Customer Reviews

Relativity

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

 

 

First of all I want to inform you that I have never once listened to Dance Gavin Dance OR the original Emarosa line-up. However, I have been a big Circa Survive and Saosin (Green moreso but Cove is OK) since both bands' inception. I saw "Relativity" in a Hot Topic. The album sticker said for fans of Circa and Saosin, and after several minutes of "do i need to spend this money?" I cracked and bought it. This has gotten me into trouble before. I spend a significant amount of money on albums, sometimes just on a whim, knowing nothing about the band in question. This has ended up biting me in the @ss with some real bad music before. But this time, I was pleasently suprised. Craig's opening vocal display on "The Past Should Stay Dead" came as close to taking my breath away (in a completely heterosexual way mind you) as i've experienced since first hearing "Translating the Name" years back. I'm hooked. This band is the best thing to come out since Secret and Whisper. Some say their sound is played, or Craig's vocal stylings are typical of the genre, but I must dissagree. Sure, a "genre" will have those who sound like others of the same style and get lost in the shuffle, which is why a group like Emarosa is that much more impressive. They are able to take the typical and warp it with talent and emotion to set themselves apart.

If you buy one prog album this year, make it "Relativity."

Strong vocals with stirring instrumentation overall with the only issue being the sonic similarity and delivery between tracks allowing the songs to become conflated. If this was the intent or not I cannot be sure and certainly similarity between tracks can be viewed only as a downfall based on listener preference.

The lack of distinction between tracks is not varied enough to keep attention for chronologically sequential or repeated album listens, though each song does work independently. Mixed in any random play all on an mp3 player each song can be a breath of fresh air, though together they can become tedious and somewhat repetitive. All of the tracks maintain a similar dynamic and delivery without defining themselves too much-a generally static feel, sounds great, but it does not feel directional tonally, it just kind of swirls around itself.

A very good band with potential to become great if they can figure out how to manipulate themselves tonally through an album. Give me a direction, take me on a journey and if they can do that they will make a fascinating and original album.

This is one of the great screamo-hardcore album releases of the year. The singer use to sing for "dance gavin dance" but now he got with these guys and they just dominate the airwaves with explosive lyrics, shredding guitars , and hammering drums. This is a very talented band that is in my opinion a comparison to groups like Saosin, Chasing Victory , and Jimmy Eat World. The singer's voice is amazing. It was what the first thing that made me pay attention to this band. I had heard "Dance Gavin Dance", but it seems like this band puts his voice to better use and has a better overall sound. This isn't scary screaming like some death metal bands, but more melody singing kind of like Senses Fail or so. Overall, a great band, buy this record.

This review, probably with many others, will compare Relativity to Dance Gavin Dance's "Downtown Battle Mountain", which is complimentary and reasonable. Craig's vocals were the center point of both albums, and they weren't too far off stylistically. But Emarosa's sound is a bit poppier, more dynamic, even a bit more syncopated (flipping the downbeat around). I find the drumming and guitars a little more interesting to listen to, although in no way better or worse, just different. Instead of the focused intensity of DGD, each musician has a bit more freedom, yet they still make way for one another and interact. Craig's singing has more shades of light and dark and gets to show off a bit more of an R&B flair. In my opinion it's just as essential as Downtown Battle Mountain in terms of being outstanding songwriting and music as well as unique.

Amazing album!!!! Jonny Craig is a terrific singer, he can hit some notes with intense emotion and power. The guitar rifs and drumming are also incredible. It's one of those CDs I can always listen to, no matter how many times I've heard it. Every track rocks, no filler songs, but on track 4, "Heads Or Tails? Real Or Not" the band really shines. If you are on the fence about buying it or not, do yourself a favor, GET IT!

Dance Gavin Dance has certainly lost a great asset...Jonny Craig. Impressive vocals makes Emarosa one of the best bands of the year by far.

I wasn't overly familiar with the band when I made the purchase, but the little I had sampled around the web convinced me to take a chance. I was mostly impressed by the vocals of Jonny Craig, but the guitar work grew on me as well the more I listened. I like the direction taken when compared to some of their older stuff; it just feels a more unique and meaningful. An average CD overall, but leaves enough of an impression to keep tabs on them until their next album release.

Relatively speaking, vocalist Jonny Craig is fighting a custody battle. Formerly the lead singer of Dance Gavin Dance, he and his stunning voice left that band to form Emarosa. Now, his sandpaper-throated, yet melodic, yell-singing carries Emarosa and listeners into oceans of adrenaline. But his key technique---the way his vocal cords strain and distort as he reaches for his favorite note---is a weakness as much as a strength. It's unique, but overused. Ask his karmic contemporary Anthony Green about that phenomenon.

Emarosa immediately establish their sound with the ear-catching opener, "The Past Should Stay Dead," a dense, dual guitar wall of sound supported by big washes of rhythm guitar and tied together by simple, catchy, repeated riffs. Spotlights immediately and permanently affix on Craig's spellbinding howls: "All at once it leaves you breathless/ With next to nothing but open hands."

The obscured, tender, whispered vocals go missing, but thunderclouds of six-string-birthed electric noise bathe Relativity like the best of early nineties shoegaze, just amped up a few extra watts. "Set It Off Like Napalm" opens with a spacious, pummeling riff filled out by Craig's barely-restrained crooning. If that's a problem for you, don't worry: he quickly jumps back into sing-yelling for the harder bulk of the tune.

Like many other singers with a distinctive style, Craig's work both imbues this record with his distinctiveness and pervades it with his favorite tricks. Even if all the other instruments are doing something wildly interesting (which happens sadly not as often as it could), Emarosa basically end up as The Jonny Craig Bar Band, playing, at times, animatronic puppet roles for Craig's personal musical Disneyland. It's not to say that (some of) the songs aren't heart-pounding in their intensity (the NASA shuttle launch ferocity of "The Past Should Stay Dead" keeps coming to mind), but a dog can only "Roll over!" so many times in a row before it ceases to be as impressive.

Something about their tone and composition suggests that Saosin devotees would love these songs. If the full length from that band (sans Green) wasn't enough, or fell short by coming off too "poppy," Emarosa just might fit the bill. Just watch out: this voice might launch a thousand ships, but they'll all sink under the weight of their fixations if they aren't careful.

I was a little afraid upon first picking up this album - Jonny Craig's lyrics never made much sense while in Dance Gavin Dance and the first Emarosa album was... sigh* terrible. However, after two listens I was instantly hooked: Jonny sounds his best (lyrically he makes some sense), the guitar work is flawless and it all contains emotion (something the new Dance Gavin Dance lacks but I'll leave that for another review). Relativity is well worth picking up.

I was a little disappointed by this album. I heard "screamo" and thought I would find a band more similar to Senses Fail or Alesana, but Emarosa can hardly be called hardcore or screamo - where's the screaming? Definitely more of an emo-rock band, and the songs were a little repetitive. On a positive note, the singer's voice is very unique and appealing.