Customer Reviews

The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague Years

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Tomorrow Comes Today was a great album but this album - "Misery Index" - seems a more fitting follow-up to "Before the Eulogy". If you've been a fan since the beginning then there's no reason to be disappointed with this release. Unless of course you're the type that writes negative reviews because for some odd reason you expected the exact same album as before with the same composition, simply different song names; appreciate a band's evolution.

Old and new fans alike: simply listen to track #1. Then buy the album.

I'm always impressed when bands retain a consistent sound while still "evolving" (which usually means watering down their sound). BSF has done this. Some melodic, some intensity, and this time around some horns just for good measure.

A sound that is still fresh, still fun, still making a statement and still rocking.

Buy it.

One thing I've always looked for in a band or artist is an evolving sound. I don't want to listen to the same songs rehashed again and again that start leaving a stale flavor like old fishsticks. Fortunately, BSF doesn't disappoint.

"Misery Index" is really a great composition of vocals, lyrics, and smashing guitars and beats. It does sound slightly disjointed, but that's what keeps the listener interested. They tried a lot of new sounds instead of the now generally accepted "scream until their ears bleed" routine.

For fans who enjoy the hardcore political scream ballads of past albums, this may be a bit difficult for you to get into. Granted, screaming is present in a few tracks ("So Long and Thanks for the Crutches" and "Final Communique"), but "Misery Index" seems to be centered around helplessness, hope and anguish rather than explosive outrage. This is an album comprised of songs that make you want to sing along (and you actually can!) because your feelings really connect with the beautiful vocals.

I have always enjoyed BSF's unique style, and this new edition to the collection really rounds out their abilities. It's been living and breathing in my cd player since I bought it. Excellent work. Go. Buy it. It's worth every penny.

BSF has always been a band with an ever-changing sound. I do not see this as a fault since the band remains fresh and interesting. This album, like the previous Tomorrow Comes Today, has its share of "politcal" and "relationship" songs. Every song, though, is heartfelt, meaningful and catchy--you will soon find yourself screaming along.
Go to http://www.myspace.com/boysetsfire to listen to the full tracks: Requiem and Fall Out Theme now! Then come back here and buy the darn album already!

yes this album is no After the Eulogy or The day the Sun Went out but it is a damn good album and the dvd it comes with is one great dvd they play almost every song they have written in one live set. you cant go if you havent got this album yet get it you will not be disappointed

This album, albeit a bit more disjointed than "Tomorrow Comes Today", is excellent! Chad's guitar has never been better, especially on the mellower intervals that tie the songs together, and of course, Nathan's vocals are as fantastic as ever. Highlights are "So Long... And Thanks For The Crutches", "Empire", and the very end of "A Far Cry", which is a new version of "Still Waiting For The Punchline", from "After The Eulogy". All in all, this album is superb!

Misery Index,

it isn't the driving baselines, or the brilliant riffs, or the flow of this amazing album that truely pulls into into greatness. Rather it is the power of emotion that singer Nathan Grey pulls into the lyrics of the Index. Its a collection of 13 songs that, through quotes and other political innuendos, BSF explodes out of the music scene with their swan song effort.

Comparitively, Misery Index has the lyrics of The Day the Sun Went Out on songs So Long and Thanks For the Crutches,and Final Communique. Musically however it is a transformation. It is obvious the development of the skill of the players in Misery Index, so great that it is almost impossible to walk away from.

The album flows together besides one break between Falling Out Theme and Empire, giving it the feel of a record of old.

In fact, if this was on record, id buy it again.

Nathan Gray and the boys are finally back doing what they do best. After "tomorrow come today" and their disasterous time with wind up records, i didnt think id ever be hearing from boysetsfire again.
Now signed to equal visions records, an indie that understands them, the band has revisited their "after the eulogy" years a little with this release. Grey's hartbroken vocals and bloodcurdling screams are back at the forefront, while the music is the usual miox of hardcore/emo-punk it always was. Welcome back boys.............we missed you

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the new boysetsfire cd for several months now. I donwloaded the track "dear george" which they released on their website, and it seemed the BSF was on the track away from Tomorrow Come Today and confused nu-metaldom and back towards the originality and passion that characterized After the Eulogy. I was severely disappointed.

The first song on the cd contains a minute long bit of something indescribably awful. Nathan is singing some kind of bleeding heart plea accompanied by guitar. The lyrics lack the unironic hope that characterize the best BSF songs; instead, they are characterized by the kind of empty reflection one most commonly finds on christian rock cds. Whatever other brilliant things could have been done on the album, that opening assures that it can never be taken totally seriously.

Unfortunately, there are no brilliant things on the rest of the album. BSF repeats a now-formulaic pattern of crunchy guitars juxtaposed with Nathan's (admittedly stellar) singing. On this album though, the vocals are over the top in trying to reach harmony. Its a little reminiscent of Cristina Aguilera's vocal contortions, which is scary.

If there is one saving track on the cd, it is so long...and thanks for the crutches. perhaps it is because the title is play on douglas adams, or maybe its the jazz opening, but the song manages to hint at some of the energy BSF can produce on tracks like "Rookie."

All in all, save your money. After the Eulogy and other early work is a far better look into a once great band.