Alkaline Trio - Blood, Hair and Eyeballs (January 26, 2024) • Page 32

It’s funny seeing This Addiction ranked so low on everyone’s lists. That was the first album of theirs I listened to and my introduction to the band lol.

…but honestly? I’d rank it that low too

 

I finally was able to give this a spin today. I kinda love that production-wise this album sounds similar to Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. It sounds like a long lost Trio album from the late 90s. I’m into it.

 

I was thinking the same thing tbh. At first I understood why everyone hated the mix. But then I thought, “well… it basically sounds like something from 2003” so I saw it as a creative choice

 

Man, I was planning on letting myself get a little "sick" of the new Green Day album before diving into this but the reception is making it hard to wait

 

this smokes the new Green Day and I love that album lol

 

From Here To Infirmary
Crimson
Good Mourning
My Shame Is True
Maybe I'll Catch Fire
Is This Thing Cursed
This Addiction
Agony & Irony

too soon to rank the newest, but it's up there at the top half for now

 

This Addiction actually has some rippers. Might need to change my rankings

 

Need to do a full discography replay. I have to admit Shame really caught me and I have been heavily invested from then on. I am familiar with the back catalog, but not enough to be confident in my ranking.

Wild how high GM is ranking for people after Matt's Anecdote about it being the one he cant listen back to because of how bad his voice was at the time and even Jerry Finn was bummed as they recorded it. Seems like he has some pretty big ups and downs with his voice. The show I caught with AK3 and Blink he sounded killer.

 

Good Mourning just hit at the perfect time for me.

I have so many memories wrapped up in that album. Its release date was my 17th birthday. That summer was probably the most formative of my life.

All of the summer 2003 releases hold a unique place in my heart.

 

He’s had throat surgery twice now - once after GM and once during the Blink years - and kicked the drugs and alcohol. His voice is so much better than when he was younger. Also think he learned how to properly sing, too.

But they were under pressure to get a release out and that’s always a bummer.

Same here, I was turning 16 that year. It’s just one of those that I hold dear forever. Plus it has bangers front to back.

 

After giving the new album a few listens

 

I can't remember if I've posted in here or not yet, but yeah, this album rules. Listened to it front to back probably a dozen times already.

 

HAha pretty much this for me as well. I was turning 16 that fall, so summer of 15 for me. I was just starting to branch into the pop punk/emo world. PRior to that I had been mostly rap and hard rock/metal. SOAD was my favorite band at the time, and I was still listening to a ton of Eminem and most anything else on the radio at that time. But I had been introduced to I Lied My Face Off and Goodbye Forever by a friend, and I loved them both for about a year by then. I was in my sadboi feelings about a girl and decided hey I bet they have more songs like this, and either that summer or fall after it had come out, possibly even later than that, winter 2004, I looked up their latest release, saw it was GM, and downloaded it. Shit hit me instantly. Almost sure it was that winter of 03/04 now because goddamn did it fit my sadboi winter mood haha. IIRC I think I went through a breakup in October 04 so sometime after that probably.

But shit that album fit my mood so well. Matt's voice is perfect for the sound and lyrics of that album. Even the somewhat weird production on the bass/drums helped give Dan's more optimistic songs and lyrics on that album a wintery, cold feel to them. It really hit perfect for me and introduced me to the band beyond the couple songs I had heard. Became hooked and they became my favorite band, went back and downloaded all the back catalog and/or bought the CDs as I could.

There isn't one skip on that album. I will skip Fatally Yours here and there but even that is a decent song.

 

I still need to give it more listens, but one thing speaking of Matt's voice....there's a song on here that I was really hoping/expecting he was about to let lose and rip at the end and I was kind of wishing he did, but instead he goes back down to the register he uses on most of the album. It might be hte last few lines of Meet Me I'm thinking of, which is an early favorite for me. Really wanted to hear him get all Tuck Me In on those last couple lines. Maybe not that shouty, just up an octave or so.

 

Exactly how I feel as well. I think it fits in well with MICF, FHTI, and GM from a sonic standpoint.

 

Good Mourning is my favorite because Derek rules and it has the most even split between Matt/Dan, especially if you consider that Emma is a Dan song sung by Matt.

 

I think it's the flip of that, Emma is a Matt song sung by Dan I think. But yeah the heavy Dan ratio on GM is great. And Derek does indeed rule. Always loved that they added his voice to the "We washed it down the drain" line in Emma, and his breathing on Donner Party

 

Whoops, you’re right! I can’t remember what podcast it was on, but Brendan Kelly was talking about the first time he heard the extended drum roll intro to We’ve Had Enough and thought to himself “Wow, the new Trio drummer is fucking GREAT.”

 

The first 3, the closer, and the bonus track "Kick Rocks" are all top tier Trio.

 

It's not available, but I wouldn't say it's missing

 

That's the problem. It comes across loudly like an out of touch GenXer being like "kids these days, what are they all about? Ah, got it! AR-15's and Fentanyl!" Just super clunky lyrics, which is a shame since the vocal delivery and melody are great, but the words themselves just stick out like a sore thumb. If he wanted to bring in commentary on gun violence and the opioid epidemic, there had to be a better way to do it.

 

I took it as lamenting the lost childhood of today thanks to things like mass shootings and drug addiction, like kind of "I didn't have to worry about this when I was growing up" kind of way.

 

I don't have an issue with the meaning behind it, it totally makes sense. It's just the actual words he uses, they just reek of trying too hard to be zeitgeisty and they take me right out of the song every time.

 

At least he didn't say "bussin".

 

don't love the lines but they're better than "grandma's on the fentanyl" from Billie Joe lol