Vital might be their best album…I love Modern Age. Never hear much discussion of that song…also, I randomly ended up with handwritten lyrics of that song from Stephen, the singer for Anberlin.
Team Vital is their best album! Still vividly remember everything leading up to the album release, like when Type Three was first debuted live in acoustic form, and how hyped the forum was. Good times
Nostalgia would make it hard for me to rate Vital over Cities or NTFP, but I think it might be their best album objectively.
there was an incredibly brief time when they put the album up for preorder on iTunes that there were accessible 90 second previews of each song on the album. of all of them, Modern Age was the most exciting and i just kept going back to it over and over. that song also feels like a perfect encapsulation of what they were trying to do with Vital.
I gotta pick Vital over Cities just because I think the synth elements are better integrated. Because I wasn't an active fan yet for Cities, some of those elements just sound super dated, imo.
Cities is just behind Vital/Devotion for me. lots of fun memories when i first heard that album, and a great transition piece between their older, straightforward sound and the potential of more mature songwriting that showed up on their later albums. i think Adelaide might've been the first Anberlin song i heard? i only discovered them because someone at my church's youth center always played their earlier material (and maybe Impossible) over the loudspeakers in-between services. i still stand by those first 3 albums feeling a tad generic and a tiny bit dated, but i love them all.
Cities was the first rollout I was around for, which usually ends up being my favorite release from a lot of bands. Did a lot of listening with NTFP and Cities on shuffle, so those albums really hold a special place in my memories.
I have a vivid memory of being in a college class and seeing that they were streaming Vital a week early and I immediately shut my laptop, left class and went to listen to it. Love that record so much.
Sweet! Did anyone else here end up with handwritten lyrics that were part of a super deluxe preorder for Vital? Curious who has what.
Vital was a great time for them. I way overplayed Self-Starter and Someone Anyone. Still remember bumping the record the entire time in college and I played. it. out. Went to Best Buy the minute they opened and bought both versions. Unstable was a sick b-side. Enjoyed the "hunt" for the rest before they released them all on Devotion.
i remember feeling like i had something few others had when i found the free download link for Safe Here that i think some Australian radio station posted, lol
i also remember how the video for Unstable was originally meant for Someone Anyone and they decided it fit Unstable better. weird releasing your best album and only making videos for the bonus tracks, haha.
Vital/Devotion, Cities, and then the EPs/material that makes up Vega (Matty aside, everything else on this "album" is just top-notch) full ranking: Vital/Devotion Cities Vega DITW Lowborn NTFP New Surrender Blueprints
I really hope some new mixing/mastering happened for the EP songs for Vega, because Lacerate is really jarring sounding after Circles. I doubt it'll be the only song where that happens too.