Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place

Anberlin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 7, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Republic
• ASIN: B003XQRZ92
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,999 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Anberlin's fifth studio album. Produced by the legendary Brendan O'Brien who has produced classics for everyone from Pearl Jam to Bruce Springsteen. The album was recorded over the course of five weeks in Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN. According to lead singer Stephen "He (Brendan) gave us the tools and showed us how to tighten everything up. For us it was just a different caliber and I think we rose to the occasion."

Product Description

Anberlin's fifth studio album. Produced by the legendary Brendan O'Brien who has produced classics for everyone from Pearl Jam to Bruce Springsteen. The album was recorded over the course of five weeks in Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN. According to lead singer Stephen "He (Brendan) gave us the tools and showed us how to tighten everything up. For us it was just a different caliber and I think we rose to the occasion."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, but by no means perfect, September 7, 2010

By 

jtalep - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place [+Digital Booklet] (MP3 Download)

Anberlin have been slowly coming to the boil for quite some time now. Starting with the epic masterpiece that was 'Cities', and the power-pop sound of the summer 'New Surrender', they now return with their latest and 5th studio album.

The band have always managed to somehow reinvent their style from album to album, yet never lose their defining sound, and this album is no exception. Tracks such as 'Pray Tell' and 'Art Of War' display a new side to the band, un-chartered territory with S.American inspired drumming beats and a subtle but existent homage to the 80's bands that influenced them in days gone by (The Cure).

For the first time, vocalist Stephen Christian leads every song in the mix of things; his voice powering through like we've never heard before with epic results. With Grammy award winning producer Brendan O'Brien on board, the production and mastering precision on this album is second to none, yet unlike their previous album, it never feels over produced. To get the full picture of just have immense the sound on this album is, you have to whack on a pair of decent headphones, and suddenly it takes you onto another level. In terms of production and mixing quality, this is definitely the best we've heard from them so far.

Whilst a fresh and different approach to things, old fans of the band can rest assured that this is unquestionably an Anberlin album, with songs such as 'To The Wolves' and 'You Belong Here' harking back to the bands early material.

Why this can't be rated 5 stars is simple...lyrics. They are the one thing that have always stayed consistent, in that they are usually absolutely faultless. Unfortunately, the same depth seems to have gone from the most part. Some of their previous songs have an almost poetic quality (Inevitable, Dance Dance Christa Päffgen), but on this album we find snippets of potential, that just seem to get repeated, or slightly change around. It seems lyric writer Stephen Christian opened himself up so much on Cities, that he felt overly exposed to ever dig that deep again. New Surrender lacked passion, and that trend in terms of lyrical content continues on this album. The only song that hints at the depth we've seen in the past is 'Down', which is ruined by the usage of 'honey, honey' part way through.

Whilst in days gone by, the band has focused on experimenting with guitar sounds and other instruments, this time around it was the vocals that got the majority of the work. Whilst Stephen Christian remains one of the strongest singers in the genre, you certainly feel in some areas that the guitars in particular fall short in terms of excitement and variation due to this focus on vocal tone and texture.

Whilst not quite on a par with 'Cities', this album does display a more solid consistency, with the album flowing nicely from start to finish. It's a mature record, and one that is set to stand the test of time. This album sees the band showing the dark side they displayed on 'Cities', and seemingly lost on 'New Surrender'.

Stand out songs are 'Pray Tell', 'Art Of War', and 'Take Me (As You Found Me)'. However, one of the best songs on the album comes strangely in the form of a b-side, 'All We Have', which is classic Anberlin in every single way. This is possibly the only song to come out of the record that can stand up to the bands heavyweight songs such as 'Dismantle Repair' and 'Paperthin Hymn' in terms of the stronger focus on guitars rather than vocals. In comparison, 'All We Have' is to this album, as 'The Haunting' was to 'Cities. It will have fans questioning why it didn't make the final cut, when it is one of the strongest candidates to be a hit single.

Regardless of this omission, this album is a band having fun and trying new things, and is definitely worth a listen if you need a break from the norm.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anberlin...or not Anberlin?, September 7, 2010

By 

jtalep - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place (Audio CD)

Anberlin have been slowly coming to the boil for quite some time now. Starting with the epic masterpiece that was 'Cities', and the power-pop sound of the summer 'New Surrender', they now return with their latest and 5th studio album.

The band have always managed to somehow reinvent their style from album to album, yet never lose their defining sound, and this album is no exception. Tracks such as 'Pray Tell' and 'Art Of War' display a new side to the band, un-chartered territory with S.American inspired drumming beats and a subtle but existent homage to the 80's bands that influenced them in days gone by (The Cure).

For the first time, vocalist Stephen Christian leads every song in the mix of things; his voice powering through like we've never heard before with epic results. With Grammy award winning producer Brendan O'Brien on board, the production and mastering precision on this album is second to none, yet unlike their previous album, it never feels over produced. To get the full picture of just have immense the sound on this album is, you have to whack on a pair of decent headphones, and suddenly it takes you onto another level. In terms of production and mixing quality, this is definitely the best we've heard from them so far.

Whilst a fresh and different approach to things, old fans of the band can rest assured that this is unquestionably an Anberlin album, with songs such as 'To The Wolves' and 'You Belong Here' harking back to the bands early material.

Why this can't be rated 5 stars is simple...lyrics. They are the one thing that have always stayed consistent, in that they are usually absolutely faultless. Unfortunately, the same depth seems to have gone from the most part. Some of their previous songs have an almost poetic quality (Inevitable, Dance Dance Christa Päffgen), but on this album we find snippets of potential, that just seem to get repeated, or slightly change around. It seems lyric writer Stephen Christian opened himself up so much on Cities, that he felt overly exposed to ever dig that deep again. New Surrender lacked passion, and that trend in terms of lyrical content continues on this album. The only song that hints at the depth we've seen in the past is 'Down', which is ruined by the usage of 'honey, honey' part way through.

Whilst in days gone by, the band has focused on experimenting with guitar sounds and other instruments, this time around it was the vocals that got the majority of the work. Whilst Stephen Christian remains one of the strongest singers in the genre, you certainly feel in some areas that the guitars in particular fall short in terms of excitement and variation due to this focus on vocal tone and texture.

Whilst not quite on a par with 'Cities', this album does display a more solid consistency, with the album flowing nicely from start to finish. It's a mature record, and one that is set to stand the test of time. This album sees the band showing the dark side they displayed on 'Cities', and seemingly lost on 'New Surrender'.

Stand out songs are 'Pray Tell', 'Art Of War', and 'Take Me (As You Found Me)'. However, one of the best songs on the album comes strangely in the form of a b-side, 'All We Have', which is classic Anberlin in every single way. This is possibly the only song to come out of the record that can stand up to the bands heavyweight songs such as 'Dismantle Repair' and 'Paperthin Hymn' in terms of the stronger focus on guitars rather than vocals. In comparison, 'All We Have' is to this album, as 'The Haunting' was to 'Cities. It will have fans questioning why it didn't make the final cut, when it is one of the strongest candidates to be a hit single.

Regardless of this omission, this album is a band having fun and trying new things, and is definitely worth a listen if you need a break from the norm.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of a disappointment..., September 15, 2010

By 

Jenn (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place (Audio CD)

I first heard "Paperthin Hymn" about five or six years ago, and I was absolutely in love with it by the end of the second chorus. After that, I delved into more of Anberlin's music and I was not disappointed. "Blueprints" was fairly solid, NTFP was overall fantastic, with a few blah songs but definitely others that were just amazing ("Paperthin Hymn" and "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" most notably blew my mind) and Cities? I still consider that one of the best albums I own- the lyrics are breathtaking and Stephen Christian's voice is phenomenal. That being said, I'm a huge Anberlin fan- I consider them my favorite band. But I must say, I'm becoming more and more disenchanted with each new release.

It's not that New Surrender and Dark is the Way, Light is a Place are horrible albums. Actually, if they were by any other band, I'd be really impressed. But I'm starting to notice a lack of the beautiful, poetic lyrics that originally drew me to this band in the first place. But even New Surrender had some great songs for me to love (at the top of the pile is "Soft Skeletons"), while I'm feeling really nothing for this new one.

The only song I really honestly like much is "Down" (which seems to be a highlight on the album for others as well). I really just can't get into them at all. The fact that there are lyrics such as "Because of you, I'll never write a love song" blows my mind- this seems to me to be the fodder of typically pop-punk/emo bands, not Anberlin! The ending track seems rather blah to me- nothing compared to the breathtaking finales Anberlin has delivered with the last three albums.

If you don't listen to the lyrics, you'll notice though that musically, this album is an improvement over New Surrender. And of course, Stephen Christian continues to blow me away with his amazing voice- I just wish I could feel something for what he's saying.

I'm not sure what to say to tie this up. Overall, I would consider this a great CD if it wasn't Anberlin, but I know they can do better, so I just consider it okay. I can guarantee you that this CD will NOT stay in my constant rotation, and more than likely, none of the songs but "Down" will make it to my playlists.