said, there is no mood required here since you should be focused more on the lyrics than anything else. Rating-5/5
Well we've come to the end of the album, which logically would be the end of the review also, but before I let you decide if you want to waste your gas money to go to FYE and pick up this album, let me leave you with one final note. Even though I feel Cities was a better, if you're a big Anberlin fan, this album will by no means disappoint. So I hope I was able to provide some words of wisdom to you and help swing you're decision about whether or not to purchase New Surrender.
The Feel Good Drag
Now here comes the song that just clinches the whole album. This is the type of song that makes any rock band complete, the one everyone remembers from the album. Even though I prefer the original version of the song, (I felt the melody matched the lyrics much better) this version is still is a great song that I recommend any Anberlin fan listen to. The songs meaning is something Anberlin likes to use a lot, girls. Except this time he sings about how he gave into having a relationship with a girl, who was in a relationship with other guy. He then expresses how he regrets doing this, that she was his "Greatest failure" and that he wishes he never gave into her sin that she presented to him when her boyfriend was out of town. As for the mood, it's very clearly anger. I would even go as far to say that this is possibly Anberlin's most energetic and angry song, that has an almost violent theme to it. I don't have many negative things to say about this song, except that I wish they made the song a bit harder rock sounding, and I also wish they didn't take out Stephen's short scream during the bridge. I felt that scream really summarized how he felt during the whole song, and was finally able to express it, so for that I will rank it a bit lower than the other songs. Rating-4.5/5
Disappear
I have very little insight on this song, simply because it's an OK, nothing special song. In my opinion it is neither great, nor bad, it's in between. I felt the melody was typical for one of their songs, mixing a rock sound with a little bit of an electronic sound. However it was the vocals that made the difference between good and great, I felt Stephen Christian shouted at the worst possible times during the song and made it sound like an amateur Underoath song. The meaning is a bit confusing, but is also open for interpretation. When I first heard it, I thought of a teenage or college couple that are spending time with each other, after all their other friends deserted them. Later though, I read a post from an Anberlin fan saying they think it's about how homeless people are treated unfairly and often looked down upon, and after reading the lyrics over, this idea makes much more sense than mine did. Rating-3/5
Breathe
It's that time now for Anberlin to have their first real slow song on the album. When it comes to slow songs, it's hard to impress me, since slow songs rely heavily on lyrical content, and being able to form the perfect mood with them. As far as Breathe goes, I once again find it to be a moderate song, not excellent, but not poor either. The melody of the song is well, slow as you would have probably guessed. The meaning of the song is also rather vague, but if you look closer you'll see he is talking about an internal battle with himself, and having his own "Civil War". My guess is that this change was brought upon him because of God, since one line is "I can finally breathe. Suddenly alive. I can finally move. 'Cause I realize.", however, I suppose the song could be about that of a girl, since many Anberlin songs are. The mood is also very vague, and simple, like most slow songs it has an almost sad mood too it. Overall I feel Anberlin could have done better, since they've had meaningful songs like The Unwinding Cable Car and Inevitable. Rating-3/5
Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)
This song is a perfect example of judging a song too early. After hearing the odd sounding introduction, I did not expect much better out of the rest of the song. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had been wrong, and the song was in fact of very good quality and substance. The melody is probably the only thing that could have been better in this song, like I said previously, it was a bit odd, and kept changing throughout the song. The thing I liked most about Burn Our Brighter is both the lyrics, and the vocals of the song. I felt Christian did an excellent job of overlapping his voice during the chorus to really express the lyrics in an accurate way. I also give praise to the song for its meaning, which is about a man asking for redemption for his past mistakes, and saying how he wants to "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". So in other words, he wants to try and live a selfless life, and leave some kind of legacy that people will remember him by. The mood of the song is that of happiness, and a feeling of relief. This can be seen by the quick, smooth vocals throughout the song that give it an almost soft quality to it. Rating-4.5/5
Younglife
Younglife is one of those catchy, get up and go songs that's just overall fun. Not that there is anything wrong with happy songs, but they tend to lack much meaning to them and have very repetitive melodies, and this song isn't much of an exception. The melody is fast, quick, and catchy with the very apparent sound of an acoustic guitar in the background. The meaning is remembering the good times of your childhood or teenage years, yet the lyrics are repeated at least four times throughout the song. The mood is once more that of happy, and uplifting, it's intended to remember the good things about the past, not the bad. Rating-3/5
Haight St.
What's this? Another feel good song by Anberlin? Must be a record. Thankfully though, they managed to get this one right and fix all the mistakes they made in Younglife. The melody in Haight St. is, once again, fast and catchy, like most feel good songs are. The thing that sets this apart from Younglife though is the use of a more electric guitar, giving it more of a rock sound, which Anberlin is very skilled at pulling off. The meaning is another Anberlin classic, girls, and escaping from the world. He sings about taking a drive with his girl, and having a night to themselves, away from the world and everyone in it. I don't think I need to explain the mood again, since it's exactly the same as the two songs above. The one thing I do not like about this song though is that they still left the repetitive lyrics that they had in Younglife. Rating-4/5
Soft Skeletons
When I first heard this song, I thought it was the saddest, most depressing Anberlin song they have written. The melody is that of a slower rock on, the guitar is very evident and I think is a good way to set the mood, the vocals are however not as great I as would like, but still a another quality song. The meaning was the thing that really caught my attention. It's about Stephen Christian talking to a girl that was abused, either sexually or physically, and has since turned to drugs to decrease the pain, and he tells her to "When the light starts to burn And the pain returns I just wish that I could heal the hurt you feel tonight There's life in your veins These needles are chains Don’t you doubt". This is a perfect example of an Anberlin song that has very deep, meaningful lyrics to them. And as for the mood, well, that should be obvious, depressing and sad. Rating-4/5
Miserable Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)
So we've reached the last song, the song that is usually just thrown on the album without much prior thought, the song that's rejected and no one remembers. But this is far from the truth when it comes to Anberlin, and they sure do know how to go out with a bang on all of their albums. Besides, who couldn't love a song with a Latin title and have absolutely no idea what the song is about? Well as for the melody, it changes from being slow, and rather droning, to having a rock sound with overlapping vocals in the end. As for the meaning, it's full of symbolism and confusion that if you want to truly understand it, you will have to dig deep for it. From what I've uncovered it's an apocalyptic song about the end of time on Earth, when Jesus comes back down, when they talk about the man from the see, they refer to the false prophet that will preform many miracles. The line "A man is coming in thirteen one" refers to Revelations 13:1, most of the song is based around this verse. Surprisingly, I can not pick out any specific mood to this song, possibly because there is no need for one? I think that the lyrics explain all that needs to be said, there is no mood required here since you should be focused more on the lyrics than anything else. Rating-5/5
Well we've come to the end of the album, which logically would be the end of the review also, but before I let you decide if you want to waste your gas money to go to FYE and pick up this album, let me leave you with one final note. Even though I feel Cities was a better, if you're a big Anberlin fan, this album will by no means disappoint. So I hope I was able to provide some words of wisdom to you and help swing you're decision about whether or not to purchase New Surrender.
No comments:
Post a Comment