DITW was actually my first Anberlin record. someone at church always played various songs from their first 3 records over the loudspeakers between services, and i liked what i heard, so i borrowed a CD copy of DITW from our library thinking it would sound the same. obviously it wasn't, but i liked what i heard. and this was shortly before they went into the studio to record Vital, so after burning through the first 5 albums, anticipation for this record was at an all-time high.
I do wish they'd release "Hell or Highwater" in some other format than vinyl. A collection of all the songs they did for DITW would be nice, especially given they were done with Brendan O'Brien...I do appreciate the high-quality production value for that record, even if the songs are mid.
agreed. i was able to get my hands on the vinyldisc CD for I'd Like to Die and have All We Have from iTunes, but i'd love something other than the rip that's floating around. it's funny that New Surrender and Vital had all of their B-sides released in an accessible way, but DITW is the only Republic album of theirs that didn't get this treatment.
Listened to both EPs last night and I really wish they had kept that going for a couple of more releases. Even without touring, I appreciated having new Anberlin. I wish we had gotten like 4 of those EPs total.
I remember searching for literal weeks trying to get a hold of A Perfect Tourniquet. It used to be so fun hunting down b-sides.
I've always felt like a few substitutions with the b-sides for NS and DITW would make both records so much better. Can't believe songs like All We Have, Hell or High Water, I'd Like to Die, and Heavier Things Remain didn't make the cut. Expectations for NS were unfairly high for me after Cities (to this day my favourite record of all time). They released Disappear and Feel Good Drag and things were looking positive. I remember being so disappointed with the final record. Too much fluff IMO
the live version they put out with the added drums really elevates the song for me, but the original is also just so good
don't think i've ever heard hell or high water or heavier things remain. heard i'd like to die live a couple times and on the devotion live album.
Both Hell or High Water and Heavier Things are great. Definitely could see them both on the original releases.
Heavier Things Remain and their cover of True Faith are the best NS B-sides. could leave everything else, tbh
I’ve always wondered why True Faith isn’t streaming. They released it as a single and everything when they did the deluxe NS
is the deluxe version of New Surrender not on Spotify? even though i uploaded my copy to Apple Music, it can natively be streamed there - True Faith included
The fact not all officially released songs from a band are on music services (outside of YouTube) is kind of wild.
Thank God. Haven't jumped in there in like over a year, but when the time comes it comes hard strong and fast!
I just listened to Hell or High Water last night on YouTube (bleh). I think Dark is just outside their best work (Cities, NTFP, Vital), but it's one of those rare cases where if you included the b-sides and made it 12 tracks it would put the album on that top-tier level for me. You put Die somewhere as an earlier ballad and Hell as a penultimate song before Depraved and it would flow wonderfully and make the album even more dynamic. All We Have is solid too, but feels like a Someone Anyone prototype to me, so it seems deserving of b-side status. Also, Heavier Things Remain is amazing. Would have easily been a Top 5 song on New Surrender if it had been included. Hate that those songs are all unavailable on streaming services. They deserve better treatment.