Customer Reviews

Louder Now/New Again [Vinyl LP]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Hang on, guys. Let's not all be so eager to hate on this album so fast, just because it isn't "Tell All Your Friends." Let's face it, not many albums in this genre are. That album was as close to perfection as you can come with one collection of songs. For people my age (I'm 26), and having grown-up on Long Island, that album expressed all the pent-up teenage angst that we didn't know how to get out, and it will always hold a certain sentimental value for me. But I digress: I recently saw TBS at a free outdoor concert near Gov't Ctr. in Boston, and I hadn't listened to "New Again" yet. But after the concert I was more intrigued, because the show was pretty impressive and very energetic. Having given this album a once-over, I first have to say that it's better than "Louder Now," and there's definitely something of a new sound coming through in tracks like "Sink Into Me," "Summer, Man," and "Carpathia." Long story short, it's not old TBS, but it's not the TBS of "Louder Now," either. Overall, it's better than people are giving it credit for, and it may be better appreciated with a little age.

If like me, you have been a fan of Taking Back Sunday since their debut album Tell All Your Friends, you no doubt have noticed with dismay that the impassioned back and forths and overlapping vocals that they innovated, and which characterize and define their distinctive sound, become increasingly sparse with the release of each new album.

This album continues that trend, and depending on the way you see it, may be construed as "original." Original is fine if improvements are made, and the album is better all things considered, but there aren't really any noticeable improvements, neither in the lyrics department or the music department. Matthew Fazzi, who replaces TBS' erstwhile lead guitarist, Fred Mascherino, lacks conspicuousness throughout, his vocals neither passionate nor powerful enough to match his predecessor's and sounding rather more like an afterthought than something integral to TBS' identity (as John Nolan's and Mascherino's did on former albums).

Granted, there are some stand-out tracks, like "Cut Me Up Jenny," a feisty song with a jaunty beat, and "Everything Must Go," a heartfelt lamentation of unrequited/capricious love reminiscent of "Brooklyn," but New Again is a supreme disappointment nevertheless. The fact that it took so many years to complete adds to the letdown after all the self-promoting ballyhoo (evident in its name "New Again"). Musically, it is less intricate than Where You Want to Be and Tell All Your Friends. Lyrically and production-wise, it is less mature and polished than Louder Now.

For those who prefer seeing some numbers:

1. New Again 4/5
2. Sink into Me 3/5
3. Lonely, Lonely 3/5
4. Summer Man 3/5
5. Swing 5/5
6. Where My Mouth Is 4/5
7. Cut me Up Jenny 5/5
8. Catholic Knees 3/5
9. Capital M-E 3/5
10. Carpathia 4/5
11. Everything Must Go 5/5

As you can see, there are definitely some tracks interspersed throughout that I would fain skip over when playing this CD to friends of mine who are unfamiliar with Taking Back Sunday. However, I would have no misgivings playing any of their earlier CDs in sequence and uninterrupted. Since none of their earlier CDs warranted a full 5/5 grade (Where You Want to Be and Tell All Your Friends come closest, earning a 4.5 in my book), and in all honesty this album isn't better or as good as Louder Now, which I rate a 4, I think a 3 or 3.5 is a fair mark to assign this very mediocre release.

This is the only TBS album I own, and I think it's amazing. I slightly previewed their other songs and I honestly don't think they're as good as this album.

1. New Again- 10/10 One of the best
2. Sink Into Me 10/10- catchy, one of my favorites
3. Lonely, Lonely - 9.5/10
4. Summer, Man - 6/10 my least favorite
5. Swing - 9.7/20
6. Where My Mouth Is - 9/10
7. Cut Me Up Jenny - 8.8/10
8. Catholic Knees - 9/10
9. Capital M-E - 10/10 sooo good!
10. Carpathia - 10/10
11. Everything Must Go - 9/10
BONUS TRACK: Long Time Comin' = 10/10 my favorite one!

I've listened to this album since it's come out and it still is great to me. Not too much different then their other later albums. Worth it to buy this and listen to it. This album is not as hard hitting, but for those who listen for the emotion in an album, this is full of a band pouring out their feelings through music.

Not the biggest Taking Back Sunday fan, though I do own Louder Now, the only full CD from them that I'd heard before this one. So I'm not totally sure what so many people here are comparing this CD to but I personally liked it A LOT better than Louder Now. The songs here are much faster, the lyrics much more interesting, and Adam Lazzara's vocals are very strong.

Not every song here's a winner (Lonely Lonely, Catholic Knees, and Carpathia, I just couldn't stand, just felt like bland angst, while Capital M-E was at first catchy but generic and got old fast,) but almost everything else here is good-great. New Again and Sink Into Me are great ways to start out the CD, both displaying New Again's very emo yet fast and catchy sound. Summer Man, though it's let down by a fairly generic chorus, has great verses, and the flow with which Lazzara delivers the lines in the first verse is very catchy; Fun to listen to. Swing's very good too, and Cut Me Up Jenny is an angsty song that actually manages to work, unlike a couple others on this CD. Meanwhile, Where My Mouth Is is a very nice change of pace to a more relaxing sound, (even if it does sound a bit Dashboard Confessional to me.) Everything Must Go is a cool and ambient way to end the CD.

So, overall, I dunno. I admit there's no 1 song here quite as strong as the excellent MakeDamnSure from their last CD, and those four songs I listed above definitely could have used some more thought and actually feel a bit rushed. But otherwise I really liked this CD a lot. It's much more interesting than Louder Now and moves much quicker, too. It may not sound like the old days (of course nothing here sounds like Cute Without the E, but they haven't in a long time, so why is this CD any different?) but people need to rate this CD not comparing it to the older ones, but as its own item.

On the other hand, I'm not going to rate this 5 stars just to boost up Amazon.com's currently surprisingly low average for this CD (that would be unfair, too,) but it's definitely a great, 4-star CD and I hope fans seek it out. As far as the genre's concerned, they may not have the depth of groups like Say Anything, but Taking Back Sunday's a lot of fun to listen to and this CD's no exception; Ask yourself; if you were a band, would you want to keep playing the same music OVER AND OVER again? Of course not, that's why bands change over time, it gets boring for them otherwise. People stuck in the past need to accept that or else move on, but this is NOT a 3-star CD, not in the least.

Great songs;
New Again
Swing

Good songs;
Sink Into Me
Cut Me Up Jenny
Summer, Man
Where My Mouth Is
Everything Must Go

Okay songs;
Capital M-E

Bad songs;
Lonely, Lonely
Catholic Knees
Carpathia

I would like to point out, I am giving this album a 3.5, but since TBS is one of my top 3 favorite bands, I am rounding it up. And some lyrics on this album are pretty damn catchy. To me at least.

I was so looking forward to a new Taking Back Sunday album come out earlier this year. I had the date saved.

Then I heard "Sink Into Me." Honestly, at first, I didn't care for it. But after seeing them perform it live in concert, I started liking it. It had a high energy.

Fastforward to getting the album, when I first heard it, I wasn't that impressed with it. I play TAYF to death, I love WYWTB, and LN is pretty cool. I thought of LN as the weakest of the 3, but not by much. It just didn't match the first 2, but I still enjoyed playing it. I had to force myself to play NA in June. I would fiddle around with the songs, and listen to them one at a time. I will say this, right away I fell in love with "Everything Must Go." That is such a great track, vocal and lyric wise. It is so powerful, and Adam shows such great emotion. I played that song and "Sink Into Me," which really reminds me of a concert. The others I'd experiment with.

I went maybe a month without playing the album. One day while returning from a trip, I decided to play the album. Then I learned this: the album serves for great driving or traveling music. It tends to play well with the movement and scenery. I then enjoyed it. Now I have some tracks that stand out due to certain lyrics I thought were clever/catchy, like on "Catholic Knees" and "Lonely, Lonely."

I'm not as disappointed with the album like I was when I first got it 4 months ago, but it really is my least favorite of their 4. I get that bands can't/don't want to do the same album all the time (and frankly am tired of bands saying that), but do they really have to change the sound that much? On album 5 for TBS, and I hope this doesn't take another 3 years, I pray that their sound returns to the old one, or, at the very least, is similar to it.

I don't regret buying this album at all. TBS is one of my favorite bands (second fav actually) and I will continue to support them. I love the music, though don't want it to keep going in the direction it is.

Taking Back Sunday has been a great band from the beginning. They have had two line up changes and continue to put out quality music. New Again does not have the dual vocals that I have come to love, but it is still Taking Back Sunday and still has some very catchy tunes. Swing is by far my favorite song with its great guitar riffs and amazing lyrics and vocals. New Again shows how the band has matured and the direction they are heading in. For those people who like the first CD and that's it, then stick it in and push play, but if you would like to broaden your range of listening, then give New Again a shot.

If you're expecting this album to be anything like the old Taking Back Sunday then I can tell you that this album probably won't make you very happy. If you're willing to keep an open mind and listen to the new album as a new, redefined version of TBS then you'll probably actually really like this.

The album can be listened all the way through without skipping any songs and I would identify 'New Again', 'Sink Into Me', and 'Where My Mouth Is' as the highlights of the album. 'Everything Must Go', which is the last song on the album stays most true to the traditional style of TBS where songs like 'Summer, Man' and 'Where My Mouth Is' represent a complete, but welcome departure from what would be expected from TBS.

Here's a breakdown of the songs/ratings:
1. New Again - 5/5
2. Sink Into Me - 4.5/5
3. Lonely, Lonely - 4/5
4. Summer, Man - 4/5
5. Swing - 4/5
6. Where My Mouth Is - 5/5
7. Cut Me Up Jenny - 4/5
8. Catholic Knees - 3/5
9. Capital M-E - 3.5/5
10. Carpathia - 3.5/5
11. Everything Must Go - 4.5/5
Overall - 4/5

Again, if you keep an open mind instead of expecting a continuation of the dual-lyric older TBS you'll probably enjoy this album.

First, to all the people that are reviewing this and saying it doesn't sound like Tell All Your Friends... of course it doesn't! TBS have changed their sound from album to album, and their songs have gotten stronger each time. Even Adam Lazzara says that they aren't going to write songs like the TAYF days, because he has grown up, and isn't going to write the same material that he did when he was 18. He is in his late 20s and has a family now, and has gone through many changes in his life. "I'm not going to write songs about, oh she hurt me" - Adam Lazzara

If you really take the time to listen to this cd, you can tell just how amazing it really is. The addition of Fazzi gave them a completely new sound with amazing riffs, which in my opinion were really needed. The music TBS puts out has become ever increasingly more complicated, yet still keeps a subtle simplicity to it. The lyrics are amazing as always, along with the vocals.

Yes, their sound has changed, but if you've been a TBS fan from the start (which I have) then you can still hear the original sound that started it all, just a large improvement. Bands change, and people grow up. If you want to hear songs like they wrote at the beginning, then just listen to TAYF over and over. I have loved each of their albums individually, and this one is in ranks with the best.

The reason why I like TBS (Taking Back Sunday) is the fact that the albums are hardly ever the same. The songs often differ quite a bit.
MY favorite Album probably is "Where You Want To Be". There was a lot of great songs on that album, such as "This Photograph is Proof(I know You Know),
Set Phasers to Stun, and A Decade Under The Influence". I definitly liked there album "Louder Now" as well, with my favorite song being "What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?", followed by "Make Damn Sure", "Error Operator" and "Liar (It Takes One To Know One".
I was not to crazy about "Tell All Your Friends". But this album, called "New Again"
is pretty freakin sweet. Lots of guitar, drums, and vocals. My favorite song on this album is probably "Everything Must Go". I was something that I had not really heard the band do before, and I think that it sounded great. My only complaint about the song is it starts off a little slow. But I still love it. The songs "New Again, Sink Into Me, Lonely, Lonely, and Cut Me Up Jenny" are all great as well. This album sounds a little more grown up to me but they are still my favorite band.