Taking Back Sunday
Victory Records-
2004
Tracklist:
1. Set Phasers To Stun
2. Bonus Mosh Pt. 2
3. A Decade Under The Influence
4. This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)
5. The Union
6. New American Classic
7. I Am Fred Astaire
8. One-Eighty By Summer
9. Number Five With A Bullet
10. Little Devotional
11. ...Slowdance On The Inside
Teenage angst can be a really annoying thing when it comes to the music industry. Mislead, or “confused” teens will more often than not turn to music to aid them in their uncertainty of life. Sadly, the music they turn to isn’t always the best, and is usually filled with emotionless anger, or just silly phrases that were meant to catch the ear of an unsuspecting teen. One phrase that comes to mind is “To hell with you, and all your friends”, which is a main lyric in the single,
“A Decade Under The Influence”, by Taking Back Sunday. After borrowing an iPod from this other kid at school I noticed that he had “Where You Want To Be” on there. After listening some, I came to the conclusion that “Where You Want To Be” is an exceptionally fitting title for the record.
There isn’t much to Taking Back Sunday. A slow opening for most songs comes in, and the simple guitars saunter around while the monotonous vocals drone on, and on, and on.
“This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)” is a more than palpable example of this. Adam sings in the opening with some drum work, and guitar in the background before going straight to the chorus, which easily makes this one of the most boring songs ever because it’s so repetitive. It almost seems at times that the song lingers around before using the same hook a few times in a row, and then gets heavier near the end to try to mask the lackluster song structure. This is basically the description of over half the album.
Now, “Where You Want To Be” isn’t completely bad. A few songs do prove a somewhat worthwhile listen.
“Number Five With A Bullet” contains solid song writing, and is also entertaining. The distorted guitar riffs open the song cleverly, and lead to a catchy chorus. The dual vocals are a highlight too, but after a while this song still remains as unoriginal as the rest of the album, it just actually manages to be slightly entertaining.
“Set Phasers To Stun” is exactly like
“Number Five With A Bullet” in the sense that while it’s a fun listen, it still doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from everything else, other than the fact that it’s slightly a little more upbeat. Then there is
“New American Classic", which is an acoustic song that also samples a nice violin part. It makes for a great ballad, and helps to move the album along by getting put right in the middle of the tracklist.
To quote a lyric from the last song on this record, “I’m boring like these songs”. Well, I couldn’t say it any better. Boredom ensues on almost every single song. The song-structures of every song are nearly identical, to the point if I put one song on repeat, and listened to it eleven times in a row the experience would be almost the same as listening to the whole album. Some songs do provide some fun for a while, but one whole listen can basically say what listening to it ten times will say, average, average, average, and average. There isn’t much else to say for an album that feels like the same song over, and over again.
Pros:
-A few songs are good, on the first listen
-“New American Classic” is a well-written acoustic song
Cons:
-The song structures of most songs are lazy
-Listening to one song eleven times over is almost the same as listening to the album one full time
-Nothing ever really stands out
2.5 out of 5 Average