I haven’t attempted that second Cove album in over a decade, but I remember my take being “self-titled rules, the Cove haters are wrong… but this follow-up is shit.” I do wonder, especially with Anthony’s time in Sound of Animals Fighting, if he’d be down for an album where there’s some Cove songs sprinkled through. But if that’s something the guys wouldn’t be into, fair enough, lol.
Not sure what's meant by other guys being "the problem," but Beau has posted all sorts of snippets of demos and ideas over the years since ATS. He's always been the main writer, and it seems clear he's been ready to move on a new release for a while.
i just have gotten the sense for a while that the song writers for the band leisurely writes a couple of tracks over the course of years and then sits on it for a long time before it becomes an album. i could be wrong. and i dont care whos “fault” it is and im not stanning for anthony either - on the contrary, im honestly frustrated by his career at this point.
In Search Of Solid Ground is a good album. Listened to it on a car drive once and it was very pleasant.
I think its biggest issue is too many hands in the cookie jar. They had multiple producers because Howard Benson pulled out on them last second.
I remember listening to it and being so disappointed by the vocals. Cove just doesn't sound good at all on that record compared to the self-titled.
I think On My Own, The Alarming Sound, Worst of Me, Is This Real, and Bury Me are the best songs from that era
The slower songs are highlights and hint at stuff they'd revisit on Along The Shadow. Some of the more radio rock songs are just... bad. The biggest drop off between S/T and that one is the songwriting. It's been said Cove sounds rough at times, but some of his melodies also just... don't work, which is wild because back then it felt like they spent forever making the record. I don't know how they went from making such larger than life, singalongy hooks to such bland, clunky choruses that time around. I still love Fireflies, Nothing Is What It Seems, The Alarming Sound, On My Own, The Worst Of Me and Is This Real but the whole thing felt like a big missed opportunity.
Alright, all you guys that dislike the album stand on one side, and the rest of us will stand on the other side, and then we'll blow up the middle, walk away, and you guys can do what you want, I dunno.
Are you lost? Do you need help finding your way home? Do you know your name and what day it is?? What's the current president of the United States???