Customer Reviews

Lead Sails Paper Anchor: 2.0 (Clean)

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

 

 

I bought this CD for Falling Down, but was happilly surprised at how much I LOVED this CD. I can't get enough of it. LOVE the first song.....
anyway, I can't see how you can go wrong with them. They are fantastic!

After listening on iTunes, I bought this CD for the song "Falling Down," but when I popped it in the ol' player, I fell in love with every song on the album. The songs "Doomsday," "No One Cares," and "Blow" are just B.A. songs that you can pop the windows in the sports car and scream down the highway and feel invincible. I don't know what it is about Atreyu. They sound like one of those bands you hear all the time on the radio, but they just hands down ROCK! I plan on heading out to Bestbuy tomorrow and buying every CD Atreyu has recorded. Rock on guys!

I had never heard of this Band, but seen that my son had it on his wish list. I thought that it would be one of his hard rock ear bleeding bands, but I must say that I like this CD and would reccommend it to be purchased by anyone.My son is very satisfied with it and will order again from Amazon. Quick shipping and quick checkout.

Lead Sails, Paper Anchor 2.0 is a very different sound for Atreyu. While they had previous albums that were more hardcore, this cd takes you to the more Punk Rock side of Atreyu. I thought for that reason that I would not like this album but I tell ya I love it. It is still a true Metal album with many epic, heavy, and catchy songs. Some of my favorites are "Doomsday", "Becoming The Bull", and "Can't Happen Here." The album Is very experimental and has some songs that are nothing like what fans may have heard from Atreyu so far. some examples are "Blow" which they try to sound like classic metal, and "Lead Sails, and a Paper Anchor" were they made a softer more mellow sounding song. I love this album if you are only into the really hardcore screaming side of Atreyu chances are you are not going to like this, otherwise if you are more open to the different sounds that this band has to offer you may like it as much as I did. this particular version of the album (2.0) includes bonus track "The Squeeze" which I really liked and it has 2 cover songs plus bonus material which I had a hard time getting. I DO recommend this album, one of my favorites.

I really wanted to hate this album. I am a huge fan of old atreyu, and this is a really different sound from them that I thought I would hate. At first I heard a few songs on the radio, the songs were catchy, but I just didnt want to like this CD. So I eventually listened to the rest of the CD, and I ended up liking the CD a lot. I suggest listening to "When two become one" and "slow burn" the Faith No More cover is honestly the crappiest cover song I have ever heard, but its still an enjoying song. So before you go hating on this Cd make sure you hear it a couple times through, not one bad song on the CD.

Following the release of 2006's "Death Grip On Yesterday" (and, subsequently, the following year's "Best Of" cash-in), Atreyu burst free of the restraints of their then current label,, BLANK records. So, they made it widely known that they were now capable of making whatever kind of music they darn well felt like. True, this Orange County quintet were one of melodic metalcore's earliest originators, so, naturally, they will always have to retain at least some of that sound. But partially thanks to their new record label (Roadrunner Record)'s deep pockets, they were easily able to branch off and try experimental new things. This is evidenced in how 2007's "Lead Sails Paper Anchor" blends together elements of the band's patented metalcore sound with undeniable elements of thrash, speed, power, and even glam metal.

Many major-label debuts ultimately come across as sounding somewhat rushed, over-polished, commercial, or manufactured on Pro-Tools. Sometimes this means a completely different and thus alienating sound than what fans are used to. On the other hand, many of them are also great and realized efforts. But perhaps most of them fall somewhere in between - they are frustratingly mediocre efforts which leave a lot to be desired. What is "Lead Sails Paper Anchor", you ask? Well, it is actually a mix of all three of t he above types. It has several flashes of brilliance, and even more moments of strong potential; but they are offset by an equal number of boring and/or watered down parts. Furthermore, the record is a bit too ambitious for its own good. This reviewer won't go as far as to say that it is too big for its britches, but it would definitely be fitting to say that it is bit diffuse and very inconsistent. Hence, it fails to maintain a cohesive groove and direction, most of the time. To the band's credit, trying to capture the best of both worlds - Eighties-worthy thrash and "rock out with your hair hanging out" metal with commercially-accessible arrangements and emo-derived melodic backing vocals - is not an easy task. But no matter how well the job is done the fact remains that after these two totally different influences collide, the resulting sound cannot avoid being a little strange. Finally, the record is not a bad one, and it makes for a tolerable listen, sure. And yes, there are numerous moments that are really enjoyable. But truth be told: Only a select few of them actually end up being as infectious as they were designed to be.

Also, these eleven songs are a mixed bag, as there seems to be the same amount of exceptional material present, here, as there is mediocre or even just plain bad. "Falling Down," however, is a surefire great song, g possible album highpoint. Adopting a strong, Eighties-worthy glam metal vibe, this unique and insanely catchy number boasts solid, bubbling bass lines, rhythmic beats, and one good, Metallica-ish guitar solo in its verses, and huge, hair-esque anthemic choruses with Poison-style singing. Tracks six and seven, "Lose It" and "No One Cares," are both mostly good arena-ready ballads/anthems. They have moody, spacey ambience, a catchy chorus, and Soulfly-flavored acoustic strumming, and a somber piano intro, respectively. Another very worthwhile mention should go out to the surprisingly thrashy follow-up, "Can't Happen Here," which captures ample fiery, crunching guitars, grumbling bass notes, and irresistible vocal hooks. Also featured in it are huge, epic melodic choruses, and a few nasty and bruising metalcore breakdowns. And finally a little while later "Blow" eventually rolls around, and it is the last solid and entirely respectable piece that Atreyu wrote in 2007. It takes on a similar glam attitude to that heard in "Falling Down". The only real difference is that "Blow" is the slightly less heavy of the two. It gets by on strong vocal hooks, churning, industrial-strength rhythms, thrashy-yet-melodic soloing, and a really memorable chorus. Clearly taking a few pages out of Motley Crue's handbook, this chorus is composed of a mighty catchy, shouted refrain that immediately evokes the "Shout To The Devil"-era.

Some, some definite and fairly strong potential can be heard from time to time. Considering this, then, it is now made only harder to accept that any such momentum cannot be continued for the duration. Exciting, blood-pumping tempos? Flashes of brilliance? Heaviness? All of these things soon become only a distant dream; and the likeliness of getting them only fade the more everything (else) plays. Leadoff track (and, fittingly, leadoff single) "Doomsday", the preface, yields lukewarm results. On the plus side, it can claim to possess a slamming, textbook-hardcore breakdown in the intro, as well as a pounding rhythm, and plenty of the muscular, Hatebreed/Bury Your Dead-lite almighty chug. But Atreyu throw a wrench into the mix by tossing in obligatory, glossed over, and thus confusingly out-of-place choruses and terrible, syrupy, multi-tracked sub-emo crooning. As soon as the first chorus hits, it becomes clear that "Doomsday" can only be viewed as a partial success. To its credit, though, there are some brief, fiery solos near the end. "When Two Are One" leaves an equally-cold impression on the listener. Granted, there is some exceptional speed and bounce in this one, and the guitarists crunch away with a few decent licks. But again, the chorus is another all-too-familiar one, and any recollection of what it sounded dissolves from your memory all-too quickly. A dollop of traditional hard rock makes "The Squeeze" a catchy and heavy enough closer that warrants a generally favorable impression.

And it just gets worse from here on out. Despite fairly heavy main grooves, "Horror" and "Becoming The Bull" are ultimately very forgettable. And now matter how catchy the chorus of the latter may be, neither tune can be said to add much. The seemingly only purpose served by them is, for some odd reason, to further dilute the overall sound. Even more tragic are "Slow Burn" and the titular tune. One is a blatant high-five to commercial radio, meaning it favors decadently trite sweet singing and soaring, feather-weight choruses; and the other takes on vocals that are so unbelievably cheesy that that they sounds as if it could have been scrapped from an Avenged Sevenfold or My Chemical Romance b-side collection. (They absolutely should have been scrapped from this one, that's for sure.) To paraphrase these two numbers: They are both tripe, and fans who do not respond well to disappointment should not spend much time with them.

Is it really as bad as all that? Not hardly. "Lead Sails" does have its moments, but, in the end, it never quite comes together like it should. (Quite a few so-so tracks don't help its causes, either.) So, it is disappointing and frustrating that Atreyu have yet to kick out a fully realized product. Still, some credit has to go to them, and the good intentions behind this album. After all, there aren't many metal/hardcore groups out there that have the guts to take on a project of this size. Plus, it may be a long ways from perfection, but it does frequently remind everybody that they are on to something. And they almost undoubtedly will get this "something" completely correct the next time around.

I'll make this quick and simple.

This is not Atreyu's best album. It is good and worth the buy for those just now becoming Atreyu fans. I'm not just not that into it. I prefer A Deathgrip On Yesterday more than this album.A Death-Grip On Yesterday

i have been a long time fan of this band,
and just like in the past they put together a amazing cd with some awesome songs, i was very pleased.

I can see that this album just wasn't anticipated!! 2 reviews???!? If you want a good bargain buy the best of them...cool cover also on the best of! But once you hear all that it all begins to sound the same......

The Cd Was a great, but the only problem if found with it is that you have to have internet connection to acess the Extra Features. Overall it's pretty much a Amazing CD.