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Album Reviews; Everyone Loves Music, Right?
Topic Started: Mar 27 2011, 04:44 AM (11,689 Views)
BigMac
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inb4 Marill or Snowman review the new Dream Theater album.
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DucksFAN93
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Artist: Breaking Benjamin
Album: Dear Agony
Released: September 29, 2009

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Why It Matters: Was certified platinum in 2010, and features the fan favorite song "I Will Not Bow" from the movie Surrogates.

The Good: Album opener "Fade Away" sounds like classic Breaking Benjamin, with appropriately timed and brief dirty vocals mixed with soaring, powerful choruses. "I Will Not Bow" is perhaps the most positive song on the album, and is also one of the best. "I will not bow / I will not break / I will not fall / I will not faint." That is one of my favorite lines from the album. Musically, "I Will Not Bow" is structured well, again with brief dirty vocals being overpowered by an amazingly catchy chorus. This song also has a nice little guitar solo. "Crawl" is another one of my favorites. The pre-chorus gives me chills, and also has one of the most memorable parts on the whole album. When Benjamin Burnley screams "LIVE / FIGHT...SICK / BLIND" followed by his smooth pipes I just usually rape the replay/rewind function. Definitely check it out. "Give Me A Sign" (Which is available on Guitar Hero as DLC) is fantastic. The ending is amazing, even though this song slows down the pace just a tad. This song is a definite highlight sure to be a favorite by most everyone who likes Breaking Benjamin. "Lights Out" is a cool tune with a sick guitar solo and chorus, where "Without You" ends the record on a high note. Lastly, my favorite song on the album is the title track "Dear Agony". You can almost hear the pain in Burnley's voice as he sings "Dear agony / Please let go of me / Suffer slowly / Is this the way its got to be? / Dear Agony." The chorus is so catchy, and the bridge is chilling. If you could only pick one song to listen to, make it this one.

The Bad: While there is not a bad song on the album, there are some similar sounding songs. It is depressing. Only two or three remotely positive songs on the entire album.

Conclusion: One of my favorite rock albums, Dear Agony slogs along with dirty guitars and soaring vocals. Definitely check out this release from Breaking Benjamin, you won't be sorry you did, I promise. At the very least check out "Dear Agony", it will be awesome.

Score: 9/10
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nascargo19
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Wow, college must really take up a shit load of time for you, i barely ever see you on anymore. :(

Anyways, While I only know about 4 songs from BB. Some do sound kinda close to each other.
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Vieira151
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No Th1rt3en reviews yet? Oh my.
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Romanticide
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Artist: The London Philharmonic Orchestra
Album: The Greatest Video Game Music
Released: November 7th, 2011

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The deal. Shouldn't get lost in the post here. >.>

It's pretty rare to see anyone hyping a video game compilation. Most non-gamers associate video game music with chiptunes/8-bit, but the reality is that video game music has grown up and evolved with the rest of the medium. It's also pretty rare to see an orchestra as respected as the London Philharmonic Orchestra covering video game music. Sure, Nintendo is having its tour in support of Zelda's 25th anniversary, and sure, you may have a live album of video game music (me, I have a live Persona album), but it's fair to say these are the exceptions rather than the norm. In short, if there's one aspect of games that is seen as the redheaded stepchild, it's the music.

Let's start with the tracklist. It skews towards AAA titles. You're likely not going to find your favorite little obscure game on this album. That is unless it's Advent Rising, which is the only game here that I never heard of. Titles like Angry Birds, Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect, among many other names you will all know, are represented here. This makes sense. If you're going to appeal to a wide audience, you're going to need names they will recognize. If it were twenty-two niche games, it wouldn't make the profit necessary to justify the recording. We could all make a list of our twenty-two favorite video game tracks and it would look vastly different from this.

Considering that this is mostly a "Music From the Greatest Games" compilation, my one real nitpick is that they didn't use Final Fantasy XIII's boss theme, Saber's Edge. That shit always gets me pumped to beat ass. Then again, Liberi Fatali and the main theme turned out to be wonderful selections from that series, so whatever.

If you know a song on this tracklist from its actual game, you'll recognize it when it starts up here. Honestly I don't need to tell you how these songs sound. You likely know many of them yourselves. I personally recognized The Legend of Zelda Suite, the Super Mario Bros Theme, Nate's Theme (Uncharted), the Tetris theme, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, the Final Fantasy theme, and Gusty Garden Galaxy (SMG of course), and I can say they were all extremely faithful to the originals - Perhaps even better, but given my bias towards the symphonic this should not come as a surprise.

There are also pleasant surprises, even if you don't like some of the games that were chosen. Odds are you won't. Anyway. For me those turned out to be Liberi Fatali, which I would have thought was that game's final boss theme due to the sheer amount of epic, the Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield 2 themes, Splinter Cell: Conviction, the Dead Space song... Well, instead of listing nearly every song as a "pleasant surprise" because I really did enjoy them all to varying extents, I'll just say that there really isn't a single *bad* or filler song on this album. They all range from good to OMG MY MIND WAS JUST FUCKING BLOWN FROM THE AWESOME. I don't own very many albums I can say that about, even from my favorite artists.

In short, if you're a gamer (you're here, are you not?), you owe it to yourself to throw down the $2 while it's still $2, aka "today". Amazon isn't always the greatest about hiking their prices back up, but they will and you'll kick yourself for passing on this.

Score: 9.5/10. I'd seriously put this up there as an "album of the year".
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Romanticide
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Artist: Nightwish
Album: Imaginaerum
Release Date: December 6th, 2011/January 10th, 2012*

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It should be plain as day that this is easily my most anticipated album of the year. The new Evanescence, Lights, Mute Math, Florence + the Machine, amongst other albums, were all good listens, but really the one I anticipated above all of them was the new Nightwish album.

After the grandiose album that was Dark Passion Play, it would be fair to ask, "does Nightwish have any original ideas left?" Yes. Yes, they have plenty, more than you might think given the confines of their particular sub-genre.

Let's start with the new, shall we? The song Slow, Love, Slow will immediately jump out to any listener. It's far different than anything the band, or really anyone in the genre, has ever attempted. The first question I asked myself was, "Wait, was that BRASS I heard on a NIGHTWISH album?" Yes, that was brass. A trumpet according to the credits, which I have never heard in any of their work. It's a song that is supposed to be their attempt at jazz. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm some jazz aficionado because I'm not, but to my untrained ear this is a damn good song and one of the strongest on the album. I shit you not.

Rest Calm was supposedly inspired by doom metal bands like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but other than the somewhat slow tempo, I can't hear the doom metal influence. It's not like I've never heard fucking doom metal before, either. Regardless, it's a damn good song and one of the more soothing ones on the album, with one of my favorite refrains on the album closing it out. It's a song that's slow to grow on the listener, but give it a chance. It's one of my favorites, now.

Ghost River is a very... theatrical... song, for lack of any better terminology. I've heard it described as something out of a Tim Burton movie, and considering the general aesthetic they seem to have, I can't argue much with this. Of all the songs on the album, this easily has the heaviest parts, especially when Marco joins in with his vocal parts. The children's choir sounds awesome and definitely adds to the overall creepy atmosphere of the track.

Scaretale is also another track that I would call "theatrical". It reminds me a lot of the ending to The Mighty Masturbator by Devin Townsend with the circus sound and all, and then if shifts from there into a more theatrical sound. Of all the songs on the album, this one defies description the most and is really something that has to be heard.

Storytime and Last Ride of the Day are cut from the same cloth as previous singles. This is to say that they possess certain pop sensibilities, namely epic choruses that are very easy to sing along with. However, they're less blatantly poppy (still catchy, however!) than songs like Bye Bye Beautiful or Wish I Had an Angel, which if you ask me is progress. They still have a metal edge to them that previous singles did not possess. Of the two, Storytime is more theatrical while Last Ride of the Day is more of a typical metal song - it even has a GUITAR SOLO, which is pretty rare for Nightwish.

Speaking of Storytime, Taikatalvi is akin to a two minute, thirty second introduction to that song. It sounds like one of those toy boxes you had in childhood and wound up to play music, except this toy box is meant to creep you out, and it succeeds. I suspect they could have appended it onto Storytime and it wouldn't have hurt the song at all. Oh well; it's still a good little opening to the song and the album in general.

I'm not a particularly huge fan of Turn Loose the Mermaids. I feel it's easily the worst song on the album, but even so it's a decent little ballad. The Crow, The Owl, and The Dove is the superior ballad here, and it's highly reminiscent of The Islander from Dark Passion Play, with their acoustic guitars and folk sound. This doesn't come as a surprise, since Marco had a huge hand in writing both songs.

Arabesque isn't all that great either. I could make an argument for this as the worst song, but at least it's semi-catchy. Still, I wish that the band would realize, "hey, the Middle Eastern sound feels like a digression from our real goals and abilities". It's just not that good.

I Want My Tears Back is an interesting song... Well, when it tries to have more of a folk sound than a metal sound. So it's interesting at pretty much every point except for the chorus, which I find to be rather generic and dull by Nightwish standards.

Naturally any review has to mention the album's epic song. Imaginaerum's is Song of Myself, which is a thirteen-and-a-half minute ode to Walt Whitman and his poem of the same name. From the opening notes, you just know this song is going to kick your ass. The first seven minutes sound like something that would play during the most epic scene of a film, and the chorus... Well, the chorus just gives me chills. It's easily one of the best Nightwish choruses, especially with that chanting. The first seven minutes put it up there with the best Nightwish songs, which is no small feat when that includes songs like The Poet and the Pendulum and Ghost Love Score.

However, the last 6:30 is all spoken with sparse backing music (strings and keys, more specifically), naturally so you can understand what is being read. I understand there's a concept to this song and all, but seriously? Six minutes of... recitations? It's not intolerable and I really recommend listening to it at least once, but neither is it the high point of the song or the album.

The album closes with the titular Imaginaerum, which is really an amalgamation of every song on the album. This was split off from Song of Myself, and considering this song is trying to do something entirely different than the aforementioned epic, cutting it off was the right move. It makes for a decent closer to the album, sure, but I get the idea this was made more for the upcoming film of the same name (likely as its credits song) than for the album.

If you're a fan of symphonic metal, or really just good female-fronted music, you definitely need to have this album in your collection. It's an album that will definitely move the sub-genre forward in coming years.

Score: 9.7/10. Probably a biased score, but it's easily *my* album of the year, so...


* - I suspect someone will ask "why are there two release dates?" Well, if you order this bundle from Roadrunner (naturally this is the one I'm getting), you'll get a digital copy on the 6th. Otherwise you'll have to wait a month like every other American. I don't understand the logic of this move either. Perhaps they think they'll get more sales from less hardcore fans after Christmas season?

However, it came out yesterday in Winland (their home nation), so...

Track listing:
1. Taikatalvi
2. Storytime
3. Ghost River
4. Slow, Love, Slow
5. I Want My Tears Back
6. Scaretale
7. Arabesque
8. Turn Loose the Mermaids
9. Rest Calm
10. The Crow, The Owl, and The Dove
11. Last Ride of the Day
12. Song of Myself
13. Imaginaerum
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MrMarill
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Sounds pretty good. From your review it didn't sound like a 9.7, though, but each to his own. I was actually looking to get Dark Passion Play so I could pick up this after.

Also, most of the songs there are now down on copyright =/
The only one that isn't is Imaginaerum, which sounds pretty great. Song of Myself sounds great, if a little pretentious. I don't have a problem with bands doing parts that most people probably won't understand, but... six minutes? It's kinda like Dream Theater's "Misunderstood" which has a six minute section of the same thing over and over for no real reason. Or the entirety of Metallica's "Lulu". Just not as bad.
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Romanticide
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MrMarill
Dec 1 2011, 06:06 AM
Sounds pretty good. From your review it didn't sound like a 9.7, though, but each to his own. I was actually looking to get Dark Passion Play so I could pick up this after.

Also, most of the songs there are now down on copyright =/
The only one that isn't is Imaginaerum, which sounds pretty great. Song of Myself sounds great, if a little pretentious. I don't have a problem with bands doing parts that most people probably won't understand, but... six minutes? It's kinda like Dream Theater's "Misunderstood" which has a six minute section of the same thing over and over for no real reason. Or the entirety of Metallica's "Lulu". Just not as bad.

Well yeah. There's a certain amount of subjectivity/confirmation bias to number ratings, which is why I'm not a huge fan of including them to start with. Unless the album completely and irredeemably blows, which this one does not, I'm going to like it more (and thus grade it higher) because it has the name "Nightwish" on it.

There's also the matter of how much three meh songs should affect the score of the other ten good to great songs. That's going to vary from person to person.

I could always include two scores, I guess: A score that attempts to be fair to the outside listener (which would probably be in the neighborhood of 8.5-9.0, if you care), and a score that is my own subjective score. But that shit just muddies the water. Another reason I'm against numerical scores. Or I could just go with my personal opinion and stop including the damn things merely because "it's expected".

I should have expected that the videos would get taken down. Roadrunner is an offshoot of WMG after all, and we know how stupid they are when it comes to free advertising.
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MrMarill
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DAT STORY TIEM

Number ratings were always difficult for me. For example, I loved the original Sonic the Hedgehog and gave it 9.1. After playing StH2 and StH3, it sucks in comparison... but those games don't deserve all that much higher. Alternatively, Skyward Sword has flaws so it deserved 9.9. Link to the Past is flawless so should it deserve a 10, despite the fact Skyward Sword is better?

As for album reviews, they're far more subjective and everyone's gonna like the new album more. Dream Theater's new album wasn't all that fantastic and if it didn't have Dream Theater stamped across it I probably wouldn't look twice at it.
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LightningBolt
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MrMarill
Dec 1 2011, 07:26 PM
Link to the Past is flawless so should it deserve a 10, despite the fact Skyward Sword is better?

No it isn't.
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failureatlife
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Some flaws could be subjective anyways.
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failureatlife
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The new Black Keys album is out in three days. I'm gonna review that and Radio Moscow's most recent album, "The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz".

With a name like that, tell me you aren't excited.
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failureatlife
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Artist: The Black Keys
Album: El Camino
Release Date: December 6, 2011

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As with Ro and Imaginaerum, this is my most anticipated album of the year. I am a huge fan of the all of The Black Keys' work.

Last year, The Keys got very, very popular due to the release of the smash hit Brothers. It hit #3 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 73,000 copies in the first week of release. It was also nominated for 5 Grammys and won 3, one of which being Best Alternative Music Album. So the bar was set pretty high for this album.

For me, Brothers was really damn good, just not better than my favorite Keys album, Rubber Factory. Interestingly, this album might just challenge that spot. The album has some really cool and simple artwork and presentation that gives atmosphere to the production, albeit not as clever and recognizable as Brothers'.

But anyway, on to the meat of the matter. The album is barely under 38 minutes and doesn't waste space with anything unnecessary. It's tight and focused. Barring "Little Black Submarines" (which sounds very similar to both Stairway to Heaven and Mary Jane's Last Dance. No really, it's uncanny), all the songs are under 4 minutes. Which is a good thing, because it means no song outstays its welcome. And what songs there are...

The music on El Camino is catchy, toe-tapping, hook filled, and generally a treat to listen to. It's far cry from what the guys started out as, but they proved me wrong for thinking that means that they will never be as good. There are some truly wonderful songs on here. It starts out strong with "Lonely Boy", "Dead And Gone", and "Gold On The Ceiling". I honestly want to get up an dance to these songs and I hate dancing.

I've seen some accusations of "selling out" and for this album trying to be "radio friendly". Firstly, to them I say "fuck you", because I've always hated people like that. Honestly, it's not really like that. I've always seen The Keys as a band who got popular cause they did what they thought was good. The songs are really damn catchy but more in a bluesy-soul kind of way, not really in a pop sense. Considering that Brothers was a big hit, I don't deny that they'll get some airplay. But this album is a different beast than Brothers. And while some people might dislike that, I don't. I love El Camino with its keyboard hooks, back up vocals done by a female chorus, groovy beats, and its nonstop trip down the road of life.

So yeah. Big recommendation from me. If you didn't like Brothers, you might like this and you did, you'll still like it. It's got a swagger to its step, with a bottle of jack in one hand and a half smoked doobie in the other.
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DucksFAN93
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Artist: Nickelback
Album: Here and Now
Released: November 21, 2011
Performance: Debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 charting.

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REVIEW: So I will be doing this review in a different format. Instead of doing good, bad, and conclusion, I will just mix it all into the main body. Feedback on which format you think was more informative or interesting is welcome!

Here and Now finds the Nickelback crew regaining their groove via natural sounds, an overall more "organic" style similar to 2005's All The Right Reasons. This is definitely Nickelback's best, most well-rounded album yet. 2008's release Dark Horse was dominated by sex themed, almost synthesized band work that was a good Nickelback album, but really wasn't a solid record on its own. This album shows that Nickelback learns from their mistakes, but also knows exactly what to put on the album to make it successful. So just how good is it then?

The overall theme of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll has been rolled back quite a bit. Instead of over half the songs (*cough* Dark Horse *cough*) exploring mature sexual themes and drugs/drinking, Chad Kroeger puts his focus on inspirational, rocking tunes that will be familiar stories with almost anyone. "This Means War" is about.....actually, I have no idea what it is about, and I don't really care. The song has an insatiable main riff, and a cool bass effect to intro the chorus. During the bridge, there is a cool fade effect that really accentuates the newer sound, as is just really cool. This song leads into the lead single, "Bottoms Up", and really you know what to expect with this song. Clever song writing includes naming the different types of drinks to the spine of the song, while threatening hell itself. O-kay. Honestly, it is a really cool song with a sick solo and tune, but lets get real, Nickelback fans have heard this song at least two or three other times before on previous records. It also just so happens that the "ode to drinking" song is second, the same as "Burn It To The Ground" on Dark Horse. The other lead single "When We Stand Together" is one of the finest on the album, and has a nice harmonizing of "yeah" in the chorus. A neat heartbeat effect really sounds organic, the style they were looking for. All in all, this song is definitely a highlight. Now the album really starts getting good. Reminiscent to the smash hit "Animals", the fourth song "Midnight Queen" rocks along with sick guitar licks and an infectious pre chorus. This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album, but it is nothing compared to the next track, "Gotta Get Me Some". This track is so bitchin', I literally raped the replay button in my car three times in a row. The tune is ridiculous, and seriously, for the first time, I was able to headbang to a Nickelback song. The little solos are sick, but the best part was the outro. This includes the main riff, with the guitar solo, with Chad singing just the words "I Gotta Get Me Some". Love song here, anti suicide song there, now onto the most imaginative song the record, "Don't Ever Let It End". This highly characterized song is so familiar, I couldn't believe it. The song itself is awesome, albeit a little soft. I, again, raped the replay button several times, as it never gets old. Think "Photograph", and you got the picture.

Best record of the year for me, and I would highly recommend you checking out the latest from Nickelback.
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DucksFAN93
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Artist: Mayday Parade
Album: Mayday Parade
Released: October 4, 2011
Perfromance: Debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200 Charting

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REVIEW: This is the third album from the rock band Mayday Parade, second without founding member and lead vocalist Jason Lancaster. While their second album Anywhere But Here was more of a soft rock/pop album, this self-titled record brings the rock back into the mix to great results.

I have not had this much fun listening to a new band in so long, but Mayday Parade brought that back for me. I, honestly, didn't even listen to any songs from the album before I bought it. My girlfriend bought it for me, and I immediately got a bad feeling about it because I did try Anywhere But Here a few months ago. But anyway, I popped this CD into my car yesterday and here's my thoughts.

"Oh Well, Oh Well" opens the album with a full blown string section and an acoustic guitar opening. What I thought would be a ballad, and a continuation of that last album, changed quickly at about the 50 second mark. What turned out was an amazing mix of progression. I still have no idea where the chorus in this song is, and I don't care. The best part is the ending, where the Jeremy and Jake (Drummer and Guitarist) begin to harmonize and have their own separate vocal part than that of the lead singer (Derek Sanders). This song is an amazing highlight, and was a sure sign that Mayday Parade is wanting to rock again.

"No Heroes Allowed" continues suit with some moderately hard rock. The chorus is infectious and the vocals are amazing and smooth. Just try not to sing along as the chorus begins with "My hero/she's the last real dreamer I know..." I dare you. But the real highlight here is the sick guitar solo. Clocking in at about 20-25 seconds, it is reminiscent of work from Ray Toro from My Chemical Romance. I had no idea this guy could play his guitar that way, at least because he didn't on either of the other two albums. Next, "When You See My Friends" keeps the momentum going by rocking along with another catchy, hook-laiden chorus. The drumming, however, is really apparent in this track, as the tempo and beat switches several times at odd times. It sounds amazing, and really adds variety in skill sets to expect. Another guitar led track, "You're Dead Wrong", has a cool electric guitar intro about 40 seconds into it, then a guitar solo midway through. I also love the part where Derek emotively sings "You're Wrong!" to intro the bridge/solo. "Priceless" and "Stay" are great songs in the meat of the track listing, but anything that was done in these tracks were covered in the first four.

After "Stay", is where the album really kicks into high gear. Kicking off the second half is "Call Me Hopeless, But Not Romantic". This song is sure to become a Mayday Parade fan favorite. The last standout track is "Everything's An Illusion". This is my favorite song on the entire album, and rightfully so. The acoustic start leads into what you think would become a hard chorus, but it actually gets softer the first time. By the second chorus, you have an insatiable, hooked chorus full with harmonizing, emotive singing, dual leads, guitar solos and an airtight drumming section. Amazing. If there is one song I would want you guys to listen to from Mayday Parade, it is definitely this one.

I highly recommend this album, it is easily one of my favorite albums this year, and maybe even one of my favorites of all time, or at least it is quickly becoming one. I just love all of the songs, I didn't dislike even one part of the album, and that really is an accomplishment. I give this rock album a strong 10/10. Mayday Parade finally found their sound, and filled out their potential. Check it out, or at least "Everything's An Illusion".

Score: 10/10
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