Yeah, I mean...I enjoy about 3/4 of Black Market....maybe 1/4 of Endgame....and I actually like Appeal To Reason for what it is. I like it more than Endgame and BM...mainly bc i like the production on it and Kotov Syndrome, Collapse, Strength To Go On, Hairline Fractures, and Audience of One are awesome songs. The problem with them all is that they blend together...same'ol alternative sound with longer/slower bridges that drag the songs on and on. I really miss them just getting to the damn point and keeping the song in your face at all times. The band's punk/hardcore roots diminished with those releases and they became too much of a well-oiled machine musically. I think Zach has a lot to do with that (not knocking him for it, he's a cool guy and great guitar player). As a fan since the Unraveling era....its a little heartbreaking to see such a legendary hardcore punk band become so....not hardcore punk with their sound haha. I remember when Siren Song came out and fans either loved it or hated it. It got a lot of heat for its production and songs like Paper Wings and Swing Life Away (Awesome songs and Siren Song is my favorite album of theirs...okay, maybe its tied with RPM). Fun Fact: Tim hates the production on that album too, but loves the songs. I will always support what these guys stand for. That's really the only thing that hasn't changed about them, which is awesome given how big they've gotten over the years. That's what keeps me interested and coming back to them. Tim's an amazing lyricist. Plus, they're super nice dudes if you ever meet/have met them. With that said, I hope to hear more 'in your face' songs on this new album and a much more pissed off Tim lyrically. Not getting my hopes up though. The new song has grown on me a little, but still just...."meh...its cool and I like running to it".
Man. RPM through Sufferer is a classic stretch. Most bands will never have even one album as good as one of those. I thought I had settled on RPM being my least favorite of those three but I just listened to it again and my god it's nearly flawless
The audio quality leaves something to be desired, but still that sounds a lot more interesting to me than the snippet they released.
Amazing album. Has some of my favourites songs by them on it and I completely agree a lot of bands would kill to have such a solid run of albums! Yeah it's not the best but was good enough for us to get an early impression of the song I think. So far I'm digging it more than The Violence. @Jason Tate any chance you'll be doing a run down before the album is released or maybe a section on one of the podcasts? Would love to hear some early impressions.
I love that damn song. My favorite ever is a three way tie between Black Masks and Gasoline, Anywhere But Here, and To Them These Streets Belong.
Sufferer will always be my favorite RA album, with Siren Song and RPM coming right after it. That stretch is legendary though, they're separated by literally the thinnest of margins for me.
I don't know if my heart could take picking a favorite RA song, but Injection is up there these days. Halfway There too.
Sufferer is in my top 10 all time favorite records, everything about that record is just perfect. I think Tim's voice just lost the edge/growl it had back in the day from all the singing, same thing happened to James Hetfield. They're both still great vocalists, but their voices 'matured' into what we hear today
Siren Song is in my top 10 of all time. My only complaint with it is the production on it. I think Sufferer has the best production out of all their releases. Really wish Siren Song sounded like that haha. Survive is my favorite song on that album.
I absolutely love that song! It's in my top with Blood To Bleed and To Them These Streets Belong. I don't know if I can do a top 10 too many awesome tracks haha.
Doing a top 10 would be hard but I could narrow it down I think. All I know for sure is that the bridge of Life Less Frightening may be the best thing they've done.
Gotta give some extra props to Behind Closed Doors, that was the first song of theirs I ever heard about 10 years ago. Was on some fan made sports video I watched on Youtube or something. I had never heard anything like it. Then I discovered punk music, then AP, and the rest was history....
I've never really had an issue with the way it sounds, but you got me thinking about how awesome it would sound with Sufferer production. Sufferer is one of Bill Stevenson's best produced albums but I'm a huge Descendents fanboy, so anything the man touches sounds like gold to me.
I watched their facebook stream of their show last night. Pretty ballsy setlist. Nothing from Black Market, left out singles like Ready To Fall, Swing Life Away and Good Left Undone but played Black Masks, Blood Red White and Blue and State of the Union! Also played 3 new songs in a row towards the beginning, which all sounded pretty good. Oh, and they covered a CCR song.
Wolves and Welcome to the Breakdown both rip. Hopefully the rest of the album sounds more like those than The Violence.