Alexisonfire : Old Crows/Young Cardinals
 

Early opinion: it's better than Crisis but unless they stop "moving in the right direction" they are never going to top their first two albums, in my opinion. It's not album of the year material and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hear better music from Maylene and He Is Legend on June 23. That said, it's still a good album and definitely an improvement from Crisis. But the raw emotion is gone and I think that they've decided they just want to make heavy, polished rock music now. Good for their popularity, bad for my love of their early music.

Haven't listened to it much yet.
In fact, only listened to Young Cardinals... but that is a great track.

Alfred, I recall you once telling me that you though Crisis was better then Watch Out!
or did I make that up in my head at some time.

I once said that, but I don't feel that way anymore. I love Watch Out. Crisis is accessible, but Watch Out has way more artistic merit, and even a few hooks courtesy of Dallas Green that all the scene kids seem to love these days.

Pm?

Sure thing.

question,
should I actually listen to this tonight once I finish up with The Bends again?

You should stop listening to Radiohead right now. Get on this.

oh kiss my bum.

I will listen to it tonight, promise.

I'm voting "Very Good".

Alexisonfire isn't going to make another Alexisonfire, or even a Watch Out. They're going to continue to make more average punk-based stuff as opposed to the fairly complex and experimental post-hardcore music that they were once known for. That said, I can't help but enjoy (almost) everything they come out with. They finally sound comfortable with their music and it shows through the maturity of this album. I still miss the days of senseless shrieking and crude, unprofessional guitar solos, but Old Crows is what it is. It's a solid release and if Alexisonfire never releases another album, their discography will feel complete.

The main thing I'm happy about with this new album is that it's better than Crisis. Crisis saw the band often unsuccessfully trying to blend their old sound with the poppy sound that they were going for, and it didn't really work. I was very happy to hear some of that scattered melodic lead guitar that I loved on their first two albums, as well as some shrieked vocals. Speaking of vocals, I think their vocal arrangement is excellent on this album, George finally is singing!

On a minor note: one of the drawbacks of this album for me personally is that some of its social commentary goes against what I believe. Bad vibes man.