2006’s Disappointing Offerings

In the last year of so, I’ve noticed a disappointing trend: that nearly every new album released by a band that I had previously adored, failed to meet even half of the expectations that I’d set for it.  Of course, there were a few exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, bands seemed to be floundering where once they had flourished.  I want to devote this blog to my own personal reviews of new albums of old favorites and new talents.

Since this is my first post, I’m going to start with a brief reminer of some of the disappointments that inspired this blog.

I eagerly awaited the release of A.F.I.’s decemberunderground.  Even though Sing the Sorrow had definitely tended more towards pop than their earlier albums, I grew to really appreciate it, after my initial shock.  I expected decemberunderground to be even more mainstream, however I was shocked at the degree of the transformation.  The redeeming factor of Sing the Sorrow was that its lyrics remained original, despite the pop beat.  decemberunderground, on the other hand, combined a pop beat with trite lyrics (ex. “the heavens bowed before him/simply a look can break your heart.”)

I was even more excited about Brand New’s release of The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me.  Their first album, Your Favorite Weapon, though the music was a little repetitive and some of the songs were filled with too much rhyme and cuteness, promised potential.  Their second album, Deja Entendu, more than fulfilled that promise.  Musically, they had matured drastically, and they moved past the overriding theme of their first album (girl trouble) to explore less common story lines (a young boy caught between his love for a girl and his fear of her sexual experience, a man contemplating taking advantage of a drunk girl he met at a bar, performers disillusioned with their craft.)  Brand New certainly changed their sound for their most recent release- unfortunately, they wrote every song to sound like a funeral dirge and wrote a whole collection of songs that were pretty much all about being disappointed in yourself, and acknowledging that everyone else was disappointed in you as well.

Other disappointements from 2006, as well as some raves and more recent reviews will follow in later posts.