Lead Us to Reason

The Black Maria | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Victory Records
• ASIN: B0006UEVOA
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,786 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fronted by Kyle Bishop--the man who many credit for putting the "scream" in "screamo" with his former band Grade--this Toronto quintet's debut album is shot through with emotion and volume. Like My Chemical Romance and A.F.I., the band channels its fetish for dark, complex punk rock into songs that tremble with bruised feelings and raw energy, like "Our Commitment's A Sickness" and "The Memento." All the makings for serious cult stardom are here, but Lead Us To Reason boasts so many kick-ass melodies it's going to be hard to contain the Black Maria for long. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Grade, Zyon & New Day Rising, The Black Maria present their new album, Lead Us To Reason. While each member of the band has a long history of success in music - The Black Maria has nothing to do with those stories, rather it is a group vision, evolving in the process of invention, & it is a story all its own. With evocative lyrics & a gorgeous, layered musical framework, their music defies category, walking the razor edge of genre toward their own precise statement. Forming in 2002, the band began writing & playing, polishing early demos & letting inspiration take its course. They named the band after the notorious police vans of the early 20th century.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something different in a sea of trendy "post-hardcore" emo bands, July 18, 2005

By 

Matt (Buffalo NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lead Us to Reason (Audio CD)

I picked this CD up the other day because of the Grade connection, and I figured that the sticker on the front comparing them to the Used, Muse, and AFI was probably BS. I was right, but this band doesn't really sound like Grade either. They are definitely different and I'm glad to hear it. They sound a lot more like real post-hardcore such as Far, whom I'm sure most of the people who bought this album because of the sticker have never heard of. They definitely sound like Far playing slightly faster and punkier songs to me. Their singer definitely brings a new style to the table too, since he isn't particularly screamy but he isn't melodic either. He sounds to me more like a guy you'd expect to sing for a punkier hardcore band. The lyrics are good and emotional, but not crybaby stuff like Hawthorn Heights, etc. I think I'd call "Rats in This Prison," my favorite song and its cool that local boy Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die did guest vocals on this closing track. The Black Maria are not the best band in the world and are not the next Grade, but this is a promising debut worth checking out and I expect better things to come in the future if they last.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's alright, the label isn't telling the truth either...., January 27, 2005

By 

Chris Ochman "The Eclectic Listener" (Fredericksburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lead Us to Reason (Audio CD)

No, it doesn't sound ANYTHING like MUSE, first off.

The Used...well...a little bit and AFI...Nah.

All in all, this is a typical album put out by Victory Records. Nothing new. If you've heard one victory records album, you've heard them all. Except for Action Action. They sound a lot different. But otherwise, Hawthorne Heights, Black Maria, Taking Back Sunday....all the same.

As for the music itself. It's not bad. It's pretty good in some instances.

But otherwise, I was hoping for something different...but I came up with...Victory Records....so...yeah. If you like the other stuff on the label, you'll like it. I like it. It's just not anything new.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better then i expected, August 17, 2005

By 

Joe Joe Joe "Joe" (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lead Us to Reason (Audio CD)

When i first heard of the band and the cd i expected them to be exactly like taking back sunday or hawethorne heights(hate both of them) but even though some tracks may sound like them they are less emo and more towards the punk side. However, the label states they sound like AFI and Muse. They sound nothing like them. The song closest to a AFI song would be "Rats in the Prison" and the closest to Muse "Ash" but overall they sound nothing like those two bands.I think they're a pretty good band and would be good for the fans of Taking Back Sunday mixed with a little bit of punk.