Define the Great Line

Underoath | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Solid State Records
• ASIN: B000FMGWDC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,804 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #45 in Music > Christian > Hard Rock & Metal

Editorial Reviews

Crafted with the help of Atlanta-based producer/drummer Matt Goldman - who helped pour the rhythmic foundation - and Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz - who lent his experience to help capture the guitars and vocals and encouraged these Warped Tour veterans to use E-bows, reel bows and experiment with delays and effects pedals - the resulting Define The Great Line is a mind-blowing song-cycle that resets the notion of what hardcore, screamo or whatever you want to call it, can be.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thankfully, these guys still know how to make a good record., March 5, 2007

By 

Adam P. Newton "Dryvetyme" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Define the Great Line (Audio CD)

Here's this - I know that I shouldn't even be listening to this group, since I'm about 7 to 10 years too old and about 75 pounds over the necessary weight required to wear the appropriate uniform that most (if not all) hardcore kids have been wearing for the past couple of years. (It's been a decade since I could fit into 32-waist jeans and a size Medium t-shirt.) Coupled with that sad admission is the one that, whenever I even think about going to any kind of local rock show in my area (whether in Houston itself or in the general north of the city), I have to remind myself how old & out-of-place I'll look amongst all the kids in the crowd. Yes, I do realize that 15- to 18-year-olds really aren't kids, but when you're a decade or more older than a vast majority of the crowd going to see a hardcore show, you feel quite creepy standing next to kids who weigh half of what you do. I guess I should learn to be content with attending indie rock & folk shows - my age & my ears are getting to me.

And, on an even more level than personal style issues and the inability to earn points as a good scenester, I start listening to Underoath's new album, Define the Great Line, and began to fear that I've become "that guy." Any music aficionado of any real substance knows exactly the guy I'm talking about (Rob, Dick, & Barry make merciless fun of one of these guys in High Fidelity, both book & movie versions). He's the older and intelligent, yet subtly mocked, geezer who constantly says things like, "Oh, I used to listen to them back when they were [insert band's previous style here]," or "Oh, I like their old stuff better." This is the guy who can quote track lists, contributors, and influences for great records across many styles, but his pool of information is dated by about 5 to 10 years, at a minimum. You enjoy talking to him, since he's always enthusiastic and knowledgeable about music, but it can be almost sad to talk to him because he's stuck in the past that he's created for himself. His ears simply reached the point where they couldn't absorb anything new, whether new in style or interpretation of an old style.

Nonetheless, I say all of that to say this - I was first exposed to Underoath's music with their Cries of the Past EP that came out 6 years ago, full of many nods and bows to black/European metal. However, I cringed a bit when The Changing of Times was released in 2002, revealing that the band had left the gates of metal and entered the quickly-expanding subdivision that was becoming "screamo/hardcore." However, after growing to like the new direction the band undertook with TCoT, I was definitely not a fan of the clean & slickly-produced "pop-core" of 2004's They're Only Chasing Safety. I stood adamantly upon this opinion, even though it began to appear that legions of fans everywhere were collecting themselves around the house that is Underoath. And the band itself didn't make my distaste with their current work any easier, for after two years of constant touring and three straight appearances as a main-stage act on the Vans Warped Tour, the guys of Underoath have certainly secured themselves a spot in the mainstream rock pantheon.

Case in point - with the release of their newest album, Define the Great Line, on June 20th, this Florida-based band sold 98,000 records in the first week, earning them a #2 ranking on the Billboard charts, behind only Nelly Furtado's latest, and pushing the Dixie Chicks down a spot. That, my dear readers, is notoriety and market value of the highest level ("Under Who?" asks the average pop/R&B radio listener). It's one thing to mock the buying habits of the average teen and 18-25 demographic, but it's quite another thing to realize that those buying habits are the ones that have catapulted an overtly Christian rock band into the ears and eyes of hard music listeners around the nation.

Because, you see, this is a screamo/hardcore album that many people should be listening to, and for good reason, as the band seems to have eschewed all of the poppy & melodic tendencies that plagued They're Only Chasing Safety. Suffice to say folks, the talent level present on Define the Great Line is hard to ignore, whether or not you enjoy or even appreciate this subgenre of metal. The passion, intensity, and sense of purpose that literally explodes from this album are to be applauded, examined, and reflected upon by both those people who listen to music and those who actively are making music. I will even go as far as to step up to the plate, superlatives in hand, and declare that this is a career-defining album, in the best way possible - Underoath has happened upon a medium through which they can effectively sing/scream about their struggles, questions, trials, and tribulations without sounding like they're sorry for themselves, whining about their status in life, or pissed off at the world (as twice-baked and over-cooked as that approach is). The lyrics of Spencer Chamberlain & Aaron Gillespie read like the anguished pleadings and prayers of the Major & Minor Prophets of the Old Testament - and I mean that as an extreme compliment.

However, as I sit perusing the phenomenal photography contained within the special edition CD+DVD and examine the subject of the collection in his various stages of devolution and (almost) decomposition, I find myself hoping against hope for a decent lead guitar solo of some sort on more than a few songs. I fully realize that this is a concept album of high distinction and that screamo/hardcore albums often intentionally shun the concept of soloing, but there are times when the dark, brooding chugging could be complemented by a sonorous piece of fretwork (read: NOT a high, soaring 80's solo) connecting the movements in at least the two songs on the album that clock in at over 6 minutes. Do not read too much into my complaint (many metal-heads disdain hardcore as being replete with undisciplined and unstructured guitar players) - I just wish that more technical guitar playing had made its way onto this album.

Ultimately, Define the Great Line is one of the best rock albums of 2006, though the style of rock isn't always agreeable to many people in the demographic to which I belong, much less amongst the people who comprise my regular coterie of readers. Thus, I offer the same suggestion I've offered to the parents of the kids I sold hard music to for 6 years - while listening to the music (at a volume your old ears can tolerate), take out the lyrics, and read along with the men of Underoath. The crushing waves of instrumental fervor notwithstanding, it is the lyrical content lying within these songs ("You're Ever So Inviting" & "Moving For the Sake of Motion" are the album's standout tracks) that makes this album worth several listen-throughs and maybe even a purchase, but only if your old ears are up to the challenge. I'll even let you borrow my copy.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A total turn around...great stuff, June 22, 2006

By 

Bodom J (Bethpage, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Define the Great Line (Audio CD)

only chasing saftey (the previous record) was decent but it was way to screamo and poppy. Here, they go back towards more of their old sound of metal. The vocals have improved greatly, sometimes getting deep throated. THe guitars have a great crunch with some killer riffs. It's just totally sounds like a different band. If you don't like underoath or hated their last cd, then give this one a shot. It's one of the best albums of the year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very solid, not their best., October 17, 2008

By 

RaisedOnSpitalfield "Exit 27 is for lovers" ((South) Medford, Oregon 5-4-1) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Define the Great Line (Audio CD)

I don't care what anyone says, TOCS is and probably always will be UnderOath's best record. Saftey single-handedly changed the way I listen to music forever, and I don't think there ever has been or ever will be a band who can pull off music as aggressive and accessible as uO did with TOCS. From the anthemic sound of Reinventing Your Exit to the sheer brutality of Ten Friends, Safety was a complete listen.

Define The Great Line is different, but somewhat. It still has some of the melody of the previous effort, and whether intentional or not, the songs still feel anthemic in a way. Thankfully too, there's no slow-tempo metal posing either (as I feared there would be with Adam D working the dials), keeping things pretty consistant with the Screamo/Hardcore sound. For all of this though, DTGL is still a much heavier, less accessible record than TOCS, which actually crossed over into the mainstream at the height of it's success.

If you're a hardcore Uo fan, or a screamo/core fan in general you'll find a lot to enjoy to here. It just won't be as much as with TOCS.