Customer Reviews

Anthem

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Less Than Jake has grown up. Never thought I'd hear that. In fact, I'm sure a few people even dreaded this day. I am definitely a fan of the old LTJ albums and style, so when I first heard "Anthem", I was a little surprised. But not disappointed. Anthem is definitely one of their best offerings to date.

1. "Welcome to the New South" - This song really sums up everything. After hearing this, it's not a question of whether thay have matured or not; it's an obvious statement they have.

2. "Ghost of Me and You" - Very "poppy" song, but still an enjoyable one. Easy to hum along to.

3. "Look What Happened" - Now, many other people have said how good this song is. I, personally, do not care for it. It's not really a bad song, just not one of my favorites. Again, kind of poppy.

4. "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" - Slow groover about self-deprication. I absolutely love this one. The tune is catchy and the lyrics are excellent.

5. "Short-Fuse Burning" - Quick guitar work on this one. Faster than the previous few songs. Not a bad offering.

6. "Motown Never Sounded So Good" - I had actually heard this song before I got the CD, and I must say I enjoy it. Again, a little more pop-like than a lot of their other classics, but a good song nonetheless.

7. "The Upwards War and Down Turned Cycle" - Another song that really shows you LTJ has grown up. Hell, the song is ABOUT growing up.

8. "Escape From the A-Bomb House" - Didn't like this one at first, but it really grew on me. Solemn number about getting in arguments with your parents and leaving home.

9. "Best Wishes to Your Black Lung" - More lke what you've come to expect from the guys. A faster, horn-laden song that is very catchy.

10. "She's Gonna Break Soon" - Actually released as a single and a video. It even got played on MTV, I'm pretty sure. I really didn't like this one as it was very repetitive. It didn't really live up to the better songs of the album

11. "That's Why They Call It a Union" - Another song close to the classic style. Not bad, but not one of my favorites either.

12. "Plastic-Cup Politics" - Fun little song about drinking. Definitely one of my favorties. Very good lyrics and a catchy tune.

13. "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned/Screws Fall Out" - Wow...I LOVE this one. Actually, it's one of my favorite songs of all time. It's really two songs connected together, which is blatantly obvious when you listen to it. Starts out almost ballad-like with a slower tempo, quieter volume, and almost acoustic sound. The song continues until you come to the bridge between the two; then BAM! A full kick in to a fast, raucous blast of a song. I've actually seen people jump from the change in sheer volume. Absolutely AWESOME song.

14. "Surrender" - Finishing out the disc is a cover, a thing LTJ fans are used to. This one is a little different, though, as it seems more of a tribute-like take on it rather than their normal cover offerings. Excellent song to begin with by Cheap Trick, and the LTJ is a near-perfect covering. Strong ending to the disc.

All-in-all, a fun, but reflective disc. It actually makes you think a little, no matter what age you are. I thought I'd dread the day LTJ matured, but after hearing this, I'm almost glad it came.

I've been a fan of Less Than Jake for almost two years, and they have steadily become my favorite band. I first got Hello Rockview, then Losing Streak, then Borders and Boundaries, then Pezcore, and just recently I picked up Anthem. I have never in my life bought an album without first hearing at least one song from it, but there is no other band that I trust more completely with my money than LTJ. I put it in the CD player and let it run all the way through. The first thing that struck me as different from their other albums is that the songs really do each sound like "anthems". They don't seem to sing the lyrics as much as they "proclaim" them...if that makes sense. The songs are (mostly) all heavy with guitars, fast, and energetic. There are a few exceptions, such as The Science of Selling Yourself Short and The Brightest Bulb. The most obvious difference with this album and the others is the lack of horns and ska. A few songs, like Motown and Plastic Cup Politics, have some decent ska riffs inbetween choruses. If you only liked LTJ for the ska part of their "ska punk" sound, you will be disappointed. They have definitely strayed from their old sound in this way. BUT, if you just thrive off their infectious energy and spirit, you'll be satisfied with the album as a whole, especially with songs like Welcome to the New South and Plastic Cup Politics, which are clearly classic LTJ material. I would consider New South one of their best works to date. The "single", She's Gonna Break Soon, is mediocre in LTJ standards. It's very similiar to the pop punk songs on radio and I'm sad that they are even considering trying to fit in by lowering their standards to that level. This is not to say that it's a bad song, because I still enjoy it, but it's not my beloved Less Than Jake at all. They can do better. All in all, it's a good effort, and it has it's moments. The funky LTJ spirit still shines through all the heavy guitar and polished pop punk: There's a reason I haven't taken it off repeat in my CD player yet.

I have long been a fan of Less Than Jake (hello, I'm from Gainesville) and have enjoyed watching them grow. I was a little skeptical about how this album would turn out, being that "She's Gonna Break Soon" was on TRL and the band was overpromoting the album a tad via fanclub emails and such, but I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to it for the first time. Less Than Jake isn't even close to selling out in any way, shape, or form. This album is incredible! It has the same energetic, happy spirit of "Hello, Rockview", which was also an amazing album. The band has finally started to branch out a little more with both their sound and lyrics, completely doing away with repetitive drinking songs and unncessesary "F" words in random places. The lyrics are very contemplative and expressive, and the album flows very well from song to song. Personally, I thought "Losing Streak" sounded like virtually the same song tracked 16 times. It was extremely repetitive, and this album completely dispells that habit by incorporating different sounds into each song and balancing the mix of skanking, jumping, relaxing, and just plain moshpit fuel. The album is very energetic in a lot of parts, and the reggae tendencies of "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" is a refreshing newsflash that the band is still reinventing themselves. "Short Fuse Burning" is evidence of the aforementioned moshpit fuel formula. Chris' Van Halen-esque guitar riff mixed with the insanely fast tempo makes for a steady whiplash-inducing headbang and a big smile across the face. Oh, and don't worry about the whole Warner Bros. thing. This album is proof to the world that fame does not necessarily equal selling out and crossing into Blink-182 Land. After all, the band has been living on rice and beans for the last 10 years. Let's let them have the attention and recognition they deserve. Only complaint: not enough horns on this album.

Anyone hear who rated this album poorly because of how much the music has changed is an idiot and doesn't deserve to listen to any of Less Than Jake's work. People are overlooking the fact that this is an amazing album because it doesn't have as much ska on it. Those people are the real morons. Every song on this CD is great-- some more than others. Such as Science of Selling Yourself Short. That song is probably one of the top three most amazing ska songs I've ever heard. Sure, this album has a little less ska, and a little more pop-punk, but that doesn't lessen the fact that they poured their hearts into this album, and put out a damn fine album. Definitely pick this one up. Trust me, you'll grow to love it unless you're a close-minded ass who refuses to even accept a great CD if it sounds different from the rest of a band's work.

For those Less Than Jake fans that were hoping to keep this band the best kept secret in the strange genre today known as rock, well, you have another thing coming.

With "Anthem", Chris, Roger, and the rest of the gang display the powerful rifts and harmonious lyrics that make the band great. My favorite tracks are "The Science of Selling Yourself Short", "Short Fuse Burning", and the second effort of "Look What Happened".

Being a LTJ fan for more than 6 years now, I'd have to rate this as their most complete album, and yes, even more complete than "Losing Streak". Although many purists might be upset with the band trying to find their niche in the mainstream, one must not forget that music is a business and the overall objective of any band, including Less Than Jake, is to reach their fans and get their music out there. By signing with Sire the band has taken a major step forward in terms of record distribution and exposure. I've seen the band on five occasions and the last time spoke with Roger about the music business. Although he was weary about the true LTJ fans throwing the term "sell out" around, he and the rest of the band were immensely happy with "Anthem", and rightfully so. As fans we should enjoy Less Than Jake's lastest effort and let the band worry about the business end. After all, their message is still the same as it ever was.

In closing, I'd recommend "Anthem" to any Less Than Jake fan. The band has really pushed this album as their best effort yet and hopefully, with a little luck and Sire representing them, LTJ will finally get the coverage and respect they so truly deserve.

For those of you who are into the ska side of less than jake, you might want to avoid this album all together, but if you like the way borders and boundaries was heading, pick up this disc. It showcases better written music than the past, with more complicated guitar, deeper lyrics, and much better production work. The band wants to show what talent they really have. Don't get me wrong, pezcore and losing streak are always in rotation in my cd changer, but I'm not as big of ska fan as I once was. For those who dig the punk with horns style that less than jake has emerged as recently, go buy this disc. If you want the fast ska.....try another band.

I bought this CD and it seemed like it be cool, but i knew since they had been on MTV, the cd would be polished a little. I was right. It isn't like old LTJ. They even cleaned it up a little and made it a little girly and don't even say any curse words in here, which isn't bad, but they use to have a F you sorta attitude in a lot of songs. There are standouts, here's a runby so you know what to listen to and what to skip.

New South- 10/10 One of the best songs, great intro, great lyrics

Ghosts of you and me- 7/10 catchy chorus but not best
look what happened- 6/10 liked the old version better
Science of selling yourself short-10/10 Ska sound, great sound
Short Fuse Burning- 10/10 this will be a mosh fav. Great guitar
Mowtown Never sounded so good-9/10 this is catchy and a pary song
upwards and downwards cycle- 6/10 umm. alright
Escape from the a bomb house- 5/10 another filler
best wishes to your black lung-6/10 nice intro but no
She's gonna break soon 3/10 so poppy it hurts, bad bad! avoid it
That's why they call it a union-10/10 my god this is my favorite!
plastic cup politics-9/10-the horns rule this song
The brightest bulb...-5/10 slow but not bad, just not fun
Surrender- 7/10 only b/c it has a good chorus and nice guitars, but basically another song bout girls.

if you want to know the truth, it has the bassist,Roger singing too much and lets face it Chris has the best vocals so Roger should just shut up and play bass. HIs voice is too emo but i will say he does a damn good job on Track 4. Other than that, he needs to just play bass. I suggest picking it up, just watch out for their MTV song and make sure to listen to tracks 1,2,4,5,6,and 11 the most. The others are okay but those are the best!

Bottom line: I really like this record. I noticed like many others have that the horns have really been toned down on this album. I didn't even recognize how much they had been toned down until I popped 'Losing Streak' and 'Borders and Boundries' into my cd player. On those albums much more of the melody was in the horns as opposed to the guitar/voice based melodies on this album. I will always be a LTJ fan, but if I want ot listen to straight-up pop-punk there are 100 bands I could listen to. I personally am a fan of their more ska based days, but anything by Less than Jake is good in my books.

Just because of this album, Less Than Jake goes to #2 on my list of favorites(No one can kick Sublime out of my #1)

i just kinda noticed that chris sounds... bad. listen to Look What Happened. the first part sounds like chris is about to crack up at any second. now listen to the borders and boundaries version. he sounds like he actually means what he is saying. Roger is the best singer. he is WAY better than chris. he has an awesome voice. so do the world a favor and go buy a rehasher cd! Every cd before this one is good. (the last three cds in particular)