Customer Reviews

Magnetic North

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a straight-forward comparison between The Satellite Years and Magnetic North, one would probably not think the two to be similar at all. Magnetic North is more of an evolution from the style of A-Types. However, the two albums are pretty similar in terms of creating an atmospheric mood and are both very melodic. Both albums are mood-altering masterpieces, keep them both around, and depending what mood you are in, choose to listen to the darker, heavier mood created by The Satellite Years, or the more calming, almost trance-like melodic rock of Magnetic North. If you loved The Satellite Years and are not one of those people who only like screaming vocals, I believe you will enjoy this album.

Best tracks: Cubic Zirconias Are Forever, Secondhand Surgery, East of 1989; Battle Of The Bay, Vacation/Add/Vacation!, Head General Hospital, Paisley

I actually give the album 4 1/2 stars. I'm just going to make this review short and simple. After Hopesfall released A-types i was turned off from this band after liking them so much. I felt that album was a major disapointed compared to The Satellite Years. Magnetic North seems to have gone a little bit back to their roots a but still kept the more "rock" sound. They don't really scream anymore which some might not like but i love their style of singing. My favorite tracks would have to be "RX contender the pretender", "swamp kittens", "cubic zirconias are forever", "vacation/add/vacation!", and "head general hospital" to name a few.

If you are unexperienced with Hopesfall, and are into alternative melodic rock you should definitely check this release out. While it might not strike you as a masterpiece upon first listen, it will eventually grab you and drag you down into a universe of depth which many bands in this genre only can hope to achieve. Even though songs are somewhat traditional structurally in terms of verse and chorus, there is so much variation within each song that everytime you listen to the album you will discover something new. The song variation itself is quite amazing, with plenty heavy tracks, and more calm indie - sounding tracks. While some listeners might critize this as a loss of focus and direction, it aslo adds more depth and longvity to album as a whole. Lastly, the vocal performance on this album is simply to good to go unmention. The vocalist might not be the best singer, but the effort and emotion he puts in into each track will amaze you.

I didn't even know these guys were back on the scene until earlier this week so I went to best buy and picked this record up. First and foremost, I've always loved the art direction and packaging(booklet pictures,etc) these guys use to convey their imagery; be it on the satellite years, A types, or even this album. To me, it gives off a sort of spacy, sci-fi surrealism that only adds to their overall style when the music is intertwined within these themes. With that being said.....

This is a good album to put in and just "chill" with. With moody progressive guitars, thought provoking lyrics, and ambient sounds throughout-as well as Jay's soothing melodies- I can't help but be intrigued. There are still a few heavy passages(riff wise) and screamed vocals sprinkled throughout but ultimately this album is more closely related to A-Types than The Satellite Years(yeah I know some of you will be disappointed). But if you can just take this record at face value you'll find a well put together experience that grows on you with each listen. I can't help but be drawn to it. Overall, an interesting album which holds it's own compared to their past work IMO.

Standout tracks include: Rx Contender the Pretender,Swamp Kittens, and the final track on the ablum Paisley- which is amazingly simple yet haunting and heartfelt.

So....after listening to A-types, I had pretty much given up on this band. Magnetic North came out, I didn't really care. Then I got a call from my drummer that was like "dude, seriously.......give it a chance. It's amazing" So, I gave it a listen & low & behold, it is now by far one of my favorite albums this year to say the least. The seemingly hopeless vocals on A-types are easily the most noticable improvement, as they are nothing short of incredible on MN. Overall musicianship has improved leaps & bounds as well & I now eagerly await Hopesfall's next release!

When I found the satellite years and found it was recorded at Matt Talbott's studio I had to get it. I had heard previous incarnations of hopesfall and enjoyed them but this was different. TSY is easily on my list of top 10 personal favorite albums, it blurred genre lines and fused together so many facets of what I enjoyed in music and had Matt Talbott singing as the icing.

I have to say I was one of the fans turned off by A Types. It felt too plastic, too much of an attempt to change to a more pre-defined version of Thursday although there were a few solid tracks on it for my personal tastes.

Enter Magnetic North. I'm still not completely sold on it, but its most likely because I am clinging for dear life onto my copy of TSY. There are some standout tracks on this new disc that really open up and air out some great guitar work. The Hum influence is easily worn on the sleeve, and openly admitted in track 10 'The Canon' (a 1:03 homage to Hum's 'Little Dipper'). A similar lyrical straight ahead style seems to be used throughout similarly to A-Types, but Jay's vocals have really improved drastically over the previous release. Some of the standout tracks for me have to be: Swamp Kittens, Secondhand Surgery, Rx Contender the Pretender. If you were on the fence with A-Types you will probably appreciate this release as a more aggressive and yet spacier progression.

When I first heard this album, it felt as though this was the album I'd been waiting to hear for awhile. I hadn't heard much of Hopesfall before this release so I had no basis of comparison for their previous releases. Simply put, I thought it was a masterful work of art. This album sounded as though they were expressing thier inner sound as opposed to trying to sound like something preconceived. The sound is epic, yet heavy, and at times beautiful. This album is the best I've bought from anyone in quite awhile. It has barely left my CD player and I've had it for nearly two weeks. Some of the reviews I read were comparing this album to previous works and saying Hopesfall "improved" their sound but if you assume nothing and take the album at face value I thing it is much better than just an "improvement". Bottom line, if you're on the edge, and you think you might like this album, BUY IT! You will.

I've been a fan of Hopesfall since their first album, 'Frailty of Words'. I hated their previous 'A Types' and am still uncomfortable with this band calling themselves Hopesfall with only 1 original member (Jay Forrest is not a founding member, by the way). Now, with all that having been said...

'Magnetic North' vastly improves all the things I disliked about the last album. The guitars don't settle for just being ambiguously, lazily spacey, but instead creatively combine both space-rock beauty and brutality. The different riffs/parts of the songs compliment and build upon one another to make the whole song more interesting and effective, the ideas follow through. Jay Forrest's vocals sound like he knows where he's going, actually leading the songs instead of flopping around for a tune like a fish out of water. The drums are more varied and dynamic, and help give this record a strong, propulsive backbone that 'A Types' so sorely lacked (in my opinion). Finally, the individual elements together as songs, and the songs together as an album have a stronger focus, and this new focus helps the band articulate their musical statement successfully. Above all else: I just enjoy this stuff.

This will probably get lumped into the emo genre, but I think it's head-and-shoulders above the derivative crap that's being crammed down our throats these days.

It takes a lot nowadays to release an impressive metalcore album. That may be one reason why Hopesfall decided to leave that genre behind with the release of A Types a few years ago and began the change to an excellent post-rock/post-hardcore band that could sit comfortably on a shelf between the Deftones and Dredg.

Magnetic North takes the focus of A Types and continues the evolution of sound into a hybrid of music ranging from the Catch Without Arms inspired ""Secondhand Surgery"" to the White Pony laden ""The Canon"" and the altogether amazing ""Swamp Kittens"" which may be the highlight of the disc! Despite the influence the album is infused with a raw original sound that is altogether Hopesfall--the rough vocals that stagger screams in choice spots and the occasional use of dissonance. Elements of The Satellite Years can be heard in some of the more atmospheric sections which make it hard to forget the distinctive brand of Cave-In style postcore these boys were putting out several years back.

Hopesfall have done an excellent job following up A Types without letting go of the sound that pushed them towards making that album. If you enjoyed A Types, you should love this album. If you preferred their older material, tread with caution. Hopesfall are helping to usher in the new direction of post-hardcore that finds itself leaning towards the more atmospheric California rock sound.

Highly Recommended--possible album of the year!

For Fans of: Deftones (White Pony/Saturday Night Wrist), Dredg, Cave-In (Jupiter/Antenna)

A beautifully crafted soundscape that is clearly Hopesfall's greatest effort. This is a very mature sound.