It may have been in bad taste but at the time a lot of information on Scott’s mental health wasn’t a well known thing. He shouldn’t have make assumptions on why people share personal things in lyrics/music but at this point it’s beating a dead horse to bring it up every time a review is dropped. It’s in the past, time to move on. Hes helped a ton of bands in the genre in more ways than one. I met foxing this week and they consider an Ian a good friend who has helped their career. Just my two cents
Catching up on this thread has me super stoked to revisit the record. There is so much to unpack. Can't wait to (finally) listen with a good pair of headphones.
stoked to see so much love for grand paradise, i've been obsessed with that song ever since i listened to that "nah man" version of it on youtube. i was so worried that the song wouldn't make the album hahah.
it's here: Review: Foxing - Nearer My God | Sputnikmusic (warning: it's a fairly long slab of fairly impressionistic reaction that could fairly be called wank :D )
Great write up! Why the hell did I read the comments section lol.. the one person who gives it a 1.0 is soooo annoying haha
Well damn me for not putting two and two together, I’ve been reading your reviews for a while without knowing it lol Great review too!
dear @anonimito if you haven't heard this album please do give it a spin, failing that give 'Grand Paradise' and 'Gameshark' a listen and tell me some of the vocal melodies and delivery remind you of some Hayes vocals on 'Delicate' (see section of 'Gameshark' that starts at around 0:54). Thank you and hope you are doing well!
thank you! and yes, classic sputnik... a couple great comments and a whole lot of contrarian trash, lmao thanks man!
Scott is dead and not coming back. Go tell his family to just move on. Give me a break. We know you’re all buddy buddy with Ian and will defend him but people have a right to be infuriated with how he handled that review without you shutting them down.
Ian literally reads this website. Like are you people wanting this guy to somehow feel like he was partially responsible for the death of somebody because of a music review? Have some empathy and try not to assume to worst of people. It’s also been noted that that review was before Scott had openly discussed his mental health. I’m not even defending anything that was said but geez I just feel like everytime his name is brought up on this site it’s like this unnecessary hatred. Is it too much to assume someone is human and said something dumb, and to assume they don’t have actively evil intentions?
Really great review, you covered a ton of ground but also put a nice emphasis on the background of the band and WHY the record sounds the way it does.
Some of us have actually tried killing ourselves and had people tell us we’re just being melodramatic when crying out for help so please forgive me if I don’t give a fuck about people criticizing Ian Cohen for writing one of the most despicable things I’ve ever read in a review. But yeah call it “unnecessary hatred.” Maybe try employing some of that empathy you’re talking about yourself.
Listen, just because I said we can forgive someone and assume they didn’t wish death upon a stranger does not mean I lack empathy for those struggling with mental health and suicidal tendencies. That is preposterous.
My thing is I think we have to be careful with where we place responsibility for this stuff. Ian was wrong, we all agree with that. But there are so many things about that relationship we don’t know. What if they were friends toward the end? I don’t think it’s fair to put that responsibility on someone’s shoulders.