Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Album Review: Means - To Keep Me From Sinking


man, i just don't know about this one

I have been anxiously waiting for this album to come out, hoping for a great follow-up to Sending You Strength. its not everything i hoped for, but i'm not disappointed (at least i don't think i am).

i really really like Means, i can't find anyone else who does though. they are built in the image of Comeback Kid meets underOATH meets As I Lay Dying meets Life In Your Way. its a great mix and they fit right in on Facedown Records, homes to Christian heavy heroes No Innocent Victim.

As for the album, i just don't know. i want to like it. as a whole product i love it, i can listen to it over and over (which i have) and i never get sick of it. but even after listening to it 100 times i still can't recall individual songs or choruses. unlike Sending You Strength where you would go right to the songs you loved, this album doesn't really have those star tracks. i could easily rate each song as above average, nothing special, nothing terrible.

The first thing i notice is that the drumming and guitar work is much better than the last album. much more technical and diverse riffs really help this album survive. but after that the lyrics and melodies have fallen off a little. i'm left stuck in the middle of whether or not i put more weight in lyrics/choruses or music.

As I start working on my next compilation to hand out to the masses i'm looking for a track or two from this album to take away, which is tough, tracks like Breaking In, Refuge and Of Dread and Dreams seems to be the keepers. the guitar work on Refuge is really good as well as Of Dread...

And speaking of confused, i'm not sure Means knows what they want to be as well, with recent shows with Comeback Kid and With Honor in contrast with their last tour supporting Life In Your Way. This is one album and band that i'd love to get more feedback on from my friends. even searching the web you get such mixed results. check out the album, let me know what you think.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

what do you mean you just don't know??

Gang-vocal breaks, driving beats, solid melody, these guys rock, thanks for directing me to them. I think they're you're best recommendation thus far.

I've only listened via myspace, but I think their album might suffer from poor recording/mastering, especially overcompression, which makes the songs seem heavy (like on the radio) until you hear all of them in a row over the course of an hour and then the onslaught becomes draining.