Really good album, I had to admit I thought it was pure horse shit when I first heard it but the more you listen to it the better it gets and I am loving the new midtown now. Only annoying thing is that the lyric "numb" is used in at least 4 different songs :s

I use to be a fan of these guys but this album just blew ass... this was the worst cd i have listened to since mest destination nowhere or what ever that cd was called. they shoulda stuck with a smaller record label

wow. i think you guys are being harsh on the ratings. i mean.. emo isnt about being a great band or having great music. and i think that midtown's music is heartfelt and theyve worked hard for what little they have. people should give them a chance. and i mean- theyr music is great. you just have to pay more attention to the lyrics and hidden meanings. you guys are basing scorings on how catchy the music is. were not music execs. were consumers. and i think this cd rocks becuz its not like what you expect punk to be. its original and even tho some may think its boring, alot of people will be able to relate to them. but hell - im an idiot. dont listen to me ranting on about this.

This album is better than I expected it to be. The song Empty Like the Ocean is really good, although truth to be told, the oceans aren't empty at all..... The instrumentals are a bit lame, Juliana Theory-ish (which is the definition of pretension). Gabe uses the word 'alone' quite a bit. I like how he's apparently on some sort of philosophical/spiritual kick (ie: song titles The Tragedy of the Human Condition and Hey Baby Don't You Know that We're All Whores). Interesting. Anyway, better than expected, nothing mind-blowing, about 1/2 quality, 1/2 quantity.

you babies are always so quick to point the finger at the major label if the band decided to go in that direction. grow the fuck up.

oh and about that whole Thursday Thrice Midtown thing. if Thrice or Thursday were to write an album like Midtown's new one, it'd be considered genious. but no, just because it's Midtown, it's considered something a "3 year old could write".
grow the fuck up, kiddos.

I am disappointed.......May be their Major bring Midtown in a commercial circle...i don't like this cd....is hysteric

Yeah I'm not arguing with you when it comes to lyrics on who is better, but I think there's a lot more bands that write a whole lot better than Thursday or Thrice. I don't know, i guess we all have different opinions when it comes to writing.

Er, I meant to give it a 7

This album is pretty bad at first but it gets better with each listen. In the end, I think it comes together into a good 'rock' album that can be used as driving music or whatever. The best songs are Is It Me, Empty Like The Ocean, So Long As We Keep Our Bodies Numb We're Safe, and Waiting For The News. The rest is mediocre but still very listenable and even possibly enjoyable.

I agree that the lyrics are lacking, but Midtown was never really a band that relied heavily on lyrics. They never had and never will have the lyrical power of Taking Back Sunday or Brand New.

They do have an amazing live show though. I saw them on their recent tour, and then again at a record release acoustic set at Fords. Both were awesome and I can't wait till August 14th when they come around again.

Bottomline: This band is not a must-buy but a nice-to-have. The instrumentals are a little lame but after a few listens you'll be singing along.

yea thrice/thursday lyrics> midtown lyrics. no shit.

I get what you're saying, but I really disagree- I think both of those bands DO talk about death and stuff like that quite a bit- but I think you exxaggerate the level of violence in the lyrics. Thrice particularly writes very poetic lyrics- I mean, yes, we've heard "slit my throat" occasionally on a Thrice album, but for the most part, they write their dark lyrics in a poetic fashion.

And for the record, the last Thursday album was a love album, weirdly enough. I don't know HOW it was a love album- but the lead singer seems to think he wrote it about love and relationships, and damn if I'm going to argue. But I think Thursday is also a poetic band.

Midtown doesn't have any of the flow or poetic sense that I think both Thursday and Thrice do. I mean, I look to the title track of Thrice's "The Artist in the Ambulance", which is actually a very deep song that is adapted from a short story about the same topic. It's very nicely written and doesn't just take words from that book.

"Being a step up from Simple Plan or Good Charlotte doesn't make you a good lyricist, buddy. Midtown would shit their pants if they read a Thrice or Thursday lyric book. But, more of in terms of emo, Something to Write Home About by the Get Up Kids, which makes Midtown's lyrics look like the poetic works of a three year old."

I'm a big fan of Thursday&Thrice, but i guess that would go under the "hardcore" category or whatever the hell you guys are calling it these days.
I bet if Midtown's music was harder and they changed their band name to something with the words "Kill", "Blood" or something amongst those lines in it, and wrote about sliting someone's throat, or slashing their tires, they would be a great band, right?

Being a step up from Simple Plan or Good Charlotte doesn't make you a good lyricist, buddy. Midtown would shit their pants if they read a Thrice or Thursday lyric book. But, more of in terms of emo, Something to Write Home About by the Get Up Kids, which makes Midtown's lyrics look like the poetic works of a three year old.

I've been a midtown fan for a long time, and here's my honest opinion:

i admit they're nothing great, but i enjoy them and they rock live - but thats my opinion

the new album is good, not great. the lyrics arent that great, and some of the songs suck....but the other songs that dont suck are really good

i agree with the previous posts - the album isn't as good as Brand New's new one, but the difference is that Midtown can actually pull their songs off live since they have three legitimate singers, while jesse isn't that great of a singer live

lastly, i was really pissed off that gabe sings lead vocals for EVERY fucking song....the backing vocals are nice, and heath sings a little, but otherwise its nothing like their previous two in terms of vocal creativity - this is what attracted me to the band in the first place.
its funny how my favorite song is no place feels like home where gabe doesnt sing at all....hopefully he isnt taking over the band, although im sure he is.

thank for reading my comment and have a nice day

Their lyrics suck?

Compare them to oh-so-much to other power-pop acts (aka.
"pop-punk"), but I would like to see Good Charlotte and Simple Plan write like Midtown. all the boys from Simple Plan know how to write is about girls, girls, and more co-dependency on girls. Stupid songs, by the way.
Good Charlotte= bitching about being poor, girls, more complaning about being poor&their daddy leaving them, claiming their the real thing, girls, and &much more about being lower-class.

Midtown is a bit different. They don't bitch about girls, because like any other boy claims to do, they say fuck it&move on. And they can't write about being poor, 'cause we all know they're rich boys. So, what else is there to write about? Something with a bit more personality.

Midtown is getting ready to take over. deal with it.

uhhh.... could you sound any more like every other emo...pseudo pop punk band... whats the difference between this shit and back street boys.... the "punk rock egde" please....... manufactured commodities.... thats what these boys have become.....

He meant 180. We can leave it at that.

-BSD

"a three-sixty would mean going in the same direction jackass"

A 360 is a turn around. Jackass.

Where's the new Vandals review??? I'm pretty dissapointed with the new Vandals cd.

>:O

"It’s not a complete three-sixty"

a three-sixty would mean going in the same direction jackass

Bye Bye major label. If Midtown doesn't break up they will release something "harder" on an independent. If your going to sell, out at least make it catchy. THey need to go to punk boot camp,they'll meet other bands there like the Ataris and Saves the Day.

Honestly, I have no beef w/ pop punk, i enjoy it alot actually, and i'm not going to defend that by saying how i also love HWM, dillenger 4 blah blah blah (although i do listen to those bands).

I used to love midtown. I thought 'living well' was a very well done pop punk album, as catchy as it gets...there were a couple super sappy duds on it, but 'still trying' 'get it together' 'become what you hate' were great songs. catchy, but w/ enough cynicism that they were a cut above 'immature' pop punk. i even enjoyed trombino's super polish production. that cd was LOUD.

This album, after 4 listens, is still mediocore. It sounds like something Vagrant would release...kind of a mix of all 3 Jimmy eat world CD's, a touch of no motiv and some deja entendu. It lacks any memorable hooks, and the two best songs BY FAR are 'give up' and 'is it me, is i ttrue' which were released as mp3's months ago.

I give them credit for trying to branch out, get more serious, get heavier but in the end it just sounds like they overstepped their bounds. I'm not saying rewrite 'living well' or 'save the world' again, but a change this drastic sounds forced, pretentious and now, instead of being a cut above most pop punk bands, they are a step below most....emorock bands (or whatever you'd classify no motiv/brand new as).

the lyrics are 'more serious' now but are no better. the use of piano and stupid effects kills the energy.

this album lacks the energy and fun of their first two. now its just boring Vagrant rock, aside from the first 3 songs.

instrumental interludes? ok guys.

Forget what you know - Then remember it with a piano mixed in, and there you go, ohh and take away talent just a bit and then you have midtown's - forget what you know.

This album is cliche written by an emo whore (GABE SAPORTA) who tries to live off the pain of others when he uses and abuses those closest to him. The lyrtics are cliche tenth grade philosophy sentiments that he probably ripped off from a poor twelve year olds emo fan's notebook! midtwon should forget what they know and concentrate on a new occuaption...gabe just become a model, you know you want to but your face is fat!

i'd like to see Rollins go off on Midtown while doing standup

"LIAR!!"

I said my musical opinion was the strongest
That Midtown put out decent music
COS I'M A LIAR, A LIAR
BABY, A LIAR, A LIAR
ALL I EVER DO
IS LIE TO YOU
COS I'M A LIAR, A LIAR

-BSD

they used to be good pop-punk. now they're bad alternative radio rock.

Believe me this isn't the first band on this site who writes bad lyrics and they sure as hell wont be the last. About 85% of the bands mentioned on this site write stupid ass lyrics.

"One more thing- "don't cry for me because I'm already dead" has to be the worst lyric I've heard all here."

yo! but it's really GENIUS - at least when Barney on the simpsons said it!!!! remember that! ah!!!

oh yeah, i shed a tear for old Barney.

"Very good record. I love it."

LIAR!!

" wonder how long it will be until they get dropped from their label."

not long, this album lacks even a remote radio hit. if 'like a movie' didn't work 'give it up' sure as fuck won't.

Very good record. I love it.

One more thing- "don't cry for me because I'm already dead" has to be the worst lyric I've heard all here.

"I really have no idea what the hell is wrong with most of you people. This album will, until Over It's full-length, be the best pop punk album of the year by far. The thing that separates Midtown from all the other pop punk bands is that they don't sing about the same thing over and over and over again (read: "wah wah, I lost my girlfriend, girls are dumb"). They put out music that has some kind of real, tangible meaning and they sound like they play their hearts out doing it. But apparently I'm the only one seeing this."

First of all, if you don't like the fact that people here tend to go more towards hardcore, you should check out a cool little site that is an example of everything that the current breed of pop punk stands for- it's called Absolutepunk.net, and it's mostly trash.

Second, it's true, Midtown doesn't sign all about girls in this album. They sing all about something else, and every single song is the same thing over and over- I'm so tired of everything, blah blah blah, I'm sick of the life I'm living. It's as whiny as any punk-pop band, just disguised behind a different type of lyric.

this is a better cd than you'd expect.

I wonder how long it will be until they get dropped from their label.

forget this band.....
they are pretentious, tight jean wearing, woman-izing, arrogant emo assholes. There is not an ounce of integrity or talent in this band, spend your time and money elsewhere...boycott these assholes...they fucking suck.

Fuck What You KNow

"Pop-punk bands are finally realizing how repeititous the genre is so they try to develop a more 'mature' sounding style. The thing is....it doesnt work for this band. They did the whole catchy power-pop/pop-punk thing really well. This CD sounds so forced and just isn't as fun as their prior 2 efforts."

well said. this album isnt fun. its like they tried to pull a brand new mixed w/ jimmy eat world, but just ended up sounding like a more pretentious and 'hey were serious now!' midtown. they were a cut above most pop punk bands, now they are a cut below most good emo whatever bands. (whatever genre you want to put brand new/jimmy eat world in).

the interludes are pretentious, gabe just sounds like a jerk complaining about how much ass he gets and the 10 minute long last song just makes me want to listen to 'become what you hate' and realize how good their outro's used to be....

biggest letdown of the year?

this shit rukle

"I really have no idea what the hell is wrong with most of you people. This album will, until Over It's full-length, be the best pop punk album of the year by far. The thing that separates Midtown from all the other pop punk bands is that they don't sing about the same thing over and over and over again (read: "wah wah, I lost my girlfriend, girls are dumb"). They put out music that has some kind of real, tangible meaning and they sound like they play their hearts out doing it. But apparently I'm the only one seeing this.

But yeah, I guess everyone here is far too hardcore for pop punk, anyway. Oh well."

I'm not hardcore...just honest

This is nothing special and was infact done better by Brand New.

I realize teh tatecore hype-machine is in full effect for this and any other pop-punk bands that pays him to promote, but it's nothing special.

oh, over it is terrible.

the post below me makes a lot of sense. midtown is awesome because they don't talk about girls. forget if it sounds good or not to you, as long as it doesn't talk about girls.. it's awesome pop-punk. pop-punk rules.

I really have no idea what the hell is wrong with most of you people. This album will, until Over It's full-length, be the best pop punk album of the year by far. The thing that separates Midtown from all the other pop punk bands is that they don't sing about the same thing over and over and over again (read: "wah wah, I lost my girlfriend, girls are dumb"). They put out music that has some kind of real, tangible meaning and they sound like they play their hearts out doing it. But apparently I'm the only one seeing this.

But yeah, I guess everyone here is far too hardcore for pop punk, anyway. Oh well.

I like midtown, I'll admit it. I saw them with armor for sleep and i personally thought midtown tore it up (they needed to play more songs from save the world, but thats a different story)...This cd is not bad, and i think it gives them some seperation from the rest of the pop punk scene. My only MAJOR COMPLAINT, at the end of the last song, they repeat the same 3 sentences for over 6 minutes... just a LITTLE annoying. Overall the cd has some highs, and lows. overall a decent release.

Poor choice of words, my mistake.

What I should have said is Midtown can play their instruments substantially better than their contemporaries.

"Midtown are far less generic than Good Charlotte and Simple Plan. They're all pop punk, but Midtown doesn't follow the 'let's get on TRL and promote not only our shitty music, but also the shitty clothing lines we whore on a daily basis to make crack money' motif.

Midtown can somewhat play their instruments, and somewhat leave you thinking something more could come of their music. The same can't be said for the other two shitpiles."

Yeah, stupid, and if we all judged our music based on how it compares to Simple Plan or Good Charlotte, we'd be giving every album five stars.

You shouldn't be praising a band for playing their own instruments. That's what a band is supposed to be in the first place. You judge a band by whether they make music that makes you say, "Hey! That's good music!" when you listen to the band.

My parents don't reward me for being able to stay out of jail on a day to day basis, and why would they?

midtown fuckin sucks!!!

Everyone loves a pop-punk band until they're really popular. Well, almost anyone at least.

More boring pop-rock.

-BSD

I liked Save the World... and Living Well... so we'll see how this stacks up. Plus, its out for cheap now.

Midtown are far less generic than Good Charlotte and Simple Plan. They're all pop punk, but Midtown doesn't follow the 'let's get on TRL and promote not only our shitty music, but also the shitty clothing lines we whore on a daily basis to make crack money' motif.

Midtown can somewhat play their instruments, and somewhat leave you thinking something more could come of their music. The same can't be said for the other two shitpiles.

Pop-punk bands are finally realizing how repeititous the genre is so they try to develop a more 'mature' sounding style. The thing is....it doesnt work for this band. They did the whole catchy power-pop/pop-punk thing really well. This CD sounds so forced and just isn't as fun as their prior 2 efforts.

http://www.theataris.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=23064&postdays=0& postorder=asc&start=0

Score is for the Michael Moore comment. He is a huge hypocrite. He goes and bitches at all these people about laying off workers and about how they're all poor. Hes makin money off all of their misfortune. He makes some good points but all in all hes a hypocrite.

"I thought Save The World and Living Well were generic and insultingly poppy. I can see why some people liked those albums, but if you do like those albums, then don't act like you hate Simple Plan or Good Charlotte, because they aren't any less generic or catchy."

Touche -- but trust me, I've got plenty of other (and better) reasons to hate Good Charlotte and Simple Plan.

And who cares if they copied Jimmy Eat World? I've always found that people either adore JEW or hate them vehemently; so who cares if Midtown copies them? The people who love JEW will love Midtown, and the opposite.

not really.

the new michael moore flick owns all of you.

what

Wow, when did reviews on this site start sounding like reviews from Pitchfork?

"Three- where the hell are the three-layered vocals that made Midtown so special? Gabe Saporta is fine- I don't think he's terrible on this album, but there is way too much of him"

good point, where are those 3 part harmonies that made their old shit so endearing and catchy.

this sounds liek jimmy eat world all over the place not just the last song.

the instrumental interludes are pretentious

the whole thing is pretty pretentoius, except their haircuts. NOT.

What happened to catcy pop hooks? like some other dude said, if it aint broke dont fix it. i'm not saying be some cheesy trl pop punk band, but I can't even find a chorus on this album, let alone the cool outro's w/ all the harmonies they used to have. DENIED!

and oh yea, who cares what they've been trhough, i feel so bad that they had to go out on the road and fuck girls every night and get drunk. hard life. ASPHINCTERSAYSWHAT?

"I say screw you guys. This band has gone through a lot of shit over the last couple years, and most bands would've just called it quits."

"Oh go cry me a river"

Hey, i didn't know Justin posts here!

I love when people make comments like, "this isn't the best they can do", or "they haven't reached their potential yet"

What are you their coach? I'm all about musical evolution, but they've had 3 albums and been around for what, 5-6 years? You can excuse this poor album as part of their musical growth, but if you ask me, they've already worn out their welcome

Forget what you know. I take that as a sign that when listening/reviewing this album we should not refer back to the 'old' midtown. ALthough true in comments that this is no save the world or living well, this is a good album. Think of it as if this was the first effort by a new band. We should be so lucky as to have more bands who could have such efforts.
For long time midtown listeners i imaigne dissapointment at first spin. The vocals do not sound the same as was pointed out and there is an air of blandness. However, i think this album is better than most crap put out, but not the best they can do.

i would like to point out (again!) that no one has yet to review the new Detachment Kit cd. It is really good, but no one has any idea. Review it!

I thought Save The World and Living Well were generic and insultingly poppy. I can see why some people liked those albums, but if you do like those albums, then don't act like you hate Simple Plan or Good Charlotte, because they aren't any less generic or catchy.

That being said, I think this song has about 6 tracks that fucking rock. The instrumentals are boring and pretensious though, and some of the personal laments are a little too generic to seem genuine.

I think the change is style is beneficial to this, and I recommend picking this one up.

no. it wouldn't.

A good joke would be:

This album should be titled "Forget We Put This Out"

Its good

Brand New already did this... and much better...

good review. I'll pick this up eventually.

This band isn't bad technically but suck when it comes to lyrics.

Well... this isn't the WORST band I've ever heard.

I tried to like Save the World..., I tried to like Living Well... and I tried to enjoy this but I ended up bored. To their credit, it was a different kind of bored each time, but nevertheless bored.

It's alright - it has a few stand out tracks

too Artsy

there is a song that sounds like jimmy eat world, "sweetness" too!!

This Album isn't the Midtown we've all come to expect and love. Maybe they should not try so hard to be the anti-pop punk band who suffers from identity crisis. As I recall, they penned some well crafted pop punk gems on thier previous albums. If it aint broke, don't try and fix it!!

Does anyone notice that the two times Gabe sings the word "salvation" on this album, in two different songs, mind you, that he sings it EXACTLY the same way?

A couple other things- "A Whole New Different World"? Isn't a whole new world going to be different than the other world by default? And isn't Midtown going to be sued by the assholes at Disney?

Don't they deserve to have personal problems just based on their overdone rock-star personas and haircuts? They all look like huge freaking douches, besides the one guy with short hair. Good for him.

I really don't hate this album, but it's so poor by the standards they set with Save the World.

the only good thing about this cd is butch walker.

Thank you for pointing out the obvious with the Jimmy Eat World comment. I've said that to a bunch of my friends and for some reason they don't see it.

Pretty decent album, but a lot less catchy melodies than I've come to expect from Midtown. Some of songs towards the end of the album are just as uninspired as the review. Or maybe I'm just sleepy.

"I say screw you guys. This band has gone through a lot of shit over the last couple years, and most bands would've just called it quits."

Oh go cry me a river- what did they have to go through? Being assholes and having everyone turn on them, being outshinned by other bands that are actually good?

This band was riding high and they tripped over their own self image- not our fault

The big problem with this album? Lyrical quality, which was not terrific, but had some originality to it in the first album, and degraded in the second album, is totally missing here. Reading through the lyric book is enough to give me a headache.

Second thing- a lot of albums take a few listens to grow on you. The problem is, most of those albums I can see the potential. As far as I can tell, so far almost every single song sounds pretty much identical. This is surprisingly completely opposite from Living Well and Save The World, which had quite a few songs with really different sounds.

Three- where the hell are the three-layered vocals that made Midtown so special? Gabe Saporta is fine- I don't think he's terrible on this album, but there is way too much of him.

I don't think it's terrible- in fact, there are enough riffs in here to fill one of the longer Harry Potter books, but the album hasn't even come close to being worth remembering.

And to the guy below me- I don't care how much shit Midtown's been through in the past two years if I'm trying to give my opinion about this album. Being a victim of circumstance doesn't translate to being a god of punk pop. Although to the more "extreme" emo bands (Dashboard Confessional), that might as well be true.

I'd never pay for their albums, but they put on a pretty rockin' live show.

i think you meant a one eighty, not a three sixty.

I think it's better than Living Well and Save the World albums.

"change your life and the universe."

heh, a nice twist on a long time joke..

I say screw you guys. This band has gone through a lot of shit over the last couple years, and most bands would've just called it quits. This album is amazing, catchy, and in my opinion it's just good song writing. I also think most of the reviews on this website are terrible.

Pretty decent review. This album is disappointing.

Eh, I'll forget that I know of this band. That's what I'll forget I know.

Whatever hype you heard was directly from jason tate. Which means you take it like a grain of salt as whatever band he likes/gives him money release albums that will change your life and the universe.

This album has been done before by better bands and shows midtown hopping on the next bandwagon wave before the current one runs out.

nice review inagreendaze i've alwasy liked you in a nongay internet way.

Ironically, i just got out of my car listening to above reviewed album. I will say that i have liked midtown since 'save the world' , have seen them live several times and consider both their previous albums some of the best pop punk efforts ever made. they had the cynicism, the sarcasm and the 'better than most pop punk bands' instrument proficiency. the cockiness is apparent too.

this album shows gabe grown up, pissed off at the label situations of the past few years, tired of cheap road sex and tired of mtv ready pop hits that never hit. (see last album, a brilliant pop punk record that was a little too catchy and sunny to sound honest like the first album)

this album sounds more honest than the last. it lacks the catcyness. its darker, more mature and more raw. it sounds good so far, and will probably grow on me. its still pop punk and midtown at heart, but more ambitious and rockin. whearas 'revenge' sounded like a band too good for pop punk doing pop punk because...well they knew they were too good for pop punk and could do it better than most w/o trying hard. unfortunatley, they came off as overproduced and dishonest.

forget the midtown you knew who wrote songs like 'still trying' and 'like a movie'. they are done.

Say goodnight as they'll be dropped again in two years..if they're lucky to make it that long.

I realize they had their big hissy fit with drive-thru but they made a mistake in leaving that label.

Ehh not that great of an album and I wasn't expecting much in the first place. Pretty unoriginal. You would think this cd had the voice of God on it from all the hype I have been hearing. I'm being generous with my stars.

euhm; first for the first time