so people seem to be liking this overall? I was lukewarm on the last album. thought radiosurgery was fun. hated not without a fight. loved Coming Home.
Yeah, it's a fun direction they went. If you liked the fun/cheesiness of Radiosurgery and experimentation of Coming Home/Catalyst, I think you'll enjoy this album.
my favorites: Your Jokes Aren't Funny Party On Apocalypse Call Me Anti-Social Happy Being Miserable Say It Don't Spray It Barbed Wire
Top five: The Sound of Two Voices The Cheapest Thrill Happy Being Miserable Barbed Wire Blurred Vision It's hard to pick favorites, though, because the album works so well as a cohesive whole. I still think Say It Don't Spray It is the closest thing to a skipper on here.
At the very least you should dig "Map Of Your Body", Radiosurgery's closing track and easily the best song from those sessions.
I like the music in "Cheapest Thrill" but there's just something about that song that I dislike much more than any of the others, for whatever reason. Just not that into that one. Also, it's a weird closer, right??
'Memories and Battle Scars' and 'I'm Not The One' are probably from favorites on that album. Aside from the Bonus tracks, of course. Love those.
It is a weird closer. I swapped that and 'Short and Sweet' around. 'Short and Sweet' did the job ending the album. 'Cheapest Thrill' just kept me wanting more after hearing it.
I don't think Cheapest Thrill is a weird closer, it makes perfect sense to me. Short and Sweet would be such a weird closer, it's great in that penultimate "slow track" spot
Thrilled that people seem to be enjoying this so much. Gonna wait until it hits Spotify to spin it because I don't hate myself enough to open iTunes on my Windows laptop. Really want to hear Sound of Two Voices.
Alright, a few listens deep on this since Saturday morning. A few overall thoughts: - This sounds like the most fun the band has had in a looooong time - Jordan goes for a lot of distractingly high notes here that often throw me right out of the songs, potentially my biggest across the board gripe here - Really enjoying the layering on these songs. Chad brought back some of the cool leads that I love NFG for instead of just trying way too hard to write riffs like on the last record. It allows the songs to breathe a little more, which is super refreshing for this band right now. Some individual song notes: - Opener rips, love that they don't drive right into that first chorus so easily, holding out for two verses before delivering a classic huge NFG chorus. - Love the bridge in Party On, but it frustrates me to no end that 5 adult humans that have made lives out of creating music couldn't think of a better way to transition in and out of it -- those parts are just so awkward and out of place. Also I know this a super minor detail, but I loooooove the high to low harmony in the second verse -- there way it works on the "over critical creatures" line gave me chills the first time. - Intro for Anti-Social is awesome, NFG works so well with keys. Very 80's sounding. Verses and pre-choruses here are some of my favorites on the record. Shot for an off the wall rhythmic pattern in the chorus, definitely didn't grab me at first but after a listen through I was already used to it. The key change is unforgivable though, blegh. - Two Voices... woah. Haha. Didn't expect this at all, and I'm seeing a little more now where this album cover came from. This will never be the first song I go to when putting on NFG, but at this stage in their career and having been pulled in every direction by their fans, it's natural for them to try something totally out of the box. It's pretty cheesy, but I'll take this any day over the watered down crap that the last record proved them to be capable of. Also it doesn't even clock in at 3 minutes, literally just breezes by on a listen through. - Soaring piano lead? Repetitive as fuck chorus? Midtempo head bopper? Check, check, check -- Blurred Lines could have easily been on Coming Home. Didn't think I'd be saying that about an NFG song in 2017. Surprisingly enough, not really as into it as I feel I should be. Certainly don't hate it, just doesn't do much for me. - Say It Don't Spray It and Barbed Wire are exactly what I want from this band at this point and are definitely my ideal future for them. Bouncy, but strong pop songs with just enough bite to still distringuish them as NFG songs. The former is like a pop punk 1975, the harmonies in the chorus are sooo catchy and the vocal deliveries at the beginning of both verses are classic NFG to a tee. Talk about a bridge that escalates the song too -- really nailed it there. - Last two songs are half baked as fuck lol. went for something cool on SAS and really dropped the ball with that chorus, what a snooze. Closer is equally disappointing, just really feels really thrown together. On the whole I'd say this is on the level of something like Radiosurgery to me. Four songs I love, four songs I'm not mad at, and two clunkers. Not bad, and that's essentially just first impressions. Excited to spend more time with this as summer rolls in. Edit: holy shit that's a long post, sorry everybody
@trevorshmevor haha that's funny, SIDSI and BW are probably my least favorites. They're not bad by any means, classic NFG sounding but I feel like they do nothing for me. BW sounds like another Vicious Love (which I'm not a fan of)
That awkward sounding transition is probably because there is a key change in the song. I actually kinda like it, but its not the smoothest transition compared to other stuff i've heard like TBS's 'Liar'.
I'm going to also agree that the last two songs are my least favorite, but I still like them. Wouldn't say there is a bad song on here, though. I'm not sure if everyone is like this, but I feel like after two listens, I could already sing so much of this album. haha. Like I know they aren't super complicated songs, but I have had an easy time memorizing them all even compared to their past albums. I would say "The Sound of Two Voices" is the only one that's not stuck in my brain so far, but it might be the coolest song on there so it makes up for it in other ways.
Yeah the transition is fine. I think that's why I like it cause it comes out of nowhere and I'm assuming it's intentionally like that changing key
Yeah that's partially it. I think it's mostly a dynamic thing for me though. If there were even just something in between the two, like a four count ring-out with a basic drum fill, I'd be happy. Can't win 'em all I guess! Still really like the bridge itself though. The echo added on the word "cliff" is one of those really small, but fun touches that really adds a cool texture to the song.
When is Jordan's vocals too high? I didn't notice it being a problem at all. Also, I love his whiney vocals on here. Wasn't a fan of his vocals on NWAF and Radiosurgery, but my favorite vocals of his will always be on S&S.