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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, and Perfectly Placed, July 3, 2007
Let's take two steps back, and pretend that Mr. John Nolan was never a member of another uberpopular rock band. Let's just let Straylight Run be Straylight Run without comparisons to bands like Taking Back Sundy or Brand New, because seriously guys Straylight Run is neither one of these bands. Now that I have that taken care of I'm going to have to speak in sheer reverence about "The Needles The Space", Straylight's brilliant 2007 debut for Republic Records. As much as I enjoyed the good but uneven 2004 self titled album, an amazing amount of musical maturity has occurred since then (that of which was only hinted at on the ep "Prepare to Be Wrong")
The album starts off with the song "The Words We Say" a toe tapper sung by John that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the disc. It's mellow, which I'm going to say right now, is what this album is all about. Don't expect to find crunching pop punk electric guitar, instead be prepared to be overwhelmed with an expansive use of instruments not traditonally used on a rock record. (trombone, mandolin, accordian) The use of all these different sounds makes the whole album sound expansive and original, not knowing exactly what's coming next.
More so than in their previous works, the lyrical content of this album stands out as well. While some of the album talks about love and politics, a good majority of it is based on the struggles of the faith of John and Michelle. Never more apparent than in the John sung "Who Will Save Us Now", where he talks about how relegion was forced upon him in his youth, only to find out that his beliefs differed from those that he was raised to believe. The disc seems to flow together far better than their debut album as well, drifting from one song to the next seemlesly. Thus, giving it a well needed cohesive feel.
The album is not without fault though. It is definitely soft and slow, at times almost to slow (espically towards the end of the album) I'm in love with the new sound, but found myself longing for another fast paced tune. I also found myself hungry for more songs sung by John, I love the voice of Michelle, but am more fond of John's superlative vocals. These complaints are minute though. "The Needles The Space" is a beautiful, lush album that is far different than any type of rock album out there today; and this, my friends, is not a bad thing.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique and addictive, June 19, 2007
Ever since Straylight Run formed, they've had a unique sound and a genre-mixing style that I love. They manage to write catchy songs that with meaningful lyrics that aren't a bit cheesy, and they sound like nothing you've heard before. I have to disagree with the one star review of this album. It's completely a matter of personal opinion whether it's your taste or not, and Straylight Run has grown and tried new things with their sound, so maybe you DON'T like it...but that doesn't mean it's bad. Personally, I think it's thoughtful and creative without being pretentious. I love John and Michelle's harmonies, and I appreciate the eclectic nature of this album. It sounds a little more indie and a little less emo, and I guess some people don't appreciate that. I'm glad that they are continuing to separate themselves from the pack and define their own sound rather than sticking with a safe, generic guitar-driven emo sound. Although I agree with the below review that the most recent Brand New CD is ambitious and amazing, so is this Straylight Run album - it's just a different kind of amazing.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely Pleased with the much anticipated album, June 30, 2007
I have to say, although I wasn't a big fan of 2 of the songs, this cd ranks on the top of my favorite cds. I don't believe that The Miracle That Never Came was the wisest song to choose as the first single, because although I am a big fan of Straylight Run, the song didn't really fit. But after listening to the whole cd, I've realized that the whole album is different from their first, and definitely not in a bad way. Just know to expect different music. My top picks are "First of the Century", "We'll Never Leave Again", and "Button Down". Trust me, you won't be disappointed!
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