Customer Reviews

How to Start a Fire

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"How to Start a Fire" is a phenominal album... This CD should definely draw some attention to such a band like Further Seems Forever (w/o becoming a "MTV-band")... It is chock full of beautiful songs. From songs like "The Sound" to "On Legendary", you cannot go wrong with this album. The lyrics that make up the songs are just amazing. I would also recommend "The Moon is Down".. I'll break it down track-by-track...

1. "How to Start a Fire"- Great way to start the album. One of the better songs on the disc. Fast paced... Great song
2. "The Sound"- This is THE song on the album. It's my personal favorite. Recommended 10X over! (It's even better LIVE)
3. "A Blank Page Empire"- Very nice song... a little slow... but, that still doesn't take away from a fantastic song
4. "Against My Better Judgement"- Picks right back up with the fast paceness of the album... Yet another awesome song.
5. "I Am"- This is one of the most beautiful songs on the album... It's a little slow at first, then it picks up
6. "Pride War"- Ahh.. what a song this one is... Keeps it going w/the fastness... Yet again, great lyrics... Can't go wrong w/this song
7. "On Legendary"- This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful song on the album... Lyrics are amazing... His voice goes particularly well with the music for this song
8. "Insincerity as an Artform"- It's a little slow... and then again.. picks right back up... Another great song...
9. "The Deep"- Plain and simple... great song
10. "Aurora Borealis"- This is the s l o w e s t songs on the album... This is maybe the only song on the album I would not recommend listening to...

Overall... I would recommend purchasing this CD w/o a second thought... and, again, definetly pick up "The Moon is Down" by Further Seems Forever...

Some music just grabs our hearts
in a vice grip and doesn't let go.

"How to Start a Fire" is that kind
of music. The exquisite instrumental
work of FSF combined with Jason Gleason's
impassioned vocals make this CD one of the
most moving records I've ever heard.

And I'm not just talking about "crying emo
kids." Good music affects all kinds of people.
Regardless of if you're an sXe hardcore fan
or a Simple Plan prep, this CD has the power to
ignite you like no other.

I think I must be the only person that thinks that Jason is a better fit for the band. With Chris, I don't know I can't really describe it but on TMID he almost sounds bored to be in the band. Jason brings a lot more emotion ot the table and he is a much better singer than the whiner. But enough comparing the two I'm gonna write a review of the CD now. HTSAF takes the band in an entire new direction by creating guitars that are more felt than heard. Josh and Derick create entirely different riffs that melt with each other so beautifully. They are two of the best guitarists I have ever heard at melting with each other. It is ure brilliance. This is best heard on "I Am" and "A Blank Page Empire". The lyrics are also a lot better than Chris's and I feel that Jason's go with the music a lot better than Chris's. The entire CD is a beautiful musical landscape. It is pure emotion. Highlights of the CD are: "The Sound", "A Blank Page Empire", "I Am", "Pride War", "On Legendary" and "The Deep"

Further Seems Forever has had quite the rough go of it. Losing their original singer Chris Carrabba to the greener pastures of Dashboard Confessional after their debut album had been recorded but not yet released really put a big wrench in their plans of being a band. So even though new singer Jason has been in the band for roughly 2 years now, he still gets called "the new guy." And it can't be easy on him - the band has been road dogs these past 2 years, playing hundreds of shows a year. This guy has to go up night after night and basically do karaoke for 45 minutes, singing songs that someone else wrote. "How To Start A Fire" is the first time Jason has been allowed to put pen to paper, and while I'm sure he's mighty proud of his work, he's going to have a lot of people to answer to.

Further Seems Forever's debut album is seemingly in permanent constant rotation in my stereo. I view that album as capturing lightning in a bottle - it was 5 guys who had been kicking around in the Florida music scene for some time, and when they all got together wrote some incredibly powerful, highly emotional, and fairly original music. Then they lose their singer, as well as the less-known loss of one of their guitarists as well as their other guitarist deciding not to tour anymore, forcing the band to hire a touring guitarist [who strangely is in all the promotional material for this release but who's actual name is nowhere to be seen]. This leaves the band with not only a new personality behind the mic, but also providing the guitar sounds that this band is so known for delivering.

This is a lot of pressure for a second album.

So how did the band do? Not bad. Not amazing, not great, but not bad. "How To Start A Fire" is going to be this band's breakthrough album, I'll bet, but I know they can do better and I can't wait to hear it. Tracks like the title track as well as "Pride War" conjur up images of the first album, with relentless drums matched up against arpeggiated guitar lines flying over each other. "The Deep" really showcases Jason's much wider vocal range than Chris ever had, allowing him to, more or less wail the word "excuses" over and over again. It's some powerful stuff.

The album is spotty, though. The first single, "The Sound," just sounds too sterile; it's like a band influenced by Further Seems Forever wrote the song, not the band themselves. This feeling of deja vu tends to creep up throughout the album; you know you've heard this stuff before by the same band, and yet it doesn't sound nearly as good this time.

Jason really is a better fit for this band vocally than Chris, as his powerful throat soars over the instruments in tracks like "On Legendary." I just feel like it's all a bit forced from the band overall. I know the point of being in a band for a lot of people is to achieve some sort of success, but most artists try to keep some sort of artistic merit while going down this journey of accomplishment. I'm not calling the band sellouts, as they still seem to be true to what they do, but you can't deny that the raw passion on "The Moon is Down" really doesn't show up here except for a few spots on this CD.

Basically I'm still pretty torn on this CD. It's been getting a lot of play from me recently, and I like it more and more with each listen, but something still is rubbing me the wrong way about it. I'll recommend this to fans of the band, but if you've never heard this band before now, check out "The Moon Is Down" first so you can see where the band has come from before you see where the band is going.

Let's just hope they can recapture that lightning for the next time around.

I personally liked this album much better than The Moon is Down. You can clearly see the over all tone of the band changing and the new lead singer compliments this very nicely. What I loved about this album is the over all mood that it creates. The flow of the songs on the album is near flawless. The songs however well they may flow still have a unique sound. My favorites being How to Start a Fire and Pride War.

Also I hope that you're not turned off by the fact that this is a Christian rock band. I had owned the CD for about a month before one of my friends told me (hey they swear in one of their songs). I say that if you liked The Moon is Down, or Dashboard pick this album up you won't be disappointed.

this is very VERY well done and it is one of my favorite cds ever. jason gleason has the most fantastic voice ever and it goes very well with the music and i like his voice better than chris'. jason can control his voice really really well and thats why i love it. his voice is very soothing with the slower songs on this album and it is very solid when he holds the long screamy notes it is just awesome. he can also write some great lyrics. and the drums here are really well done also they are very emo-esque

some good songs in my opinion on this album are:
how to start a fire(very good lyrics and great voice along with it)
the sound(just WOW, seriously it is wicked good and the sound hah is awesome, good lyrics, the guitar parts at the beginning sound very poppish but dont worry its gets better
A Blank Page Empire(a slow song but some good lyrics and it builds up a little at the end)
Against My Better Judgement(a good fast paced song very good)

and there are many more GREAT SONGS

i am saddened by jason gleason i love him..

This is a very,very big improvement from "Moon is Down." Jason Gleason's voice backs up this band much better than Chris' and the sound has come a long way. The tone of the music reflects how much this band has matured. I would recommend this album over "Moon is Down". Hands down...this is a great album!

I'm not really a big emo fan, but God I love this cd. The new cd Hide Nothing isn't really all that great to me and the first cd with Chris Carraba is good, but I definitely give this one the top honors. The lyrics, musicianship and all around emotion on this album is incredible. The singer, Jason, I think is his name puts so much into each song and the emotion in his voice is what really makes it. I honestly can't believe they got rid of this guy. Anyways my personal Favorites are Pride War, On Legendary, How To Start A Fire, and The Sound, which has one of the best chorus' of any song I can think of. A great add for your Cd collection if you can appreciate good music and aren't ingorant to a particualar type of music. Most people who either can't play an instrument or create their own music fall into that category and can't stand anything that's not their genre of music, so for all of the people out there who actually know talent firsthand then you'll love the cd.

I was recomended this cd by a friend, he said, since i like Poison The Well, i should check out this band. I saw the cd before, and I had a feeling it was emo, nothing hardcore, i had a lack of intrest in it, because I hate emo with a pasion. But since it was recomended, I figured, what the hell, it's not going to kill me, so I picked it up. Listened to it, wasn't empressed, so through on a pile of cd's and left it to collect dust. A few weeks later, I felt like listening to something differnt, so I threw it in the Cd player, and it eventually grew on me. This cd is just amazing to say none the less. It takes a couple of listenings to get the real feeling of it, or to understand it's beauty, art, and genius. I'm not a fan of this kind of music, but FsF is to damn good to not listen to, an amazing work of art, and this cd is recomended for fans of...well no one in particular, just good music, a must have, a straight up work of art, blisters of beauty.

I miss Chris' music with FSF. Now there's a new singer who doesn't even reach the emotional vocal range that this style of music requires. The CD is alright for the 17 bucks I paid for it, but I just wish that Chris would take a break from Dashboard and come back because that would kick major butt. If you want to hear Further Seems Forver buy "The Moon is Down" if you want to hear Further w/out Chris then pick up this CD. I liked this CD but I still miss Chris's wonderful voice that made me want to cry sometimes! Good CD!