Picket Fence Cartel

Project 86 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tooth & Nail Records
• ASIN: B002BNTO9W
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,130 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Word: EPIC, July 17, 2009

By 

C. Smith (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Picket Fence Cartel (Audio CD)

If you've kept up with Project 86's discography you know that each album they put out is very different, yet still Project. Andrew's voice is as powerful and emotional as it has been for the last six albums, but the lyrics and musicianship brings Picket Fence Cartel to a new level. The album kicks off with Destroyer which is a medium paced heavy song. The Butcher tells the tale of a man who is threating to kill Andrew with a knife, but he never backs down "there is no weapon, there is no blade, I've erased all of my fear of the grave." The Spectacle of Fearsome Acts is an interesting combination of haunting piano and airy guitar. Dark Angel Dragnet is a personal favorite, with a drumline intro, really cool guitar sounds, and strong lyrics, "Cancel my ticket booked to fire, choirs of angels sing my name." Cold and Calculated which has an interesting formula; each verse starts off fast, picks up and abrubtly becomes a very slow breakdown for the chorus. Cement Shoes keeps the pace going for another amazing song: A John Hancock With The Safety Off. Througout his musical career, Andrew blames media for a lot of the problems in the world. This song is an excellent combination of hard pounding drums, heavy guitar, synth, and emotional vocals. Two Glass Eyes, Cyclonus, and the Black Brigrade are all excellent songs, all which satisfy the ears with hard pounding truth. The grand finale, To Sand We Return, is an almost perfect closer to an amazing album. A little over 2 minutes into the song, the song slows before blasting your ears with some of the most intense spiritual lyrics found on any Project album "Who do I belong to? not earth, not world, not evil, not mortals, not wretches, not horrors, who do I belong to? unchanging, unbreaking, unfailing, Creator, Immortal, Eternal." Project's work has never really been embraced by Christian or secular markets as much as they deserve. Give them a chance you won't regret it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONCE AGAIN 86 TAKES IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.., July 16, 2009

By 

Ryan "yahweh_jireh" (KY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Picket Fence Cartel (Audio CD)

I have been an 86 fan since the beginning and this album does not disappoint...But let me say this, listen to it a couple times through before you decide..When I first heard it I would of rated it 4 stars...After a couple times through I liked it more and more..This album is just intense..And they added a metal edge to the music they've never really done before..And the lyrics...That was really pushed it to the top charts for me..INCREDIBLE lyrics..I'm so glad this band stayed unground..Going mainstream seems to destroy bands..Take POD and Skillet..They got weaker as they went on..But 86 keeps pushing the level higher...GREAT ALBUM...WORTH THE MONEY...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not The Same Project, December 8, 2010

By 

Lauren D. O'brien "-]red[-" (Worcester, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picket Fence Cartel (Audio CD)

I love Project 86. I own all of their CDs, EPs, most of Schwab's books, so when the new CD Picket Fence Cartel was about to come out, naturally I hit the Zambooie website and looked for special pre-order packages to buy before the rest of the world bought them all up. But when I listened to Picket Fence Cartel, I was a little disappointed because there seemed to be something missing. There was a quality to the previous CDs that made the distinctly Project 86. Their sound that was so clear and unique in my favorite CDs such as ...And The Rest Will Follow and Songs To Burn Your Bridges By seemed to be missing to my ears. The lyrics were profound like usual. Well, not exactly. They were good, too, but there was still something missing.

What does is sound like? It basically sounds like your dime-a-dozen hardcore track with lots of heavy guitar, machine-like drums, and standard screamo/scream-singing vocals. I wasn't impressed.
(actually, Schwab does more of what I like to call yell-o vocals. He doesn't scream as much as he yells his lyrics, which I've often appreciated, but this time I just didn't like)

I've tried listening to the CD several times over but can only pick out a few songs that I really liked to put on my iPod and leave the rest in my iTunes library. The last CD I fully enjoyed by them was probably Rival Factions (although the following EPs were still pretty good, too, but things weren't the same ever for some of This Time Of Year)

No offense to Schwab or the band is intended.
That sounds pretty oxy-moronic but I just mean that I'm only one fan who didn't like it. Plenty of others did, though, check out more reviews than just mine.

One last thing: don't bother with the music video to Destroyer. It looks like a failed attempt at a Wes Craven horror short film. It just... wasn't any good, in my opinion.