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 Ohhhhkay. Let me start out by saying I'm not your typlical "scener then thou" teenager who hates a band because of the extremely unfortunate circumstances surrounding them. EX: Making to the hated TRL countdown, consistent pop radio play, and 12 year old girls who have said their first swear word, after playing a "totally new song from a totally new band, like woah." a million and a half times on repeat. No, I'm not any of that, and I will not judge my music on it like 50-200 reviewers will within the next couple months. (If you do, try and give substance, if its not too much to ask.)
With that being said, this album is still a dissapiontment. Where is the TBS of old? Well, the correct answer would not be in Straylight Run, as many people would say. Or, those of us who are still clinging to their EPs, Pre-Adam, it is not where ever those people might be either. In my opinion, Where You Want To Be in some cases was a stronger album then TAYF. I know, not something you hear everyday. Between the two of these albums you can not honestly tell me if you where ignorant to their lineup change that you can tell THAT much of a difference, because there is not much. It had your cliche, emo, and quite amazing lyrics, and for our convience the better ones where repeated 10-15 times at the end of the song. Beutifly crafted songs that you've had stuck in your head for months. While this did not appeal to the taste of the masses, it did appeal to the taste of their fans, and the people loved it. Now, Louder Now...none of that. I don't like the direction they are going in, what so ever. This new album fits the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus format that every other band is doing these days. In Liar Liar, "less is more excpet when it comes to mistakes.." is sung out by Adam two or three times, but that is about it for what most people will be craving for with this new album. Also, these lyrics..I mean, common boys, you can do better then that. I mean theres nothing wrong with Being a surgeon, and I think the city of Miami is pretty sweet, but who are they to incorporate something like that into their songs? What happend to the lyrics of old that made emo kids cry and the rest of us go "Wow that's pretty weird but freaking awesome!!" Yeah...I've looked, there's some, but not nearly to the extent of old. On top of it all, they decide to put Error Operator on here?! A song that was released somewhere around 7 months ago with the release of the Fantastic 4 soundtrack. If their not creative enough this time to come up with 11 new and original songs, you can't possibly imagine that this new album is going to have much substance. Like most people, that made me pretty mad that they would do it, but then you have to remember that this band is no longer for us real rockers, but for the people that if MTV said it was cool to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, they'd do it. If you're still reading, you might be wondering why there's 2 and a half stars, instead of -16. Well here's the plus side...it's still extremely catchy. It may be a different, more mainstream TBS, but that does not take away from the genius behind their catchyness. This album will most definitly grow on the fans of old, and though they will reminisce about the days of past, the glory days, they will still find very little trouble finding it hard to enjoy this album. So, it's good, but not on a Taking Back Sunday level good. For the new fans, after playing this album out and totally taking the fun out of their concerts like you've done to Fall Out Boy, I really hope you pick up their old albums and let your ears expeierence the real genius of Taking Back Sunday. For all the fans who are sick of all this crap and hype...well I feel for ya. Just remember that their not a progressive band and should not be judged like one, like so many artists today are. If you are looking for something you never heard before, I higly recommend The Sound Of Animals Fighting or Porcupine Tree or mewithoutYou or Dream Theater or gahh... the list goes on, you just have to look... To sum it up, new or old fan, get this album, don't worry about the hype and enjoy it for what it is. While what it is is nothing compared to what it was, hey, it's still Taking Back Sunday.
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I had very high hopes for Taking Back Sunday's third album, Louder Now, following the incredible Tell All Your Friends, and the very good Where You Want to Be, however they failed to live up to any expectations. I expected them to deepen their sound much like their peers have done in recent albums. (Midtown's Forget What You Know and Brand New's Deja Entendu) However it seems like their moment on MTV with their last album has ruined them. The opening riff sounds like something left off Pearl Jam's Yield album and the album plummets from there. It sounds strangely top 40 and is predictable at every turn. The best song by far is Error:Operator, which doesnt speak well for the rest of the tracks, though this version is improved over the one released with the Fantastic Four movie. I wouldnt spend 5 bucks on this album to buy it used, and i regret dropping 10 on it new.
I'm not a real fan of emo, but this band has been and always will be an exception, Prior to it's release I had heard Error Operator and fell in love with Makedamnsure. And this record is anything but a dissapointment. I love it already. If you ever liked this band you will love this record, as emo doesn't get any better. Hands down the best band in the genre.
taking Back sunday have been one of my favorite groups for awhile. The album Tell all Your Friends is a classic in my opinion and i dont think these guys can ever top it. Where You Want to be was good too, almost better but not quite... now they are on there third album Louder Now and the album is exactly what the title says it is...Louder
