Acceptance – Colliding By Design (February 24, 2017) Album • Page 7

Lotta hype for fire n rain. Hope it lives up

 

Huge Acceptance Fan here. CBD drags at the beginning, but goddammit it Fucking slays midway through the end. Sprinkle is a God, love their new sound. Fave jam is sunset.

 

Lmao

 

Starting it up now. Haven't read many people's opinions so I'm going in pretty fresh.

 

Phantoms is one of my personal favorite albums ever. I remember being so excited and so bummed on this forum (er, AP) when that album leaked. I was behind Acceptance getting huge and not Fall Out Boy, and I feel like if that leak and the Columbia shit didn't happen it'd be the other way around. I remember buying copies for my friends and brothers, it helped me a lot through my idiotic depressing teenage years.

In saying that, I'm on my first listen to this album now and obviously it's not the same as Phantoms. I'm still loving it tho. I figured this day would come and wish it were sooner but damn does it feel good. These guys deserve all the success in the world.

 

What do you mean by "slightly" different?

 

The story behind what happened with "Phantoms" is still so incredibly ridiculous and unfortunate that I get uncomfortable reading about it. So happy that these guys were able to put this record out after all of this time.

 

Care to detail this a bit? I feel like it's ringing a distant bell somewhere in my head but I can quite place it.

 

Everyone, this album is freaking weird. Seriously, it's so hard to classify this thing. Like seriously, take "Goodbye" for example, you have a Pulsating drums calling back harder indie rock, then a chorus with synths bringing you to the friggen 80's. Then we get the solo taking us to outer space, with the synths giving us a platform to float on. Lastly, Jason brings us back to earth with a vocal line that harkens back to Yellowcards "Fragile and Dear". And that's just one song on an album filled with this. This might be my aoty.

 

Great pop rock album, enjoyed this more than I thought it would. Vocals are great on here

 

It's so weird because I expected this album to end up being more rock based, but the more I listen and think about it, Acceptance was never really an emo punk rock band, they were always a really poppy rock band... this makes so much sense in 2017. the album is unbelievable. I waited such a long time to hear it and it's so, so, so good. I'm so thankful for this band.

 

About to get my first listen.

First thoughts : Wow, Jason was right when he was talking about how pristine the whole thing sounded. It's simply huge, aerial, and you can clearly still hear the instruments breath. Nothing seems drown out.

 

Diagram Of A Simple Man : Weirdly, I love it more in this position comparing to the time it was streaming. Great chorus, it reminds me of so many pop rock bands that ap.net used to cover, and I mean that in a good way. I don't have the names in my head right now, but I'll get back to all of you once I find these bands.


Colliding By Design : That chorus !! It instantly gets me back to the mid 00's. Just the feel, the vibe, everything about it sounds like it could have been released just after Phantoms. Excellent song.


We Can Escape : I get Jack's Mannequin and Stacy Clark vibes, I don't know if you think the same ? Lots of layers. A basically perfect pop song.


Come Closer : The 80's were already strong, but this time they're even more in the forefront. Catchy, I wish I could say a little more about it, but as a first listen, I don't think I was able to hear all the details.


Goodbye : Ohhh what a lovely intro. Another strong chorus, these guys have such a knack for melodies and it especially shows here. I have a thing for solos, so the little bit during the bridge speaks to my guitarist heart. As usual, great use of synths. They don't overpower the rest, but instead simply compliment the music. Do you know who is the responsible ? I mean, who wrote and recorded the synths and the electronic stuff ? Whoever did it, I'd like to offer him or her a drink.


73 : Ha, the first curveball of the album. The 1975, another good band, comes to mind during the verses. I appreciate the contrast between the chilled verses, and the dancey chorus, especially when the latter's vibes continues throughout the rest of the song. The song may sound simple for some people, but those are the tiny details that makes it complex, and motivates me to hone my songwriting skills. The bridge is probably one of my favorite parts at the moment. Possibly one of the best songs in their entire career. An early favorite of mine.


Fire And Rain : Once again, what an intro. Aaron Sprinkle probably suggested those bells, or idk what instruments you can hear on it. It feels like the most Phantoms-like song, the difference being the synths, the violins and the amount of layers, which are things that they might not have done 12 years ago. Another early favorite, is it me or does the second half easily trumps the first one, which was already superb ? I love albums like that.


Sunset : Oh ok, I take back what I said earlier. THIS is my favorite song !! I don't remember the name, but it reminds me of one of the second album demos. I haven't heard them in a long time so I should get them again if someone has them. The song has a Innerpartysystem or Herra Terra feel, especially vocally, though it isn't as... heavy as both bands could be at times maybe ? Nice use of electronic drums, I'm sure it will scare some people haha.


Haunted : I love the high notes Jason pull of during the chorus, it elevates the song to a whole new level. Another song I didn't have the time to really appreciate yet.


When I Was Cursed : Wait, what the hell. THIS is my favorite song !!!!!111 The heavy bassy synths are gorgeous, as well as the female back up vocals. It has hit written all over it. Damn, I'm so blown away. Excuse me but I'll listen to this one over and over again today. Wow, that chord progression during the bridge !! And what about Jason's restrained vocals ? It's a nice unusual touch. Absolutely perfect song. Such a perfect mix of all of their sounds. This is the kind of song I wish I was as talented to be able to write.


Golden : I don't know if this band is popular over here, but the intro and the vocals bring me back memories of Young Guns' Bones and Ones and Zeroes. Especially the later if I don't mind. It's a band I recommend to all of you due to the similarities between them and this album. I think it's another curveball, a song I didn't expect to hear as a closer, a bit much like Anberlin's final song. I swear I thought that was Stephen singing the artificial vocals on the bridge. Great way to close the record. It seems a bit short, but you know, it gives us more time to get into another listen.



Now that I'm done with the album, I just wanted to say something. I'm not a huge fan of this band. I don't think Phantoms is the classic most of ap.net/chorus.fm claimed it to be. But perhaps it was due to the fact that I only discovered them in 2010 ? That said, I always loved it, it was a great pop rock album that, as you all know, got overlooked because of label issues, being released at the wrong place and at the wrong time, the early leak, etc. "In The Cold" was one of my most listened songs in 2011, and helped me get through my first year in high school.



What's my point ? I see a lot of users having a difficult time getting into Colliding By Design, citing the changes in style among other reasons. I don't blame you, I get it. It's different, it's a little bit of a departure when you compare it to Phantoms. However, I urge you to give it many and many listens. Give them a chance, they took so much time to prepare their return. The hiatus was for the best, because what you hear is 12 years of influences, work, love of their crafts, passion, happiness, sadness, simple life moments, that made each member grow immensely. To me, this is an evolved version of Acceptance. I'm sure, if you would've given me this album 7 years ago, I would've thought it was a generic pop rock album already made by better artists. But it isn't the case, really. The amount of details, layers, sounds, styles found on this record makes me jealous, and I say that as someone who's been writing music since I was 10 in 2005. I know it may sound cheesy, but I think it is already an early AOTY contender. You don't hear pop rock that good that often. I wish Acceptance the best, and I truly hope they will finally have the career they always dreamed of. They deserve this second chance.



Woops, I guess that's the longest post I've ever written on this site since I joined in 2008. I definitely didn't expect it to be for Acceptance, because I wasn't anticipating their return as much as other beloved bands of mine, so it took me by surprise. I hope my English skills have improved over the years, thanks to you guys. I'm so happy to be a part of such an important album, from a band that means so much to this community. Thank you Jason for the discover, and thanks to every user that I interacted over the decade, without you I wouldn't be here and I certainly wouldn't be the person that I currently am. It's never too late to say that right lol ?

 

Hi Aaron lol

 

I'm curious to hear those leak versions.

 

I found this very disappointing. All the songs seemed to blend in, aside from "Fire And Rain," which is the obvious standout.

Glad to see others enjoying, though. Hopefully it's a grower.

 

Just had chance to put this on while I was out for a quick drive. Only had time to get through the first two tracks but omg the sun came out and it sounded amazing and now I'm trying to find an excuse for a long ride somewhere.

 

It started raining once the album stopped lol. It was so sunny this morning.

 

I really enjoy this so far but I didn't have any expectations of them sounding a certain way after twelve years and I am a fan of the 80s style pop that is all the rage right now. 73 is probably my favorite right now. I didn't love the title track at first but I warmed up to it on subsequent listens.

 

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Colliding By Design’ by Acceptance

Don't agree with this at all.

 

on the whole, theyre all unmastered for one, so they sound a little 'flatter'. and some of the songs have slightly different guitar parts.
and the order of the tracks is different. "Over You" is #2 and 'So Contagious' is #11 (the closer of the album). To this day, when I listen to 'Take Cover' and the song ends, my mind still starts preparing for the intro to 'Over You' to come on next.

'Gloria' is #5 on the leak. 'Different' is #8. a lot of the songs are mixed around now that im actually revisiting it.

'Permanent' wasnt included on the leak. I think they didnt intend to put it on Phantoms originally, but later decided to, and re-recorded it.

"Over You" on the leak starts off with no singing, but just the synth part and then full band intro. Also, on the first chorus on the real album version, theres slightly less background vocals. On the leak, they sing "Make this Now or never" starting with the very first chorus and do it throughout the song.

'Different' starts off with just piano and Jason singing. Im guessing the label pushed them to add in the full band intro becuase they wanted to use it as a single.

'In the Cold' - at the start of the 2nd verse, the leaked version, the instruments all totally cut out and its just Jason's voice for the first line. on the real version, the drums stay on, and then each guitar plays one after the other, and each is panned to one side.

There are probably more. nothing huge. its still 98% the same album but i had been listening to an album for 9 months when i bought the real one and its a little jarring to get used to an album, and then have it "change".

 

I prefer some of the demos to be honest

 

Yikes, the reviewer makes some very bad and unfair points. Like, even if they were trying to catch up to today's scene, how is that a bad thing ? Does he even care about bands making money or is he just a DIY snob ? This review is so off I wonder if we listened to the album album at all, judging by the comparisons he makes.

 

Right? It's like, what record did you listen to man!? Also, why are bands/musicians the only group of people 'we' expect to do their job for free?

 

Verses of 73 remind me so much of Phil Collins- Take Me Home