Astray

Samiam

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hopeless Records
• ASIN: B00004W1FR
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,012 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Emo

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It's an old story now. Indie rock stalwarts slog it through the punk rock trenches, release a set of standout albums, build a loyal following, succumb to the temptations of a major-label record deal, then find that their major label is majorly ignoring them. Samiam has survived the ignominy of such a fate, indie cred intact, still finding the beating heart of punk rock pathos in their signature crunch and drive. Back where they belong (thank god!) on a small label, they almost sound gleeful on Astray's opening track, "Sunshine," which lopes along with a plinking guitar ditty before plunging into a massive riff backed with throaty vocals. They seem so happy to be home again after wandering the corporate desert they practically turn back the clock to heady times of punk rock past. "Mexico" would fit right in on the shelf next to early Soul Asylum, and "Mud Hill" could be a long lost Angry Samoans track, harkening back to a day before the great unwashed hordes of indie musicians wouldn't shake hands with a suit, much less ink a deal. Original? No. Kick-ass? Sure. Tod Nelson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This isn't emo!, June 27, 2003

By	Sannah Zay "suncat23" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I'm a punk fan. I hate emo. And Samiam is one of my all-time favorite bands, if not the favorite. I like everything from Minor Threat to Green Day and from Fugazi to Lagwagon, Nomeansno to Victim's Family you name it. But I hate emo. And I hate the typical droll that gets radio play and is called "punk."

Samiam always seems to get bunched in with the "emo" sing/scream bands, and I have no idea why. They are quite distinct from the typical emo garbage that I cannot stand. Perhaps it is just the difficulty of trying to classify them... we are always trying to classify things. Just listen to the sound samples.

Their lyrics are definitely heartfelt and poetic, but don't let that scare you away. They do have a lot of pop ingredients in their music, but it's only the good kind. The music is just friggin amazing, and the vocalist is one of the best ever in all of rock. I dare say that the vocalist is more talented and more distinctive than Glenn Danzig, famous vocalist for another of my all-time favorite bands and one of the top 5 rock vocalists of all time.

A lot of punks are what I would call "meatheads" and would dismiss this as too soft or not punk enough. They only listen to bands that are always hard, all the time. If you fall into this category then you probably hate Fugazi and Jawbreaker, or you might like them only because your friends do (too meatheaded to make up your own mind). This band is way friggin harder than most bands that "sound" harder at first listen. This band is hard as steel.

The main point of this review is to convey personal taste, which is so important and so unstable when it comes to evaluating punk music. If you read the reviews for bands like Saves the Day and [stuff] like that, you'd just go buy it... but you NEED to put their comments into context. I can tell you this band is incredibly talented in every respect (and they are), but how is the music and how does it grab you? There's plenty of very talented bands that make me want to....

The better the music is, the more difficult it becomes to convey the true feeling it can inspire... and matters of personal taste just compound this problem. I have been desperately searching for more bands like Samiam, but they are perhaps too unique a gem... I always end up with disappointing lameness by comparison. Once you see how great this music is, everything else will sound [bad] ... and I hope I've been able to frame my personal taste so that if you find it is similar to yours, you will also find this music to be to your liking.

If you like this album, "You Are Freaking Me Out" and "Soar" are also great albums... the former is unfortunately out of print but IMHO their best. "Clumsy" is also a great album similar to "Astray" and "You are Freaking," but my least favorite among those three. "Billy" is a good album but quite a bit different than anything else they put out (perhaps their "punkest" album, but definitely not their best... my least favorite), and their earliest stuff is also excellent but a bit raw (I happen to like that however).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD ALBUM FOR A GOOD MELODIC PUNK FANS, September 20, 2000

By	JUAN PABLO RAMÍREZ PONCE (Puebla, Mex) - See all my reviews

ALMOST ALL THE SONGS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD, MY FAVORITES ARE SUPERBRAVA, MUDHILL, MEXICO {OF COURSE}AND DULL. IM A NEW FAN FROM THE BAND.THIS IS MY FIRST CD, BUT I WANT TO BUY THE OLDEST ALBUMS, LIKE SOAR. I LIKE THE EMO STYLE BECAUSE IS A MORE MATURE AND MELODIC PUNK WITH EXCELLENT LYRICS ABOUT LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP ITS NOT LIKE THE TYPICAL PUNK WITH THREE CHORDS AND THE SONGS ARE ALL THE SAME. IF YOU LIKE SAMIAM I RECOMENDED OTHER BANDS LIKE PULLEY, MILLENCOLIN{THE NEW ALBUM}, STRUNG OUT, FACE TO FACE{THE NEW ALBUM}, THE GET UP KIDS, EX NUMBER FIVE.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astray = Amazing!, September 5, 2000

By A Customer

Samiam have been around for quite some time now. And for a lot of bands that have been around, that means loss of creative energy, and general downward slope in the finished product. That is not the case for these guys. If you've been a fan since the beginning, you will not be disappointed. If you are a new listener, this will be a refreshing addition.