Yellowcard Band • Page 70

I mean, there just aren't hooks in L&S period. The closest thing is probably Down on My Head and even that's undone by its atrocious lyrics.

 

Idk, apparently we have vastly different ideas of what a hook is then. I like both albums and will never understand the hate L&S get. But I will admit that Two Weeks From Twenty is a terrible song.

 

You can disagree on whether or not they worked, but it's true that LaS expanded their sound far more than L&S.

 

When you're essentially a pop punk band, you need hooks and good vocal performances. L&S has neither, therefore I think it's bad. That doesn't seem difficult to understand.

 

Fixed that for you!

Except for the band didn't write the songs to build toward convention bridges. If they had, they would have written conventional bridges. It's not like Ryan Key got done writing that "Southern Air" bridge and then was just like "I don't remember how to do this anymore."

 

That's about as closed minded as it gets. The band wrote an album that was darker, but featured much more detailed lyrics and amazing musical composition. The string arrangements are incredible, too. It's far better than LaS in my eyes. But again, we aren't going to agree here so it's just a waste of time.

 

Again, that's perfectly fine. I'm not saying each song needs an epic bridge. I'm just saying it's particularly unsatisfying to have the song build toward a bridge and then have it be empty only to continue to a repeating chorus.

 

I think we're on the same page.

 

I don't think it's unsatisfying at all. I like how they subvert expectation and bring things down on those bridge segments rather than continuing to build them up. Without that, "Transmission Home" is just a standard Yellowcard song. With it, it's an interesting departure from something they'd perfected on the previous album.

To answer your other question, I've come back to "Rest in Peace" a lot.

 

I don't think L&S is hookless, but a I do think it's their least catchy album. There are only a few hooks from that record that I recall off the top of my head.

 

I can get when people say they hate Ryan's voice on L&S. But saying Lift a Sail as a whole is a better composition or the songs itself are, is so wrong. What's everyone loving about this? The awful electronic sounds? The uninspired bridges? Also the guitar work is the worst on that record.

Here's one thing absolutely no one shares with me: As bad as the lyrics of Make Me So are, I love that song. It's the only jam on Lift a Sail.

EDIT: I think you're speaking of things like the bridge in My Mountain. And this is so off.

 

I think Fragile and Dear and Lift A Sail are my favorites on LaS.

 

Give that album LP drums, cut the electronic sounds, add a loud chorus after the bridge on Illuminate, get rid off that awful Matty Mullins feature, and add some violin here and there and I'd actually like it very much. There are a lot of other little things I'd change.

 

Apparently we're in the business of telling a band how to write their songs in here. I liked it better when we weren't talking about Yellowcard.

 

Oof. This is a very bad idea.

 

Admittedly, Lights and Sounds dropped at specifically important time in my life, so nostalgia has saturated that album in such a way that my opinion of it will never change.

 

I think "Down On My Head" is a pretty bad song, but that's one that frequently pops in my head, along with the title track. Maybe "Rough Landing, Holly." Not much sticks overall, though.

Fast forward one record, and I think Paper Walls has some of their best choruses.

 

Top 10 Staind songs?

As a person who liked LaS, no because of the Holly songs.

Change that to "most songs" and you got it. Make Me So makes me think they were trying to do another "With You Around" and it doesn't fit the style of LaS very much.

That is one of their worst songs.

Not really. I played it a ton when it first came out. I'm looking forward to hearing it again in the context of the album as a whole though.

 

Easily the catchiest song on the record is the title track, which is fine, but one of their weaker singles IMO.

 

No love for Waiting Game or Hollywood Died?

I'll continue to be the lone defender of Down on My Head

 

One of my favorite parts of L&S is this part:

 

I played it a bunch when it first came out. It's still on my running mix (which is usually all the singles that have been released for albums I'm looking forward to) and I really enjoy it when it comes on, but I don't find myself seeking it out very often anymore.

 

This is why we shouldn't be talking about Yellowcard.

 

Yellowcard used to be my favorite band.

Brand New overtook them when TDAG dropped.

 

Fair enough. Even though TDAG is a hard one to top, I think the fact that YC has more out and is more consistently better makes them higher on my list than BN.