Anberlin Band • Page 242

Calling it their “new album” on their socials is certainly a choice.

 

I jumped around a little bit and wow I hate what they did to Dance Dance. His voice lacks any kind of nuance or personality to sing that song.

 

I don’t hate Matty or anything, his voice just doesn’t have any character at all. I’ve heard it a hundred times elsewhere. I guess it’s the layers and the way it’s mixed, but it sounds artificial. If you told me it was AI generated, I’d believe you. I don’t care that this album exists because the og will always be there, and if the band is happy then whatever, no skin off my back, but I don’t see any reason to ever actually listen to this over the original

 

It's a visual representation of this era. It takes something you know and love (the flower from NTFP) and shits all over it

 

My brother (historically a casual fan of the band) just texted me the link to the album unprompted and said "these guys are washed" lol

 

Spent waaaaayyy too much time reading over the last 40 pages of this read. So much stuff I wanna respond to but like I’m not gonna quote someone from 2023.

Saw them on the HH tour and then twice back to back a few weeks ago. They sounded great with HH, terrible in Austin on the NTFP (NT now?) tour, and amazing in San Antonio the next night. I literally think they blew out the PA system on their first song in Austin. The people that paid to see them didn’t seem to mind the change in vocalists. The merch was absolutely terrible and I believe it was all designed by Nate, they should have paid someone.

all that being said, I had never heard Marty/Meaty/Marco or whatever we are calling him these days. I’d heard of Memphis May Fire before (was gonna type MMF but that sounds a little too sexual), but I kinda like him? Maybe it’s because I heard him live first before hearing anything recorded because yeah definitely hear the over processing on the vocals. I like High Stakes, didn’t like Vega upon first listening but had to get used to it. I fell off after Dark and never really listened to the following albums until the EPs came out and it wasn’t what I was used to. So I guess that makes this a little easier for me.

Even though I didn’t keep up with them I’d still put Anberlin probably in my top 10. Nobody can take away the albums with Stephen and that will always be my Anberlin. But I also like the new direction. And maybe it will be like Blink and he will come back like Tom did. But I also would have been fine if it just carried on with Skiba too. (Was never the biggest blink fan though). As for the rerecording, it’s weird but I don’t have a problem with it. If it comes on random I’ll let it play. But if I wanna hear those songs im going to search for the original versions. Of course money is a factor but the rest of the band seems reinvigorated and like they’re doing it for the love of the game. They should be able to live out their dreams even if someone didn’t want to continue. It’s not like they are a huge legacy band like a Blink or FOB, so hopefully they can do this as long as they still can. Maybe they make some new fans along the way and they can rediscover the original material.

Also can’t blame anyone for not liking it. Funny thing taste is. Sorry for the rant, it’s 3am

 

Fuck, I really typed that much just to say nothing?

 

Lmfao this is dogashitta. You can hear the autotune strain.

 

Someone else said this but it comes down to personality. Anberlin’s appeal to me was the personality of Stephen. The music is good for sure, but nothing ground breaking. It was Stephen’s delivery and lyrics that made them stand out.

 

It hadn’t even occurred to me to listen to this lol

 

Cute lil covers album. Surprised he was able to get the Anberlin dudes to re-record for it!

 

Lifeless

 

AInberlin.

 

Ain'tberlin?

 

from Instagram. this just reiterates the point that Stephen isn't recording with them right now

 

That’s a very confusing thread.

There is a version with Stephen.

And how is this moving forward?

 

think the commenter means a rerecorded version with Stephen

 

But why? I don’t know why an Anberlin fan would want that when the OG exists and sounds good.

 

Joey’s comment is a perfect example of what we are talking about. His comment paints a very different picture than what they, as a band/brand, have been telling us about the state of the band and Stephen/Matty’s roles within it.

The lack of self-awareness of that from the members of the band is stunning.

 

i mean i agree with the original sounding fine as is, and i'm sure others would too. i think the sentiment is that if the band insists on rerecording the original (which the other members say they wanted to do to fix some things they personally didn't like production or mixing-wise), people would obviously rather hear Stephen on vocals than Matty. it's unnecessary, sure, and i'd reach for the original over a rerecording any day, but if they're looking to "correct" something with the original version, maybe don't do it with a different vocalist

 

I don't think they're trying to correct the original version, I just think they wanted to put out a version of the album they'll be playing on tour with the guy that'll be singing it. I'm guessing they're hoping to get Matty some new Anberlin fans and get some of Mattys fans into Anberlin.

It's obvious Stephen has other priorities at the minute and Anberlin are just trying to continue living as a band until he wants to come back.

I'll just consider the band on hiatus until he does. If he never does, they had a good run.

 

I will say, I’m enjoying hearing the drums hitting hard in the new mix.

Also, it’s very jarring to go back to the original mix…please remaster it, guys.

 

Has anyone identified the musical changes that were so integral to doing this?

 

in my Apple Music library i've taken the Blueprints for City Friendships master and changed the metadata to match the original album. but i agree they should correct it elsewhere.

 

The production of the original still feels perfect to me. Bright, glossy, had breathing room.