Customer Reviews

Get Saved

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

 

 

Inevitably when someone makes a great rock record with worthwhile lyrical content there are lazy reviewers who either dismiss it as limited by the constraints of a particular genre --it's "just another emo record"; "it sounds like D.C. inspired post-punk" or "two guitars, a bass, and drums, whatever" -- or who, wanting to praise the record end up unwittingly misleading people into believing that it's lightweight frat rock by saying "this rocks! hard!"
Pilot to Gunner aren't the only band that get this treatment, but whenever they get it it's a shame, because what they do right is what every band should get right: they appeal without pandering. PTG make sonically interesting, incredibly catchy music with intelligent lyrics without giving up any of the rock thunder to do it. Their records have both initial appeal and staying power because they get in your head using unusual pathways.
On Get Saved, the lyrics, some more cryptic than others, are politically and emotionally astute (some of them relating to 9/11) without devolving into "nerd through bullhorn" soapboxing and the playing by all four members, separately and together, is top-notch. The arrangements are not standard but the rhythms and melodies are solid and familiar, so that the songs appeal on listen one but even more on listen twenty.
It's not a perfect record by any means (and I think their newer material that I've seen live is even better), but it's got a ton of great songs on it -- "the product" "downstate" "dry ice & strobelights" to name a few. If lyrical content, hooks, and overall great songs matter to you, then I definitely recommend that pick this record up, but if you're into new york fashion rock and "dance punk" you probably can't get saved.

This album smokes--from start to finish.

This is what rock and roll is supposed to sound like. They're not "emo" or post punk garage crap. Their songs are loud, dark, desparate and catchy as all hell.

This album is a non stop rocker. The boys from Brooklyn have outdone their previous release "Games At High Speeds." Where Games had some great songs there were a few filler songs. Get Saved, is quite the contrary. It is a great listen straight through and it ROCKS! I agree with the previous reviewer who said, "this is what Rock is supposed to sound like." No EMO crap here...just great hard rock.

These guys ROCK!!! Games at High Speeds only hinted at what was to come. Get Saved is a promise fulfilled. While others talk about the New York rock scene, these guys tear it down and run over the debris with a snakey rythym section, smart guitars and a raging, yelping vocalist. Strap yourselves in and let the rock save you.

I think I heard about Pilot to Gunner through an independent Portland newspaper and bought "Games at High Speeds." I was underwhelmed--although I enjoyed the rock, the vocalist really bugged me--off key and not very dynamic. Thankfully, I persevered and bought their most recent album, Get Saved. I'm so glad I did--this music rocks real hard, and not just in that stale old punk way. Yeah, they're punky, but there's some great inventive guitar here and a lot more interesting arrangements than we're used to seeing in punk.

This time around, the singer's in better form too. That's a really good thing, because he's singing great lyrics. The rhymes in the first song are inspired, and that riff rocks hard enough to blow your hair back at the start of the album. And it doesn't let up from there. The mechanical pulse of "Metropolitans" bleeds over to the hand-claps and shout-along anti-establishment choruses of "The Product." Some of my other favorites are the pounding crescendo of "No Blooded," the tasteful use of piano in "Downstate," the ironic cynicism of "Dry Ice and Strobe Lights," and the lurching, hammering finale of "Sound Recovery."

I don't know if Pilot to Gunner have "saved rock," but they sure made one hard-rocking album. There really isn't a weak track on this disc, and most of the songs sound pretty identifiable from one another. What else is there to ask for? More, I guess. They're supposedly working on a new album, and if they're still on the way up, it should be great. Enjoy the rock.

I can't believe this cd is getting the praise that it is. It is by far the worst cd I have purchased in recent memory. There was nothing outstanding about it at all. The lead singer can't hit a note to save his life and the melodies are so disjointed that I couldn't stand to listen to more than 3 tracks. The only thing that warrants 5 stars for this cd is its function as a coaster on my coffee table.