Switchfoot - Where the Light Shines Through (7.8.16) Album • Page 5

Finally have had the chance to give this a few spins and it's pretty much what I expect from Switchfoot at this point... not great. I'd probably rank it at the same level as Vice Verses, toward the bottom of their discography. Funnily though I see this as that record's opposite; whereas that album was stronger when the band stayed in their wheelhouse and their attempts at experiment fell flat, WtLST is much better when they're taking chances, while the safe stuff is just... so bad. A band as seasoned as them should not be writing stuff as generic as "I Won't Let You Go," "Live It Well," or "Shake This Feeling."

On the other hand, riskier stuff like "Float" and "Bull in a China Shop" are great, and even "Looking for America" is ok (I was expecting it to be cringe worthy). Overall about half this album is pretty good, which is how I feel about VV which is why they're side by side to me. Certainly better than Fading West, that's for sure.

 

I don't care for Switchfoot, but "If The House Burns Down Tonight" is very good.

 

That's a solid one for sure.

 

After months with Where the Light Shines through, this is my Switchfoot ranking.

Hello Hurricane > Oh! Gravity > Fading West > Nothing is Sound > Where the Light Shines Through > The Beautiful Letdown > Vice Verses > Learning to Breathe > New Way to be Human > The Legend of Chin.

Where the Light Shines Through barely beat out The Beautiful Letdown. I have the same issue with both of those records where they have good highs, but also quite a few songs I couldn't care less about. I think Where the Light Shines Through's highs are higher than The Beautiful Letdown's though so I gave it the edge.

 

Yeah 13 years later I actually think The Beautiful Letdown is a pretty weak record.

 

New Way To Be Human is v underrated

 

Really though, Jon Foreman's "The Wonderland's" series is better than every Switchfoot album. I haven't been able to get into the seasons EPs due to how much more religious they are, but Wonderland's is fantastic. My girlfriend who doesn't like Switchfoot likes The Wonderland's.

 

The beautiful letdown is perfect man. Whatever tho lol

 

I think The Beautiful Letdown has a lot of nostalgia for a lot of people, but I don't like about half of it.

 

Yep, this.

 

Yeah. I mean, I'm glad so many people love that album. I just don't think it holds up that well against every album that came after (except for Vice Verses) unless you were an early adopter and have the nostalgia attached. But I don't know, I'm sure there are some new fans who love that album.

 

The Beautiful Letdown doesn't have a weak spot on it for me. One of my favorite albums of all time to this day. Only songs I listened to back in the day are "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move" but those aren't my favorites. "More Than Fine," "The Beautiful Letdown," and "Twenty-Four" are all top 10 Switchfoot songs for me.

 

Twenty Four is a top 10 Switchfoot song for me. I think every release except maybe Where the Light Shines Through and the first three have a top 10 for me on them though.

 

On Fire is low key one of the most beautiful songs ever written. 24 is great. Gone and Adding to the Noise are oodles of fun. Record isn't just good solely because of nostalgia. It's good because it's really good

 

Ammunition, Redemption, Gone, and Adding to the Noise are all not great. Even Meant to Live doesn't really do anything for me anymore.

If you like the album more power to you. I just know that it, like a large amount of this band's music, has aged pretty disappointingly for me.

 

It makes me sad how little I care about Switchfoot these days. They used to be so important to me.

 

The Beautiful Letdown is a fucking classic and is loaded with great songs. Every Switchfoot album has songs I don't love, but the ones on The Beautiful Letdown ("More Than Fine," "Adding to the Noise") are probably better than the weak points on every album since except for maybe Nothing is Sound.

 

Nothing is Sound is the one that has held up most for me.

 

Hello Hurricane and Oh! Gravity are the only albums I think have really aged well. I still enjoy Fading West a lot but that could easily change within a few years. I think the band peaked with Hello Hurricane and Oh! Gravity though. There are no songs on either of those I dislike, and I enjoy the songs more than most of the songs on their other albums too.

 

There are a lot of good songs on Hurricane, but a few that I skip every time as well. Not too fond of "Mess of Me," "The Sound," or "Bullet Soul." It's interesting to me that Hurricane has come to be viewed as one of their best, because I remember it got a fairly middling response when it came out.

 

I enjoy those three more "rocker" Switchfoot songs a lot more than past ones like Meant To Live and Lonely Nation. I never really took Switchfoot reception all that seriously though, I mean, Jesusfreakhideout gave Vice Verses a perfect 5 star review if I remember correctly. That album is pretty bad.

 

Not talking about reviews, more fan reception/chatter around websites. I like "Meant to Live" and "Lonely Nation" way more than most of the "rockers" in their discography.

 

The SRC pressing of Oh! Gravity is really good. Still love this album.

 

Still think after their last 3 I have no interest in this band anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Vinyl fans of Vice Verses...SMLXL just posted a repress and there's a colored variant limited to 300 that's selling quickly, just fyi:

Switchfoot - Vice Verses 2LP (SMLXL EXCLUSIVE REPRESS-Limited Color or Black Vinyl)