Customer Reviews

Endserenading

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

excellent stuff from mineral, builds up slow and soft, then makes you want to scream. great car music, as is any fine release from crank!records...they all deserve five stars in my book. check out cursive. and boy's life. and the get-up kids. hell, try 'em all, but start out with mineral. essential listening for any fan of... ..dare i say it?... emo. but more so, essential for any fan of music. love, n.

Bittersweet. Excuse the laconic review, but this is how it is: Mineral is the most powerful band ever. Chris Simpson is a musical and lyrical master. EndSerenading is beautiful. But they're gone now. It's over and we'll never hear his pleading voice sing "I wish you could hold your ear up to my heart and hear how much I love you." I guess we're all just lucky to have a chance to listen. Hold your ear to ours.

And they won't get it. Unfortunately, Mineral broke up shortly after the release of this album. This is it folks, and we should be glad for what we do have. Luckily, they did live on in the forms of Gloria Record (Chris Simpson and Jeremy Gomez), Pop Unknown (Gabe Wiley), and Imbroco (Sdcott McCarver and Gabe Wiley). Definitely check out all those bands (and my reviews for them). Arlight, onto the album.

Basically what it comes down to is the simple, yet intricate, guitar work on this album makes it. It's amazing. There's nothing else that needs to be said about it.

But that doesn't help you.

"Lovelettertypewriter" opens the album, and is almost reminiscent of tuning guitars. Why would this ever sound good you're asking? Because we get Chris Simpson's beautiful, raw, vocals overtop. Bands don't write like this anymore, and thats sad, because it works, and it works well.

The transition into "Palisade" is unforgettable. It's definitely one of the stand out tracks also. The simple "start-stop" beginning really draws you in as a listener.

Each song could have it's own description, but it's not necessary. All that's necessary it that you do yourself a favor and purchase this album, if just for the song "unfinished" by itself.

anything anyone ever says about this album being anything but amazing is a lie. it is by far THE most beautful album i have heard, and i have heard alot. it won't hit you at first, but by the tenth listen you will understand why they were and are so respected. this is one of the only albums i never get tired of listening to.

be warned, because this a very different effort than the power of failing, in which you will find tons of catchy loud songs (with good substance, don't get me wrong), and not very many quiet songs. if you're favorite song from tpof was parking lot, then you will probably like this album even better than the earlier one. this is an incredible album, building much more slowly and gradually than did their previous release, which seems to add to the effect that the lyrics have on the listener. it takes a while to get used to, however, especially if you are used to their other album, so don't abandon it too quicly if you think it is boring the first couple times you listen to it.

If you are thinking of buying Mineral's EndSerenading you more than likely already own The Power of Failing, and kudos to you for your exquisite musical taste. If you're wondering if EndSerenading lives up to the power and beauty of Mineral's debut, fear not!! There are, however, some differences of note. Those that really enjoyed the distorted guitar fury of Mineral's first feat might find the quieter nature of this album a tad dull...at first. Don't get me wrong; these songs do rock, but the distorted guitar effect is so much subtler but ultimately just as effective. The quiet song buildups still climax with a payoff, but don't expect over-the-top buzz-saw guitars. What Mineral does on this record is so much more difficult to pull off - what is lacking in guitar tech is made up for in pure emotional buildup. The song structures are less progressive and more "verse/chorus," but once again it does not ruin what we love so much about Mineral - the emotion. It doesn't hurt that this album was produced by Mark Trombino (the mastermind behind much of Jimmy Eat World's work, including the ubiquitous emo masterpiece, Clarity.)
Overall what is best about Mineral's EndSerenading is that if any other band had tried to make a "quiet" record it could not have come out as powerful and potent, pertinent and honest. This is a true masterpiece; a brilliant work that really deserves to be heard by more people, especially the younger emo crowd who need to stop consuming a steady diet of Drive-Thru pop-punk and learn that music can be a deeper, richer experience. Buy Mineral's EndSerenading.

This is an incredible album. But it is veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow. I loved this Album, but if you didn't I comletely understand. It seems like it takes the guy abour 3 or 4 seconds just to say a word. But some how I enjoy it. For the most part this CD has a clean guitar, mot much distortion, just raw emo. If you are in the least bit sleepy you will fall asleep after the 3rd song, though.

EndSerenading is a masterpiece, one of the best albums I have bought in a long while. This album just draws you into a joyous world of emotional warmth and serenity. The power this album posesses is amazing, it keeps you hooked from the second you pop it into your cd player and it is a shame we will never hear another note from Mineral ever again. This is one of those cd's you can just put on while you are driving in your car and just forget about everything and everyone and just lose yourself in the music, it is really that powerful. Even though the songs are all great some of the standouts for me are Palisade, ALetter and TheLastWordIsRejoice. I recommend this album to anyone who is into emo-core type music, this one is truly a classic.

This is absolutely some of the most beautiful and sincere music I have ever encountered. Bittersweet is undoubtably a fitting word to describe this album's feeling. Each song is more touching than the next, coming to the incredible climax "The Word Is Rejoice," quite possibly the most emotional song I've ever heard. I love this album. I would highly suggest it to anyone.

Usually this disc would be ingored-but i cannot take it out-i bought it about a year ago and have been trying to figure out what to write without breaking down each time...There has not been anyone that has hit me like this since "diary" from "sunny day real estate" or "grace" from jeff buckley.none of these disca are for the weakest constitution,yet there is an obsession we as people have with being moved by music."end serenading" has done it for me.I don't think anything else is out there that is this passionate and beautiful-go ahead-pull out all those old lp's carole's "tapestry",elton's first lp even if you feel it-yank out some old 45's from harry chapin,jim croce and even,dare i say the 2nd barry manilow lp-as you can tell-rememberance is a wonderful thing-tha's exactly what attracts me to music sometimes...just a memory of a picture,a big star song,tim buckley,nick drake,simon and garfunkel,the new seekers...ect,they all wrote our childhood-and went away-way too soon,as did mineral.A group with 2 releases deserves a spot in some kinda of hall of fame.I shall gladly pass on my copies of "End Serenading" and "the power of failing" to my first born-let him one day be my age and be this passionate about music and ignore the effects of our soon to be modern day dinosaurs..would'nt it be great to see mineral and sunny day real estate finally get the credit they deserve...maybe in my world-but some of the albums iv'e fell in love with,nobody heard.maybe if brittany did a cover of a jeff buckley tune or limp biskit ever figured out how to crack nick drake's guitar tuning-maybe we'll talk-but for now...i gotta go put on some music that matters-just buy the album already-if you saw this-you already know where we all are.....