I think WYWTB succeeded in throwing in some extras into the songs that were v/c/v/c/b/c a lot more than Louder Now did, i.e. the last chorus of Phasers has a lot of Fred doing some things in the background, same with The Union (which is, BTW, far more repetitive than E:O lol), New American Classic, Number Five, etc...they all change up or add in jusssst enough extras to keep it interesting. E:O has that with Fred, and Liar changes it up a bit, etc, but not nearly as much as the songs on WYWTB did. MakeDamnSure with the switching up of vocals at the end does just enough to keep the last chorus interesting, but..meh. I'm rambling now but TL:DR: WYWTB's changes to their last choruses where a little bit more noticeable/different, and they had more/better outro's than Louder Now did. But Miami's bridge/outro...goddamn. Probably 2nd best outro on the Fred albums behind Bonus Mosh.
Lol Error Operator is probably my most listened to song from louder Now. I actually think Louder Now is a pretty flawless album start to finish. It was their Slippery When Wet. Glad they arent still doing it but I still rate it highly. That said every TBS gets a spin at least once every 6 months from me. Happiness and New Again definitely get the most over the past few years though.
Album Review: Taking Back Sunday - 'Tidal Wave' - New Noise Magazine "Taking Back Sunday was good, Happiness Is… was a little better, but this… this is thereunion album. This is Lazzara and Nolan at their finest, teaming up and really feeding off each other, the entire band finally back to the showmanship of Tell All Your Friends, where they seemed not to read each other’s cues but each other’s thoughts."
Nice review. Seems like it is written by someone that appreciated TAYF too. The other 2 reviews posted on here came across like they were written by people that never really accepted post-Nolan and Cooper TBS. The fact that this reviewer appears to have been a fan since those days and didnt seem to rate the later stuff too much hopefully speaks volumes for this album.
Yeah my thoughts seem to be right in line with theirs so I might be too hyped now, because I really like Happiness Is, so if this is that much better... Haha.
I mean a couple songs do but then you have stuff like The Union and 180 and Slowdance and This Photograph and New American Classic that kind of sidestep that style of writing
Every song released so far still feels like Adam running the show with a few John lines thrown in here and there
I LOVED Happiness Is - and like these three new songs - but I will say ever since the reunion, it feels as though all of John's vocal parts seemed a bit forced and a little unnatural.
I didn't realize how excited I was to hear this album until I started checking this thread / everywhere else in the internet to see if it was out yet. I don't enjoy Happiness Is... and this is the first TBS album in years that I haven't pre-ordered in some way, but for whatever reason I am just becoming extremely excited to hear it soon. To add to the Louder Now song discussion- What's it Feel Like / MDS / Spin / the bridges of half the songs on the album (Up Against, I'm looking at you!) / the pre-Louder Now version of Error Operator, and I guess Liar - those would be the songs I choose overall. I don't really care for Liar but I think it's because I played it to death the first year it was out, so I have to include it... regardless, the instrumentation on the entire album is such a step up from TAYF. If the lyrical content / structures were more interesting, I bet Louder Now could have unquestionably been the fan favorite that TAYF is. And shoot, Sleep + Brooklyn are both awesome.
I had this debate with a friend a while back. I think the dual vocal playoff was always one of the big draws of this band to me and my friend felt they were missing that post reunion. I think if you listen to the new songs and happiness though John is still there. I thought John's vocals added so much texture to Happiness in particular and he seems to have much more time on the mic on the new stuff.
this may be the first album in years that i don't hear till release day. i forgot what this feels like. i'm anxious.
I have very little evidence to back this up but just based on feel I think john is writing a lot on the new stuff
I've always wondered what their writing process is like. Obviously Reyes formed the band but much of the discussion is always about fred and John.
i would assume the reason it wasn't is because adam released the demo months before the album came out
Best Places, and maybe Flicker, Fade and Beat up Car are probably the only 'newer' songs that resemble anything from the 'older' TBS.
I absolutely love El Paso. I read somewhere that that was one of the songs from that album they were really excited about but the fans didn't really take to it live. That and best places are probably my top 2 picks from that album. Possibly the oldest sounding reunion era song and the newest sounding there. I guess that's why I've stuck with this band for so long.
I really like Tidal Wave, thought Death Wolf was good, but I love You Can't Look Back... for the first three minutes. Seriously, until the slowed down "don't know how you did it" bridge, it's a goddamn amazing rock ballad, one that eats any of Brand New's recent singles alive imo. But man, that bridge and overly grandiose outro come in and turn it into a Bon Jovi esque power ballad and kills the whole vibe for me. That said, the first three minutes are genuinely in my top 5 singles of the year.