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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pennywise- From the Ashes, October 2, 2003
Pennywise are punk rock veterans. They have turned out a new studio release every 2 years since the late eighties, never once forgoing quality for quantity. From the Ashes is no exception. Many unfamiliar with Pennywise may write them off immediately for lyrics that are too political and music that sounds all the same. A diehard Pennywise fan, however, can tell you that their lyrics encompass a good range of thoughts and ideas about society, the world, alienation, and life. The music, while it may sound similar on the first listen, has some very distinct differences from song to song and album to album. Again, From the Ashes is no exception.
As soon as the album begins it's already apparent that Pennywise has indeed come back full steam and kicked it up a notch. Shredding guitars, tight, masterful drumming, frenzied yet poignant bass fills and passionate, intelligent vocals are prevalent throughout the entirety of the CD.
Songs like "Waiting", "Holiday in the Sun" and "God Save the USA" are impossibly catchy tunes that fuse the talents of all four members together into a tightly knit package. This is the formula that they have been using for well over a decade and while they have stayed strong and true to it, there's no doubt that they've expanded greatly. It's worked well in pleasing old fans as well as attracting new ones, however, that doesn't mean that Pennywise hasn't considered some experimentation.
This is present in the album and provides a well balanced mixture of sounds within their style of punk rock. Tunes like "This is Only a Test" with it's short-lived but excellent acoustic parts, and "Yesterdays" with the audio accompaniment of children playing in the background during the bridge aren't particularly original, but what really matters is they fit comfortably, adding to and working well with their respective songs.
One thing that I noticed when contrasting this album from earlier ones is that just about every song has two different guitar tracks playing over one another rather than just one. This creates a powerful melodic sound akin to a wall of music rather than a simpler guitar driven onslaught. Another difference I noted was the tone and content of the lyrics, which are less angry this time, and feature a more personal and hopeful view of the future and state of the world. Disappointment and disillusion is the prominent feeling in From the Ashes. This is a change from the last full-length, Land of the Free? that had the heavier sentiments of anger and disgust.
Although this isn't their best or worst album it could hardly be described as mediocre. It's obvious that there was a lot of time and energy put into every aspect of the disc. If I had to pick apart any part of the album, it would be the vocals: everything is perfect about them (including the backups that are some of the most impressive I've ever heard from Pennywise), the production, however, is the problem, giving the vocals a slightly overproduced and unnatural feeling.
Anyone who buys this album will be especially pleased to hear that it comes with a DVD chock full of cool footage ranging from live performances and studio recording/pre-production with interviews, to amusing and random havoc complete with vomiting and paintball injuries.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Same album as last time but still solid, June 14, 2005
Truth be told, Pennywise has been releasing essentially the same album since Full Circle. It hurts to admit this as Pennywise was one of my favorite bands when I was in high school but they've lost the magic long ago. It wasn't always so. If you look at their first three records there's a huge amount of change and progression from record to record on all levels. From production, to songwriting to vocals, they were pushing the boundaries of their talent on each record. It all came together on About Time, arguably the most classic example of this kind of punk rock around.
So the big difference back then was every time a new Pennywise album came out you could get truly excited as you were assured they would be flexing their musical chops to the limit. So of course there was that slight pang of disappointment when I put From The Ashes on for the first time and heard pretty much the same song from their last album and the one before that and the one...Don't get me wrong, I still really like Pennywise but they remind more of the Ramones. Sure they make a lot of similar albums but that doesn't mean I don't own every one!
As far as consistency is concerned, this album does not disappoint. It's what you expect from Pennywise - fast, catchy sing along melodic punk with overtly political lyrics. And, like their last few albums, you can count on a few truly stand out songs that really stick in your head. On From The Ashes these tend to happen at the end of the record so you have to have a bit of patience to get to the good stuff.
If you're a casual Pennywise fan you're much better off buying their earlier work as that is really some of the best examples of the early 90's SoCal punk revival movement (along with Bad Religion of course). If you're a die-hard like me then you will definitely find some solid cuts on this record but you'll also find a few that just seem to be treading water. Of course that's why they made the skip button.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
stop bitching please, December 24, 2005
this album is awesome, just awesome. all you people that are like "ugh there so mainstream ugh there old stuff is the only good stuff DURRRRR!" just shut up. its ok to like the new stuff too. personally this is i think the second best pennywise album, first being land of the free, and third being straight ahead. yes, i like the old stuff, but the new stuff is just as good if not better. this album has some great vocal melodies, its very catchy and just awesome. my personal favs are yesterdays, now i know, god save the USA, waiting, and judgement day. if you like your punk a bit more poppy then lets say AFI's Answer That and Stay Fashionable, than this album is for you. to all of you who keep complaining about how the later PW albums are mainstream, there not. so do the world a favor and stop bitching please.
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