Customer Reviews

Astray

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a punk fan. I hate emo. And Samiam is one of my all-time favorite bands, if not the favorite. I like everything from Minor Threat to Green Day and from Fugazi to Lagwagon, Nomeansno to Victim's Family you name it. But I hate emo. And I hate the typical droll that gets radio play and is called "punk."

Samiam always seems to get bunched in with the "emo" sing/scream bands, and I have no idea why. They are quite distinct from the typical emo garbage that I cannot stand. Perhaps it is just the difficulty of trying to classify them... we are always trying to classify things. Just listen to the sound samples.

Their lyrics are definitely heartfelt and poetic, but don't let that scare you away. They do have a lot of pop ingredients in their music, but it's only the good kind. The music is just friggin amazing, and the vocalist is one of the best ever in all of rock. I dare say that the vocalist is more talented and more distinctive than Glenn Danzig, famous vocalist for another of my all-time favorite bands and one of the top 5 rock vocalists of all time.

A lot of punks are what I would call "meatheads" and would dismiss this as too soft or not punk enough. They only listen to bands that are always hard, all the time. If you fall into this category then you probably hate Fugazi and Jawbreaker, or you might like them only because your friends do (too meatheaded to make up your own mind). This band is way friggin harder than most bands that "sound" harder at first listen. This band is hard as steel.

The main point of this review is to convey personal taste, which is so important and so unstable when it comes to evaluating punk music. If you read the reviews for bands like Saves the Day and [stuff] like that, you'd just go buy it... but you NEED to put their comments into context. I can tell you this band is incredibly talented in every respect (and they are), but how is the music and how does it grab you? There's plenty of very talented bands that make me want to....

The better the music is, the more difficult it becomes to convey the true feeling it can inspire... and matters of personal taste just compound this problem. I have been desperately searching for more bands like Samiam, but they are perhaps too unique a gem... I always end up with disappointing lameness by comparison. Once you see how great this music is, everything else will sound [bad] ... and I hope I've been able to frame my personal taste so that if you find it is similar to yours, you will also find this music to be to your liking.

If you like this album, "You Are Freaking Me Out" and "Soar" are also great albums... the former is unfortunately out of print but IMHO their best. "Clumsy" is also a great album similar to "Astray" and "You are Freaking," but my least favorite among those three. "Billy" is a good album but quite a bit different than anything else they put out (perhaps their "punkest" album, but definitely not their best... my least favorite), and their earliest stuff is also excellent but a bit raw (I happen to like that however).

ALMOST ALL THE SONGS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD, MY FAVORITES ARE SUPERBRAVA, MUDHILL, MEXICO {OF COURSE}AND DULL. IM A NEW FAN FROM THE BAND.THIS IS MY FIRST CD, BUT I WANT TO BUY THE OLDEST ALBUMS, LIKE SOAR. I LIKE THE EMO STYLE BECAUSE IS A MORE MATURE AND MELODIC PUNK WITH EXCELLENT LYRICS ABOUT LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP ITS NOT LIKE THE TYPICAL PUNK WITH THREE CHORDS AND THE SONGS ARE ALL THE SAME. IF YOU LIKE SAMIAM I RECOMENDED OTHER BANDS LIKE PULLEY, MILLENCOLIN{THE NEW ALBUM}, STRUNG OUT, FACE TO FACE{THE NEW ALBUM}, THE GET UP KIDS, EX NUMBER FIVE.

Samiam have been around for quite some time now. And for a lot of bands that have been around, that means loss of creative energy, and general downward slope in the finished product. That is not the case for these guys. If you've been a fan since the beginning, you will not be disappointed. If you are a new listener, this will be a refreshing addition.

This is a suprisingly good melodic punk album and is a vast improvment on 'you are freaking me out' the album starts off with a indie punk feel which continues throughout. I really like the lyrics on Mexico it's just very emotive and you can picture whats going on as though it's right infront of you. I decided to find out a little more about samiam after hearing the thirty second song on short music for short people so if a thirty second song can impress you imagine what a full album can do. Below are the songs from astray ranked out of 5.

1.sunshine 4/5
2.wisconsin 4.5/5
3.super brava 3/5
4.mud hill 5/5
5.paraffin 4.5/5
6.calloused 5/5
7.mexico 5/5
8.dull 5/5
9.curbside 5/5
10.bird bath 5/5
11.how long 5/5
12.why do we 2.5/5

Dull, curbside, mexico and calloused are the main tracks that make astray stand out, this is the first samiam release i decided to get hold of and it's pretty good i heard 'you are feking me out' when i borrowed it which was'nt really bad but it was nothing in comparison to this, well buy it if you want real melodic punk with the emotion in the right place. The album should perhaps get 5 stars but for a few songs not living up to the rest such as 'why do we' which is a pretty poor end to a good album really. Samiam seem to be a pretty angst ridden punk band in a hostile environment over things such as relationships and looking deep into life which i feel gives them that drive that really makes them pull it off so if thats also your scene then this is the ideal album for you.

I bought this album because of its cover and i never expected it to be a rock/angry/sad/badreligionesque album. Everything in here sounds so familiar youll swear youve heard it before, yet it will unravel in the most profound corners of your head that this recording is more beautiful that what you think you remember youve heard. Its great to hear alternative tracks that do not linger into unknown frontiers, and can be commercial at some point. I dont really like this kind of music, but i have not been able to put this record down.

Samiam seems to me to be one of those bands that keep chugging along and writing good music. They haven't branched out or tried new things, but in this case, why would they? Samiam is one of those rare bands that could put out the same album 10 times and each time it would be fine for them to do so. They keep putting out good tunes and that's good enough. A rock radio station around here actually plays the song Mudhill regularly, even though they usually play Creed and Styx. That's not where I first heard Samiam though. I heard about them in the emo scene, so I think that's the most accurate description of their music: commercial emo that doesn't compromise its' integrity. And that's one good feat there.

Long time fans of Samiam will not be disappointed in their latest! And new fans will get a feel for what this band has been good at for such a long time. Best tracks are "Sunshine", "Mud Hill", and "Dull"

You cannot go wrong really with any Samiam album. This may very well be my favorite though. Which is really kind of sad that a band that was still making great music after several albums had to break-up. These guys sometimes get that "emocore" label, but that kind of makes me think of some kind of whiney kids music. This is well played music with some excellent lyrics. Jason Beebout (vocals) is one of my favorite lyricists. I hope he finds himself a new band one of these days. If you are interested in Samiam, this is probably as good as any album to start with. Just emotionally charged well played rock/punk without being whiney or superficial.

I got into these guys after Billy came out and they've never let me down. Much of this album has a very youthful feel, but for the most part deals with very mature subjects. Jason's lyrics have always been pretty basic while still maintaining a sense of depth and slight mystery at the same time. A few tracks on this album explore a slightly mellow side as where others are more in your face then anything off of their previous two albums. I'm not even into this kind of music anymore, but they are one of those bands that I would never leave behind. There was something more to them than most punk bands, yet trying to label that would take the fun out of it. They will always be one of my favorite bands. Nostalgia treats me well and these guys bring it out.

standout tracks:
Mexico
Calloused
Dull

...by a great band. It's unfortunate they can't seem to get it together and finish their new album and tour. Hopefully, that will change soon.