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.

What kind of social commentary? I'm curious.

Wouldn't mind a PM also.

Torrenting this **** now... results to follow.

Not really social commentary, more anti-religious mockery, eg. The Northern. I don't like to go into detail about it rly.

shitty album. not that i expected anything more.

their s/t is something of a guilty pleasure to me, but it is not really experimental.

Yeah, that's not the right term for it, but compared to what they're doing nowadays with this average chord progression stuff, it was.

I was referring to the fact that they changed the tempo often and focused more on complex instrumentation. Not experimental, but they sure weren't trying to make average music.

Not bad, not good. Just average.

agree.
average.

better then crisis though.

Average. It's certainly now Watch Out!, but there were a few things Iliked about it. I think they do well with a polished sound and just need to master it.

Oh man!

Ive been working so much I have missed the release! I got to pick this beast up quick like. I was only half assed looking forward to it, but I got faith in Alfred saying it is better than Crisis. Man I'm so lame.

Finally! I see a ton of people online bitching about George's vocals on the album. Yeah, maybe the change was predicated by him wrecking his voice with all the screaming, but I really like what he's done on this album. A bit shocking at first, but I've given this multiple listens. It works.

I'm the first one to vote "Excellent". I think it's an improvement on Crisis, and Crisis itself was a pretty solid album. To me, my favourite album will always be the first, but these guys were only 18-19 when those songs were written. It's unfair to expect them to keep writing the same kind of post-hardcore stuff they were into back then. They've still got the energy and they've improved their song-writing many times over since those days, IMO.

"The Northern" is the standout track for me, but I think it's quite a consistent album. No stinkers, really. And despite the fact that I've been listening to "Young Cardinals" for weeks now, it keeps growing on me.

Loved crisis when I first listened to it.. but since then i'd doubt if i've listened to it anymore than 3 or 4 times. They are now one of my favourites again with Old Crows... i like the new direction their going and am happy as long as i'll always have Watch Out! to go back to.

The new album is terrible. Actually, this band is terrible. The only song i like is "it could be anywhere in the world".

Go listen to the new Lamb Of God album then.

Your opinion is completely foreshadowed by the song you like. Try some songs like....Happiness by the Kilowatt, Pulmonary Archery, Accidents and maybe even It Was Fear of Myself That Made me Odd.

I Loved this album with a passion, Even though they switched it where George was doing most of the vocals he did a great job.