Love this on my first listen, I feel like it's gonna hit even better tomorrow when I get it on speakers much louder, really enjoyed the flow of the bass at times. Could use a bit more of the keys, but they're still there, placed very tastefully. All in all a very strong record, but I do need (and will) spend more time with it
Getting emotional listening to this, it’s so freaking good, they went in such a cool direction on this! (Pun intended)
Is this like a snake eating its tale thing? Old enough to remember TDS being called a TSL ripoff. Hah.
speaking as someone whose intro to the band was Direction, it is truly surreal that a new The Starting Line album exists
One time through and I'm very into this. The last two tracks did start to lose me a liiittle bit tbh. I'm not sure I really needed Humility to bring the energy back up, feels like the vibe regresses a little there after Enjoyment, which is a fantastic song. Not a huge complaint. I'm sure I'll come around on Benchmark as a closer, at least. The moments where they slow things down or get a little quieter really stand out in a positive way (like in Curveball and Enjoyment), but I'm not sure I want more of that, necessarily. Maybe they shine because the gas almost never lets up. Overall, infectiously energetic album, massive hooks throughout. (Also, I think I mostly like how the vocals sound on the album, but the compression/processing/whatever makes Kenny's voice sound almost metallic at times. I keep picturing tinsel...)
On my first listen through just now. I was praying that BLAME would be as good as it has been in the live recordings I've seen. My word....absolutely nailed it.
Wild record. Feeling like I hear a lot of Basement in this, which I didn't expect at all. Very cool that Defeating The Purpose+Pivot sounds like a heavy Person L track. Kenny writes the best melodies this corner of music has ever gotten. I do not like the way this album sounded through my studio monitors and look forward to a listen tomorrow with headphones. Curveball and Enjoyment were jaw droppers. Idk man I have a lot of thoughts and probably won't post anything more until I have many more listens under my belt, but I would be remiss to not pop in here tonight to say I adore The Starting Line and am eternally grateful for the opportunity to link another part of my life to new music from them. I was 18 years old when Direction released, how lovely it is to be listening to Eternal Youth 18 years later
Just chiming in to say pretty much The Dangerous Summer's entire career happened between Direction and this album's release. Time is a flat circle
Man, this is exactly what I wanted from new TSL and I didn't even know it. What a wonderful first listen on the way to work.
I'll throw another comparison in here, does anyone remember The American Scene? This is giving me big 'Safe for Now' vibes