Anberlin Band • Page 240

i might give it one listen just to hear the updated instrumentation, but probably never touch it again.

 

Depends on if they got the top down seat back rollin' in their Cadillac.

Wait, what band are we talking about again?

 

This thread is such a negative echo chamber. I’ve been a fan of Anberlin for 20+ years and had no idea who Matty was previously. He’s been a great replacement and brings a new energy to the live show, and the band is genuinely happier.

 

ok

 

I don’t like his voice. Also a fan of 20 years.

 

Which member of the band are you?

 

Yeah, except he sucks though...from a fan of 21+ years.

 

I’m not allowed to be a fan and enjoy Matty without being a band member? Got it.

 

You're also allowed to have a sense of humor too.

 

It’s been interesting to see how many comments on social media get deleted on their posts now. If you go right after posting it’s lots of people saying they saw the live show and were disappointed and I saw a couple saying they wanted a refund for “karaoke” … but they end up disappearing soon after.

 

yeah well I have to imagine that there are a lot of casual fans who didn’t even know they switched singers. Specially when doing an album run. And there was no advertising on the admat to make them think otherwise

 

Sorry this is overly long. This is my favorite band of all-time and I've been trying to process all of this...

At this point, I can't tell if the band isn't being fair to me or if I'm not being fair to the band. On one hand, I don't understand how you can just move on with a new singer to the chagrin of so many fans. Playing live was one thing. Bringing him in on new recorded material was another. That was a very tough pill to swallow. And now, re-recording a beloved album without Stephen wasn't even something that occurred to me.

No one wants to hear Joshua Tree without Bono. No one wants to hear Hot Fuss without Brandon. Literally the only justification for this is, "Well, Anberlin isn't U2 or The Killers." But to some of us, even if they're not as popular, they're more important and Stephen is even more iconic as a vocalist. It feels a bit disrespectful to long-time fans, but it also feels disrespectful to themselves. And why? So the singer of Memphis May Fire gets to live his teenage dream?

On the other hand...

I like Stephen's heart in this a lot. I feel like the execution couldn't be more misguided, but he loves the band and doesn't have the capacity to be as part of it as he would otherwise want to be. I can see why this feels like a best-case scenario and I think he's coming from a genuine place of humility and passing the torch. The guys are clearly having a blast and it feels crappy to throw a fit while they're getting stoked. It's just, if you wanted to tour with the guy, that's totally understandable. Rewriting your legacy is crazy.

I don't think the new songs are awful (although I don't like "Walk Alone"). Probably unpopular, but I think there's some potential even if new songs contain a blend of Stephen and Matty. Also unpopular, if the band is going to re-record with a different singer, I'd much rather it be NTFP than Cities. If they start re-recording other albums, it's going to absolutely break my heart. I've just never heard of any other band doing this.

I don't know, man. It makes me tired. They went out so well and came back so well. And now, this is like... a hard pivot into something that just feels so sad. At the end of the day, it's frustrating to be doing mental gymnastics to be supportive of a band who has given me so much. I don't feel like I should have to will support for my favorite band of all-time. It's just the decisions and the bandmates' response to the response and the doubling down on the things that long-time fans are struggling with... That's what's so hard.

As a business decision, it makes sense. Memphis fans are going to come out in droves. Casual fans are gonna say big whoop. I have a friend who doesn't like Anberlin who heard the new version of "A Day Late" and thinks it's better. Okay. But then, it's like, you're Anberlin. What about your fans? And why do I feel like this band that raised me is thriving without me? Is this my problem or the band's? Am I an unstable superfan that I think I have a better pulse on the band's legacy than they do?

I'll always love this band. I just don't understand it. Maybe they'll pivot back. But I just think their priorities are different from us. They just want to play forever. We want Anberlin to stay Anberlin even if they never played again... Which is basically calling them on what they said when they hung it up in 2014.

Aaaaand, this might be the longest comment I've ever commented on this site.

 

Re-recording the album with a different singer is absolutely the weirdest part of this whole thing for me.

 

Eh, fuck the band. The way they treated fans who expressed not loving the change when it happened was pretty shitty. Now deleting comments nowadays from what Jason said. Straight up loser shit.

 

Out in NZ, listened to it just now. Matty sounds very robotic throughout the whole thing, other than that it’s fine? No big changes to any of the songs.

 

So the only change is a bad one.

 

Oh wow, the entire album is out tomorrow already?

 

only skimmed the previews on Apple Music, but it's not great. was curious how he'd sound on a softer song like Blasé, and it's just incredibly autotuned. nothing against using it under normal circumstances (especially since pretty much everyone uses it to varying degrees), but on a song like that, hearing that warble is really jarring.

 

Anberlin re recorded a whole album with new singer and got it out before underoath’s new record

 

But Underoath's new album is really good.

 

It’s been discussed many times but the whole narrative they had in 2014 about breaking up to “preserve their legacy” to where we are now is truly wild. I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

I have to be honest and say I think this is it. It has to be with the way we’re going out. A lot of bands are like, “Oh, we’re taking a break,” or “It’s a hiatus and we’re done until further notice.” I think for this to have an impact like we want it to, it has to be the end. We don’t want to taint that with anything.

Say years later we come back and we’re not on it as much, and our live show isn’t as good as it used to be, or we put out another record and it sounds like we’re phoning it in.

The quotes are kinda funny to read back though.

 

They weren't phoning it in with the EPs though. Which makes it even more jarring going from some epic releases to then "I'm out".

I'll still support this band no matter what, just might not be in the same (monetary) capacity.

 

Another good one.