interesting to see so many say they respect them trying so much. my biggest disappointment is that it feels like there were no risks taken here at all. everything is so safe and polished to the utmost degree that a lot of the cool ideas are buffered out
I very much disagree. It might be because I'm actually quite an advocate for pop music sensibilities when done right, and of course this album is by no means perfect with some of its song structures being perhaps a BIT too basic. But I dunno, for me it really does do a whole bunch of stuff.
The reception on twitter & Instagram (comment sections) has been insanely positive, more positive than I expected lol.
Yeah I think the biggest switch in sound is that they went from writing good songs to bad ones lol No but really the songwriting itself is very bland. You can tell this was born from Spencer's disdain for the "negative" reaction to Disambiguation coupled with his desire to write a poppy record. So the reunion made him all riled-up about the band's rebirth, and he went all-in with diluting the Underoath sound, while also putting out their first poppy record--when he could've totally made their most accessible album while still keeping some of the textural and experimental elements of previous efforts. I would've totally been down for an art-pop album from them.
i love pop music. my problem isn’t a band deciding to go poppy. it’s a band deciding to do that and not being well-equipped at sticking the landing.
Thats the problem with anything said on the internet, it's usually an extreme on one end or the other. On my 2nd listen though, very solid so far and haven't found anything I'd consider bad. All I can say so far is this sounds like an Underoath album, with more singing than normal but that's not a bad thing.
I feel like it's an Underoath take on the current post-hardcore sound set by BMTH. It's a bit sad to see them settle into this sound when they were such a driving force behind the heavier side of post-hardcore. Another way I look at it is if Thursday made No Devo a generic album rather than what it is. Erase Me is a fine album, doesn't really fit into what I love about Underoath, and won't get but a few listens out of me. Doesn't mean I won't see the band again.
Oh man I had to read that a couple times before I understood what you meant. We were about to fight. Yeah, here's what I've always said. I am perfectly fine with a band getting softer, not screaming as much, going poppier, etc.. if they are good at it. Underoath have not shown me they are on this album. Maybe if they try again without the hitmakers it'll work next time. I said this when letlive.'s If I'm the Devil came out, and people thought everyone was complaining because it wasn't as heavy, but it wasn't that. It was that the songs just weren't good. EDIT: since BMTH got brought up: I remember us being a little worried that they might've helped them write this, but honestly, I might like their take on this genre better. Nothing on here is better than Drown.
Yeah, I can see all that. I also have a very different releationship with the band since I didn't grow up with them and got all their stuff at once. To me, I feel like from TOCS on, each album has it's own feel and the songs couldn't be on another album. This one just feels like another UO album with a slight twist, but I thought that with LITSOS and Disambiguation too.
At one point Aaron says that Tim recorded "every note of every stringed instrument on the album" so... maybe? I literally don't know if James or Grant are on this at all, they don't say a single word in the documentary lmao
I like BMTH but saying this is going for BMTH post-hardcore is borderline laughable to me, not meaning offense in that though.
Ok, the one bad thing I'll say on listen through number 2 is that the fake out ending on Sink With You.....I'm not a fan of it haha. Otherwise that song is fine.
Haha, yeah, no disagreements on No Devo. Easily my favorite Thursday album and I wish it wasn't the last album because I would have loved to see where they went after it.