I like Radiosurgery more on a cohesive level than NWAF and Resurrection. NWAF and Resurrection have some jams on them, but I don't ever find myself listening all the way through like I do with Radiosurgery. Plus, I never looked at Steve as an influence like I do with these other four guys. Steve has always been the guy/rhythm guitarist that was always....."just there" haha. I don't mind his absence to the band.
I've listened to this album like 6 times since my last (lukewarm) post. It's really grown on, still think first 4 tracks are favorites.. not sure if it's been said, but Blurred Vision sounds like it came right off of Coming Home. Don't know what my least favorite song is, but I'd say maybe Barbed Wire, even though I still like it instrumentally. Overall, really fun album and I hope to hear some b-sides
Any producer (besides the band themselves) would have been like, "do we really need a petty song like this on the album, let alone one that's bad?"
I don't mind 'Worst Person' simply because I've experienced someone in my life exactly like that, except it wasn't Boston. It was Chicago haha. Same goes for 'Happy Being Miserable'.
While I don't really know what the absence of Steve did to the trajectory of their sound, I do agree with the point on the lyrics. It's one of the main reasons I haven't been able to listen to the last couple of NFG albums. I find literally nothing to relate to or even laugh along with, it all seems petty/faux-angsty or silly beyond reasonable suspension of disbelief. Which, I know, pop punk is not supposed to be the epitome of poetry but my gut reaction is just disinterest. It's hard to sing along with lyrics that you don't care for at all.
I'll take the opposite side of the argument and say this album, while not good lyrics, I think work with the music as well, if not better, than a lot of their early albums. Like, those ST lyrics if you go back and read them now are pretty hilariously bad. And, again, it's not like these lyrics are great, but they feel more in line with the band's age at this point, and, really, aren't that different from some of the classic NFG songs (which makes sense, since Chad wrote a lot of those lyrics as well).
Some of the synth parts in this album really give off an 80s vibe which is cool. The closer would be a lot better if they didn't do the stupid pause thing a bunch in the choruses.
I actually enjoyed California more, but I don't expect that to be a popular opinion. As an old school blink fan and a complete sucker for pop punk with catchy hooks, it was right down my alley. California simply came at an opportune time in my life as well, which is always difficult to compete with. With all of that said, it's entirely possible that this album grows on me much more over time to the point where I appreciate it more. We'll see.
Idk, I just like the poppy sound more than the faux-hardcore of NWAF (though that record has some great songs) and the shitty production and lyrics of Resurrection.
Yeah, NWAF and Resurrection had some stand out tracks and those tracks are better than anything on Radiosurgery, but Radiosurgery stays pretty consistent throughout, imo. Plus, I'm a big Ramones fan and that album is heavily influenced by them. The bonus songs are so good too. I can definitely see the hate the album gets though.
I read somewhere recently that Pete Wentz gave the producer for TTTYG the first two NFG records and said he wanted it to sound like those
The Worst Person is legit hard to get through. Honestly probably half the songs on Resurrection would qualify as bottom 15-20 NFG songs.
The Crown and The Enemy are pretty sweet though. Wish those were on real album. The Crown is straight up Coming Home-esque.