Customer Reviews

Untouchable

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

 

 

I have been a BTE fan since the start with the first, self titled album being my favorite. This album has overtaken that spot and is amazing. While a lot of people are complaining that it does not have enough screaming (which if I had to complain about anything, I would agree with this)the songs that incorporate screaming are epic. Hell or High Water is my favorite song and has one of the sickest breakdowns I have ever heard. This is a band trying to make a name for themselves and that is their inspiration to change their style slightly and I can appreciate that. Great album guys, keep it up!

Talk about hitting two birds with one stone... two EP's for the price of one album. Before Their Eyes' most recent release "Untouchable" opens with what is quintessentially the perfect post-hardcore screamo anthem, "Hey Dude!". Piercing vocals and uplifting lyrics it gets the album rocking from the outset.

Here is where it gets twisted; BTE has risen in prominence through its hard guitars and screams, so why not shift gears from 5th to 2nd and sing a pop-rock diddy? The vocals are clean and the guitar lines quick and simple. "Sing to Me" has mainstream appeal and definitely will be a focal point for the album. The following next three songs stay in the realm of pop-rock, closing with perhaps the best of the BTE Goes Pop EP... "My Match, Your Fire". For fans of Jimmy Eat World, The Juliana Theory, Yellowcard and the like, this section reads like a chapter out of the emo playbook.

Breaking up the two sides of this album is a contribution entitled, "Start With Today", which reads like a ballad. Featuring vocals from Kristen Williams, it's a song that demands a lighter and thousands of swaying arms. Lyrically it drives home the need to live in the moment and speaks of reconciliation.

Fans of BTE's two preceding albums will recognize the next four songs, as the dark screams return and the album takes a step into a depth that made their early music successful. "Finding a Way" will easily be a rocker's anthem and dream. However, instead of a hard punch to the gut to close the album, they chose to add an acoustic version of "Start With Today" which seals the album as exclusively one of the most diverse post-hardcore albums I've ever heard. Simply brilliant, It's untouchable!

I heard a few songs from this album on youtube and I just had to have the CD! Overall its pretty cool, there is some screaming and alot of high singing. The guitars are pretty cool, and the drums are great! If you like the first 2 or 3 songs you will like whole album.

Oddly, I'm not even going to write about the quality of the writing in these songs (although they are quite good). As a songwriter, musician and engineer, however, I was floored when I put this on the (very expensive) headphones and starting trying to dissect the production. These guys, and the technical team behind them, are hugely talented. The production is so smooth, and so polished, and so pure, it just sucks you into each track. At some points it does become a bit harsh from an audio standpoint, but even that seems planned and flawlessly executed. It almost seems a shame when each track ends, there is so much going on, you just want it to continue! At first glance, they seem to comfortably fit into all the usual stereotypes of similar pop metal bands... except that's not really what they are. There is literally something in here for almost anyone who likes any kind of rock, from ballads to thrash, which is perhaps the the only criticism I can level at this album as a whole... it almost tries to cover too much territory. The singing especially is phenomenal and makes every song enjoyable, even the massively heavy ones (if that's not your thing). I heard this album accidentally, and that just should not be the case. I hope they really break big, because we need this kind of music to show the next batch of musicians-in-training where the bar is that they need to reach for.

I was and still am throughly let down with this recording. I had high hopes but I will be phasing this group out now as they sound like so many other bands now. At least I can still listen to their older stuff.... WHY did they do this?

So these guys might be some of the hardest working in the business, and I know that sounds cliche... but from my point of view its totally true. The CD is solid, from beginning to end, it's moved up to one of my all time favorites in only a few listens.

In a world of stealing music, I waited to listen to this til I held the CD in hand. And I was not disappointed for the wait. It's the first CD in a long time that I haven't listened to before I bought, and I'm glad I didn't because I sat back and just enjoyed this CD so much on first listen, I instantly put it on again.

This band deserves your undivided attention and this CD should get it. It's sincerely nothing short of amazing.

Why are you still reading this!? Buy the CD! Now!