Oh god I have so many thoughts and feelings about this I still need to process. But it really feels like it could have been something special. Not sure how it would have been received if it was released in 2013 though.
If I were Gerard I'd never wanna hear a song like Dive ever the fuck again though. Not armchair psychoanalyzing or assuming it's autobiographical, but he's been pretty open about how unhealthy this period was for him. So totally get why this was abandoned, among other reasons. And that's definitely one of the best songs on here is the thing
I can see why they didn't move forward with it. But there is truly something cool here: the dark synths, the concept, the lore and the mystery. I love this for what it is. Paper Swords and Dogs were standouts on first listen.
I'm really torn on if I want to listen to this or not. Do we truly think they are not planning on moving forward with these songs? I know nobody knows for sure lol it's more of a rhetorical question
I really don't think they're going to release any version of the Paper Kingdom in the future. I don't think they would have played War Beneath live and repurposed the music for promo videos. I think it says something that the only piece of music they released post reunion was written/recorded in 2022. I think they've moved on, but I could be wrong.
Before today I would expect it to be absolutely not, never. Now that this is out there, small chance it sparks something but probably not
Okay so I listened and I'm actually amazed at how fully formed and complete this almost feels... I really don't think they would have had to do much more to this to call it "finished" other than cleaning up the mix/master and maybe some different vocal takes here and there. This really feels like it would have been a solid sister album to TBP to me; it feels like a darker, more somber and lowkey sequel almost. It's almost entirely melancholy without many upbeat "rock" songs, so I don't see myself returning to it super often, but I think this is really cool and would not minded at all if they had put this out. The instrumentation is really cool and different for them (super lush horns/strings) and Gerard is as good as ever This is so surreal
It's a little bit of a bummer for me, because you can hear where its unfinished, you can hear the walls they're kind of hitting with this, especially with Gerard's lyrics. You can kind of hear them trying to find a way to bring some of the synth sounds that fueled Danger Days into something closer to more Three Cheers/Black Parade and it doesn't quite work everywhere, but again it's not finished work and its such a bleak premise for a record. You can pretty easily figure out that they were only excited about "War Beneath the Rain" (for good reason! It rocks!) and there are a few kernels of songs in here ("Birthday Girl", "Wake Up", some pieces of "Louder" and "High Hopes", maybe "Dogs"). Overall, it sounds like a band that wrote themselves into a corner and couldn't really find a way out, which is understandable given the shape they were by all accounts in back then. I wouldn't say entirely "unsalvageable" but about half "unsalvageable." Maybe if Danger Days doesn't go down the way it does, the 5-6 good ideas here get turned into something better but things happen the way they do for a reason.
You say this, but since the reunion they seem to have referenced this album in teasers and such, haven’t they? I'm fairly lazy but didn’t they flash up “Dogs” on screen at a tour date or something? My mind is blurry and Google is failing me. My worry with all of this is that they weren’t scrapping it.
With this happening over the course of the last six years it really just feels like they're picking it apart for scraps of ideas that they want to incorporate in some way.
They have referenced / teased, but I think what you’re thinking about with DOGS was The 1975 teasing their next acronym for whatever their upcoming album will be called. Excited for that one too.
I haven't listened, and honestly, don't really have the urge so long as the band has no interest in us ever hearing it.
The intro to dive is probably the biggest misstep of the album. It is a whiplash of the over all vibe of the album. It goes from eerie and dramatic to depressing.
Whipped this together really quick because I strongly dislike the artwork that's out there. Feel free to use.
i'm just using the embedded fanmade one (which i guess originated from Reddit using alternate art from TBP illustrator James Jean) since the album's concept and sound are conceptually akin to TBP, but i'd be interested in changing it if i find something better.
Haha this was one of the two I had originally, just felt like too much going on and didn’t seem like a total aesthetic match for me. Was also looking at some old Polaroids I found of creepy-looking children’s birthday parties that I thought could fit, so might revisit later on.
that's fair, haha. for what it's worth, your cover is fantastic too. i thought about exploring some of the liner notes/artwork for MDNSY to make some art of my own, since Fake Your Death was officially released there, but i don't think there'd be anything worth using.