I don't think this really sounds like Circa at all outside of Anthony's voice (but he even sings a little different on here too).
Ya I'm a fan of only a handful of Circa songs, and this doesn't sound like them at all. Ideology is Theft is currently my favorite song as well.
Saying it doesn't sound like them just means you have preconceived notions of what they should sound like. Did anyone really want them to try to emulate exactly how the band sounded over a decade ago?
I've always wanted a perfect response for people who complain that a band has changed and isn't the same band anymore, I think this is what I was looking for. Thank you. Haha
This sounds like a much better version of Saosin than the one who wrote Translating the Name. Rockin the boat.
No matter how hard I try, Translating the Name is the only Anthony Green thing I cannot get into. Love all of Circa Survive, his solo stuff, that High & Driving stuff, Sound of Animals Fighting and Along the Shadow, but just don't really like Translating the Name.
That's what I was trying to figure out. It seems like one of the two beacme Ideology of Theft, I don't know about the other
"Ideology" has definitely become the standout for me, too. It's a bit strange. I find myself coming back to the somewhat cheesy, somewhat dated-sounding cuts like that and "Second Guesses" more than the rest. I'm a huge Circa fan, and I know this isn't popular, but I'd have to agree that lots of material here sounds just close enough to Circa that it's almost offputting. "Silver String," "Stutter," "Old Friends," and even a lot of the closing tracks to a lesser extent. You'd think, as someone who prefers Circa over Saosin by a wide margin, that this would be a good thing. But it just ends up feeling like Circa-lite. I don't know; I'm not articulating this well, and I fully admit that my natural compulsion to compare it with Circa is probably leading to a somewhat unfair critique here. I just feel like Saosin's strength is something that's much different than Circa's, and that strength is perfectly showcased by TTN. I'm not really ashamed to say I wish they'd stayed closer to TTN's sound on this record, which they pretty much did on "Ideology." The midtempo, atmospheric alt-rock without much lead guitar is Circa's thing, and they simply do it better than most of the songs in that vein here.
Damn, I can't count the number of times I listened to "10-18". It just hit me that it is Ideology Is Theft. This version is played in an entirely different key so it was barely recognisable : Pretty sure "Riff 9" is Illusion & Control. So the only song that wasn't supposedly recorded is "12-6" :