Anberlin Band • Page 263

We really clicking today

 

I loved the vocal effect they used on his voice in the bridge before the third chorus. Love Breaking

 

I remember the label making them change the names of some songs.

Breaking was originally going to be Bittersweet Memory and Retrace was Still Counting Backwards

 

Weird ask. Why change the names? To make them easier for listeners to remember?

 

Maybe they thought it would appeal more to have shorter and more concise song titles. But this also goes inverse to when "We Owe This To Ourselves" was originally called "King"

 

I know you're out there somewhere? Come where I can SEE!

I see everyone's disliked song takes and I like all of said songs, ha. I need to go through this discog again and give my hot takes on worst songs.

 

I believe with NS there was just extreme label pressure/oversight - much more so than Dark.

 

I also remember there being a big push to try and get Taylor Swift to cover Breathe.

 

correct. i believe they referred to Dark as their middle finger to the label for the contentious recording process for NS.

Closer is fine. chorus isn't amazing, but it works well overall.

 

DITW was my first new Anberlin album as a fan and I love some of it but it’s def a notch below

 

Maybe I'm in the minority but Closer has one of my favorite Anberlin choruses ever. It's simple but it's epic. Whole song builds suspense so well and explodes at the right time.

I listened to Dark the other day and even though I'd still consider it their 4th or 5th best overall the album sounds as crisp as anything they put out. Everything is so clear.

 

The production on dark is staggering. Kind of insane honestly. The whole intro of Art of War up until they start singing is just incredible. But yeah overall the songwriting just wasn’t there on that album. Some great songs on there though. I don’t hate any of their albums.

 

Closer is a fine song but the line “are you keeping safe dis-TANCE” really pulls me out of it. Phonetically and rhythmically, just one of the most jarring deliveries I’ve heard in an otherwise well-written song lol

 

Just as a side note, Hello Alone is constantly underrated whenever I read lists of their top songs

 

Least fave by album, just off top of my head:

Blueprints - Foreign Language (got confused with Naive Orleans earlier)
NTFP - Heavy Hearted Work (if that's a cop-out because it's an interlude, then The Symphony of Blase)
Cities - Inevitable
NS - Breathe
DITW - Take Me As You Found Me
Vital - God, Sex, Drugs
Lowborn - Birds of Prey
EP's - Banshee

Damn, that was really hard. The only easy one was Birds of Prey, so I'll put that as my least favorite Anberlin track (legit forgot it existed because I had removed it from my library back in 2014).

Would love to do the song ranking thing for all Anberlin stuff.

 

Wait wait wait Naive Orleans is the best song on Blueprints though??

 

My eyes popped out of my head repeatedly reading through that list lol

 

symphony of blase wtf thats like up with the best copeland songs copeland didnt write

 

Naive Orleans rocks WTF

 

putting God, Drugs & Sex that low is insane

 

I think for me my least favorites would be:

Blueprints - Change the World (Lost Ones)
NTFP - Runaways
Cities - There's No Mathematics
New Surrender - Younglife
Dark is the Way - You Belong Here
Vital - Desires
Lowborn - Velvet Covered Brick
Vega (non Matty) - Circles

 

so many insane choices itt that i almost respect them lol

this has all kinda reminded me that i havent ran anberlins discog in like 5 years and am long overdue in updating my takes

 

Agreed with both of these.

 

Cool exercise, I'll try it as well

Blueprints - Autobahn
NTFP - Audrey (tough call tbh)
Cities - Reclusion/Mathematics
NS - Soft Skeletons
DITW - You Belong Here
Vital - God, Sex, Drugs
Lowborn - Birds of Prey
EP's - Nothing More

 

Yeah that section is even worse than the chorus for me.