Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Classic, August 1, 2005
Even when constantly being recommended this album by a few friends and reading its great reviews, I still couldn't bring myself to buy it without hearing any songs. Then one day I found it on sale at a local music store and finally broke down and bought it. I will be forever thankful for my "splurge", and will now trust whatever is recommended to me from those certain music buffs who raved over Straylight Run's self titled debut. This is definitely one of the best albums I have heard in a long time, and has quickly grown to become one of my favourite CDs of all time. I generally buy a new CD, listen to it straight for a couple of days, then take it out of my CD player and barely touch it at all. I find it hard to stop playing this album, though. If I don't listen to it for a couple of days, I find myself humming certain songs and I'll feel the need to pop the CD in and listen to it the entire way through.
The album begins with a slight touch of irony with the track 'The Perfect Ending'. The song is extremely slow and mellow, though dramatic. The piano carries the song and allows the soft vocals shine through. Though this is a beautiful track, the lyrics and music just don't grab my attention. It's my least favourite song on the album, and I often find myself skipping it to hear 'The Tension and the Terror', which is among my favourite tracks. The song begins with drums before the guitar breaks in and then the vocals. The lyrics here are simple and perfect. From my understanding, the song speaks about a relationship that, for whatever reason, can't continue any further than friendship. The song is made believable because it's sung with such strong emotion, which builds in time with the music to reach a perfect climax.
'Existentialism on Prom Night' has quickly grown to become a cult classic. It was the song that I first heard off of the album because so many people had raved about it that I skipped straight to it after opening the CD. It's an amazing track, but I felt slightly let down upon hearing it for the first time. It's lyrically perfect and stunning, but not one of the best songs overall on the album. I find that the music doesn't meld with the vocals as well as it does on other tracks, though it is a fabulous track, don't get me wrong. It's most definitely lyrically among my favourites. 'Another Word For Desperate' begins on an extremely dramatic note with pounding drums and a hard guitar. It softens when the vocals begin, but the same beat remains. When the chorus kicks in, the music gets louder again, and the vocals do the same. This track is stunning because you can actually hear desperation and pleading throughout every aspect of it, and the result is beautiful.
The fifth track, 'Mistakes We Knew We Were Making', is another brilliant track. It relaxes the album again after its predecessor. It's stunning lyrically, vocally, and musically, but very easily one of the most forgettable tracks off of the record. Simply speaking, the song refers to past mistakes, regrets, and the refusal to quit. Nearing the end of the song, the vocals become more drawn out before speeding up and then hitting the final chorus. It all comes together perfectly before ending and 'Dignity and Money' opens perfectly. It's another "forgettable" track, though the chorus and bridge are both fabulous and catchy. It slows down quite a bit near the end and features a female vocal before speeding up for the end. I really like the scattered drums on this track, courtesy of Will Noon.
One of my favourite tracks off of this debut is 'Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)'. The vocals are sweet and sincere, which I find pulling on my own emotions. The music and lyrics are exceedingly simple, and it makes for a brilliant and memorable track. Though sung by lead vocalist John Nolan, you can slightly hear Michelle Nolan's voice in the background throughout the chorus, it's even barely noticeable, but it sounds perfect. 'Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs' is the most up-tempo track on the album, and features a change of pace with Michelle Nolan singing lead vocals. I absolutely love this song, possibly only because I can relate it to personal experience, so perhaps I'm slightly biased. The music seems to be very techno-influenced and is something you can clap along to extremely easily. The chorus is very easy to get stuck in your head, so beware. Shawn Cooper shows off his bass skills on this track, it sounds great.
'It's For The Best' is carried well with a strong piano and beautiful lyrics and vocals. It begins slowly before the drums and bass really speed it up. This song contains, quite possibly, my favourite lyrics from the entire album; "I've become content with this life that I lead/Where I drink too much and don't believe in much of anything". It's emotionally driven and sounds amazing. Nearing the end of the album, 'Now It's Done' begins on a dark note before Michelle begins singing her second and final lead vocal. The song deals with reminiscing and finally letting go. It has a frail, delicate sound to it, due in part to Michelle's soft vocals, and in part to the tranquil music featured until the climax. The album closes with the serene 'Sympathy For The Martyr'. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant and brimming with emotion, but at the same time, sadly forgettable. The best part of the song comes when John begins yelling out the lyrics in a passionate rage. All in all, this was a good track to end the album with.
Straylight Run's debut is undoubtedly a must-have for any music fan. I firmly believe that there are certain albums everyone just has to own, and this is one of them. If you haven't already heard any of the tracks, go out and borrow a friend's copy of the album or pick up your own. I'm sure most readers will love 'Existentialism on Prom Night', as that seems to be a listener favourite largely due to the beautiful lyrics.
THE FINAL VERDICT: 100%
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49 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome addition to the emo genre, January 3, 2005
As a 22-year-old, I've been through the grunge era (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, etc.), the post-grunge era (Collective Soul, Live, Bush, etc.), and now the emo era, which started to get big with bands like At The Drive-In. I was skeptical of how emo would do until I heard Taking Back Sunday's 'Tell All Your Friends.' That is still the best emo album I've heard. So it is not surprising that I likewise greatly enjoy this offering from a couple former band members of TBS. While Straylight Run is, of course, more mellow and piano-based, I think TBS fans will like it. Lord knows we don't need another band with the traditional emo sound.
Those who give this album (and other emo albums) one star reviews do so because they dislike the sappy romanticism of emo, or at least, much of emo. Those who feel that way should stop posting negative reviews. Leave the reviews for those of us who see emo as a worthy art form.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated, December 28, 2004
My main concern is that this album will never get the wide attention that it deserves. I had heard Existentialism On Prom Night and loved it so I read some reviews of the CD (I couldn't find a negative one of this CD anywhere, except a few here on Amazon) and I figured well, why not. I figured it would be decent but it is honestly much more than I expected.
Every song carries strong melodies and a great passion written into the lyrics and music. This band crafts songs from their hearts (as corny as I know it sounds) and not from the dollar signs. The piano is prevalent in many of the songs, and this might throw off people who are the 'WOOHOO, ROCK AND ROLL!' type, but the melodies are great and stick with you.
To the people who complain that 'OMG they don't sound like Taking Back Sunday, so they suck!', I have news for them. They're not Taking Back Sunday, their name is Straylight Run. If you want to listen to TBS, listen to TBS, they're still making music. Rage Against The Machine isn't Soundgarden and Soundgarden isn't Audioslave. All of these bands shared similar members but wouldn't it be a stretch to say Soundgarden and RATM sound alike? Bands evolve, sounds change, and people grow.
I don't feel like I have to make individual reviews of each song, it's well-crafted and this album speaks for itself if you care to check it out. Download a couple songs and see if they're for you, they probably are.
"A laundry list of problems doesn't make you interesting
And never getting help doesn't make you brave
Not listening to reason doesn't mean that you have faith
You're just cutting off your nose to spite your face"
- Sympathy For The Martyr
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