Circa Survive - The Amulet (September 22, 2017) Album • Page 90

That’s still my favorite on the album, I think it’s the closest they get to getting back to the sound of the first two records, tho I also need to really give the record more focused listens so I’m probably wrong there.

 

I totally disagree, it doesn't sound like the first two records, but it signals a shift. I'm midway through Amulet but this is how I'm seeing it

Juturna and OLG are a pair, the same style with slightly different executions. BSN is an outlier with crisper production and more straightforward songwriting, but not too far from this sound.

VW and Descensus are also a pair, similar styles with slightly different execution. The Amulet now is an outlier where the sound of these last two albums is taken to a new level of energy, shifting sonically to another style that is based on the kind of aggression and jamming elements featured in those albums. Its much more VW than OLG, but I'd argue it's first and foremost it's own thing.

Basically for now, BSN is to Juturna/OLG as Amulet is to Descensus/VW.

And for different reasons, BSN probably has the highest level of variance, while Amulet is so fucking solid and consistent throughout.

 

Amulet is very very different than VW and D. Very different. Except for elements of Rites of Investiture.

 

Ok I'm done Amulet rank:

The Amulet
Premonition of the hex
Lustration
At night it gets worse
Never tell a soul
Stay
Flesh and bone
The hex
Rites of investiture
Tunnel vision

This was the hardest to order because I definitely think this is the most consistent, by far. To continue the BSN parallels, I'd put this about even with that as an album. But while BSN has some amazing songs, then some solid songs and some ehh songs, Amulet maxes out of solid songs. Nothing to blow away my expectations, but nothing let me down either, 1-10 are nearly replaceable, zero bad songs and all on a high level.

So overall for albums I'd rank:

Juturna
OLG

Blue Sky Noise
Amulet

VW Descensus

OLG is more solid but Juturna has more all time favorites. Amulet is more solid but BSN has some of the best Circa songs ever. Descensus is more solid but VW has more stand out songs. I found some themes. But I think I'd put everything on Amulet over Descensus/VW, or at least everything but the top 2-3 songs on those albums. This exercise really gave me a new appreciation for this album.

 

Top ten songs:

Your friends are gone
Holding someone's hair back
Great golden baby
Stop the fucking car
Act apalled
The difference between
Fever dreams
Get out
Dyed in the wool
Semi constructive criticism

 

Totally fair, I haven’t totally been in agreement with people saying it’s a return to form or whatever. More than anything else, I’d ageee that it is it’s own thing and, as you said, a shift. I think what gives me similar feelings to those I feel listening to the first two records is the instrumentation and structure of the song. The fast and intense drumming against the backdrop of relatively relaxed guitars reminds me a bit of Stop The Fucking Car, to give an example. Anthony shows more restraint here, of course, but I also think the space his voice occupies in the music is somewhat similar. It’s definitely in no way a dead-ringer for something off Juturna or OLG, it’s obviously informed by things they’ve done since BSN as well, it just gives me a similar feeling to what I feel listening to those albums vs. the rest of their discography (BSN aside), I guess.

 

This is fair. If anything I think the song writing is more like the process with VWD but the instrumentation was more in the style of their early albums. I don't know it's probably all a blur now. But the Amulet is good.

 

I don't know what I'm missing, cause "Lustration" feels so much like a product of the Descensus era to me - bland melody, no climax, just kinda there. Almost everything that comes after it feels so much fresher and more interesting.

 

After all of this Dyed in the wool is in my head so I might have to bump up its rank

 

I wonder if playing those 10 year tours for Juturna and OLG influenced their writing direction on this album.

 

This is a good way of putting things. Amulet is largely it's own thing in the context of their discog. It's stands on its own and it's a good album.

 

I'm feeling a big yes on that

But actually they've been intermittently writing this album since after VW came out. They've said so on many accounts. It's really super interesting and I hope they blow the lid off of that story.

 

Until Amulet 2 next year

 

On Letting Go

Where do I begin? This is the album that got me into the band, and what I consider to be their magnum opus. I know others would put Juturna or BSN or maybe even The Amulet above it, but for me it's just about as flawless as an album could be.

I really like what @incognitojones said about Juturna/OLG feeling like a pair that exist in the same headspace with different executions. I'd agree with that. I'd say that I prefer the execution on OLG. To me, they refined the sound they achieved on Juturna, wrote even catchier songs, and wrote a more consistent album. I also think Anthony really came into his own, vocally and lyrically, on this record. That's not to say that his vocals on Juturna aren't incredible - they are - but he sounds more confident to my ears on this one.

Living Together, In The Morning..., and Your Friends Are Gone are *probably* my top three, and each one of them is absolutely legendary imo. All three would necessitate a spot in my top 10. However, the album is so consistent and cohesive that a lot of the songs are really close for me, and ranking them would be extremely difficult. I tried including some other highlights, but I wanted to put in almost every song on the album.

This album is in my top 3 of all time, and I adore nearly everything about it; Anthony's soaring vocals, the way the guitars dance with and weave around one another - this is probably my favorite guitar album ever, the lyrics, the bombast of the rhythm section, the vibe it creates. Someday I'd like to write an interpretation piece about the album where I can analyze it in more depth. I'd need a lot more than, what, 250 words to accurately describe my feelings about this wonderful beast of an album.

 

Ha! I really wonder

 

Do people ever talk about how the bridge in Mandala is almost a direct throwback to In Fear and Faith? Any other easter eggs/throwbacks like that?

 

Oh man, I've never thought about this. That's cool.

 

I forget how good Sovereign Circles is. Though Always Begin is waaaaay too low

 

I still don't understand VW all that much, so I need to revisit more, but fuck me I love Descensus a whole bunch. Moving on to The Amulet!

 

He may still not know where the Mojave desert is located though...


Please someone get this reference.

 

Also Phantom is pretty much the best Descensus song.

 

Those are my top 3 Circa songs from across the discography.

 

My top 5 Descensus songs are, in no order, Always Begin, Phantom, Only The Sun, Sovereign Circles, and Descensus. But everything on it rips.

 

I can definitely agree to this. I really love Descensus, but I've realized I can't understand Anthony worth crap on it haha. I can barely sing along :(

 

A couple listens with the lyrics in front of you can help that! That has helped me a lot with this band and has made me more appreciative of the vocal melody now that I know the words behind them.