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Marathon

Marathon (2005)
Reignition Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on May 31st 2005

Marathon's quirky brand of hardcore punk was accompanied by an eloquently stated socio-politico mindset on their debut EP, Songs To Turn The Tide, and showed a veritable ton of promise in the upstate New York-based outfit. So what makes their first full-length so disappointing? A variety of traits as numerous as what made the EP so good, actually.

The disc starts promisingly with a declaratory alarming guitar riff in the right speaker and the opening salvo of "Let's start a war! Let's start a war! What the hell do you think all these new bombs are for?!" It's chock full of catchy, anti-chorus parts, above-par vocal harmonies and fast-paced tempos. Its follower "I Don't Have A Dancing Problem" is another superb track, but immediately after, that's about where Marathon's self-titled debut starts to falter. The remaining portion of the record flip-flops between a boring, slowed down take on the EpiFat sound and fangless melodic rock. Marathon just seems like a forced effort to evolve and make a more accessible sound, as in "Gouge 'Em Out, They're Useless Anyway," which has a small handful of lyrical lines repeated with distortion and add nothing to the song but pointless repetition. The second half blows by without much notice, save for the acoustic ditty "Names Have Been Changed (To Protect The Guilty)."

While there are plenty spots of smart articulation the band initially started developing a following on, a disappointing portion of Marathon relies on poorly worded statements and observations, irritatingly inconsistent in comparison with the preceding release. Even in one of the few standouts on the record -- the aforementioned "I Don't Have A Dancing Problem" -- the lead vocalist simply sings "Everyone's a dealer selling bad shit to each other." They just seem lazy and careless at otherwise important moments like these, when it's obvious the band has the ability to be blunt in more expressive mannerisms. Granted, there are more personal narratives scattered throughout the record than past material, but passages like "This human virus is a nasty contagion / We spread our cancer as we multiply / Our sightless hubris will crush civilization / Soon we'll be harvesting our own demise" prove they still have the ability to write a Biafra-like college thesis of melodicore -- this just isn't it.

There's so much more Marathon could've been, and it only seems to meet it halfway. Here's to hoping it's an early career identity crisis and the band can find a comfortable niche on their next effort.

STREAM
Paint By Numbers
I Don't Have A Dancing Problem

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TheMarc (December 13, 2007)

This was definitely one of those times when opinions were wrong. Flawless album.

theyounginfluential (September 17, 2007)

Phil Norris00 (7:38:32 PM): "Brian is a cunt. This band ruled"

T-Rock (June 28, 2007)

Great album. This band didn't put out enough stuff, and it's a shame.

Very intellegent, very artistic, very political.

Anonymous (June 25, 2006)

Im not down with 12-steps unless youre showing me new moves

TIGHT (May 23, 2006)

Whaaat? this is such an intelligent, passionate, album.

Anonymous (January 30, 2006)

The best album of 2005, hands down (in my opinion that is, feel free to disagree). These guys can rock with the best of 'em live, and I haven't taken this CD out of my changer since I got it. Still the only CD I can listen to every single day and never get bored. The best place for this though, is in the car. You won't find a better driving CD. Period.

Anonymous (November 22, 2005)

This is the best album I've heard in months

Anonymous (June 19, 2005)

just got back from seeing them in Pittsburgh with NMDS...fucking awesome. Supoib live show

Anonymous (June 6, 2005)

Excellent album. The lyrics are gold.

tristan (June 3, 2005)

Good review!

slippy (June 2, 2005)

No, you're crazy.

Anonymous (June 2, 2005)

This record blows away thier EP!!! You people are all crazy.

Anchors (June 2, 2005)

Yo, are you going to the Syracuse sing-a-long? That's looking to be a good time. And apparently Freya is doing that now? Good think they're good live, I can't get rid of them. Saw them twice last weekend, I'll be seeing them June 10th, and now the sing-a-long.

LMChc (June 2, 2005)

I love this band. I was at the record release show. I busted open the cd outside the wescott community center.

I wasn't that impressed with it.

It has good songs, but there are definitely some songs that should have been replaced by ones that weren't so forgettable.

Definitely not a 2, but a step back (in some ways) from songs to turn the tide.

Anchors (June 1, 2005)

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=opinion

http://dicti onary.reference.com/search?q=fact

xJ25x (June 1, 2005)

This album smokes. My first time through was an un-mastered version and I wasn't totally sold on the slower songs. Once I got a mastered version and could reall absorb the record I was hooked. I do think they wander a bit and sound a bit like AFI in parts and a bit like Bad Religion in others, but I think if they had written an entire record like the first 2 songs, it would've gotten boring by track 4 or 5 . . . the way it stands, I think it's a great record.

Reviewers are allowed to have different opinions, this one just happens to be wrong.

Anchors (June 1, 2005)

And by that same logic, all movie critics should be directors, because those from the outside don't have proper crudentials to analyze their work.

I love this site, and working for it, but I swear some of you kids are worse than the kids that frequent APnet sometimes. Is it really that far out of the realm of possibility that somebody has a different opinion on a record?

There are some albums that really can't be criticized by anybody, but until Marathon writes Rubber Soul II or Highway 61 Revisited... Again, than give us the benefit of the doubt.

inagreendase (June 1, 2005)

those who can't, write reviews.

What you're essentially saying is that unless you're capable of doing something, you're not qualified to criticize it.

Okay -- if this is true, you're never allowed to criticize the President's actions, unless you truly believe you'd do a better job in his seat. That goes for food, too -- never criticize the way something tastes unless you believe you can cook it better. Because, you know, those who review, can't.

Sally_Field (June 1, 2005)

Seriously you people bitch and moan about the quality of the writing, where you KNOW if the record was praised, you wouldn't give a rat's ass if the writing was of low quality; which in this case it clearly ISN'T. Don't act like the way the review was written is your problem with it, it's the opinion of the reviewer.

Have some fucking logic.

Anonymous (June 1, 2005)

score is for the review. I enjoy this record quite a bit

Anonymous (June 1, 2005)

marathon is the hottest thing since breakfast toast. the record is amazing. yer out of yer fuckin skulls. we should pull jay and silent bobs on all these fucks hating on the marathon record. now bitch run tell dat. its funny that all yer 15 year old sisters are all about the my chemical knutsack record=funny same producer.

Anonymous (June 1, 2005)

this band is good.

and by good. i mean real good.

those who can do.
those who can't, write reviews.

inagreendase (June 1, 2005)

Everyone on this site writes like they didn't make the final cut of their high school literary magazine.

Most high school literary magazines are a well of "creative" writing á la stories and teen angst poems as well as drawings of things like dragons and animé. Try again.

Anonymous (June 1, 2005)

re: reviewers. i mean, you guys at least don't get PAID to write these do you? christ, if so, someone is giving money to a bunch of grade a dick magnets, where do i sign up?

you guys all suck.

Anchors (June 1, 2005)

I love that when you kids disagree with a reviewer, it automatically means that we don't know how to write.

Anonymous (June 1, 2005)

Sometimes I wonder where Punknews finds these reviewers. They clearly have a limited screening process. Everyone on this site writes like they didn't make the final cut of their high school literary magazine. This guy clearly failed music history... Marathon is amazing and their new CD fucking rocks. Do yourself a favor, disregard this review, and check out Marathon's new disc immediately.

Anonymous (May 31, 2005)

this review is so wrong, this idiot didn't even spell the song titles correctly (see audio streaming)

painting by numbers

child

bizzlebrizzle (May 31, 2005)

If Marathon sounds like any band it's Bigwig.

teddytexas (May 31, 2005)

This is a great album, i think everyone should give it a listen.

pastepunk (May 31, 2005)

Rise Against? Seriously? Not one bit like Rise Against, unless it's because both bands have guitars and drums or something...

Anonymous (May 31, 2005)

These guys do a good job of sounding exactly like Rise Against. Which is good if you like that sort of thing, but I sure as hell don't.

Anonymous (May 31, 2005)

Did the reviewer even listen to this album? It's fucking amazing. You're way off base. Waaaaaaaay off.

Anonymous (May 31, 2005)

this review is so far off it's not even funny.

notfeelingcreative (May 31, 2005)

I loved "Songs To Turn The Tide", so I'm guessing I shouldn't buy this.

cubaricho (May 31, 2005)

The way I feel about this record is that there are some good tracks at the beginning, and some good ones at the end. In the middle however is lots of boring filler. Overall this CD is still a lot better than a lot of shit coming out though.

johnrambo (May 31, 2005)

woah. brian.

well... i have heard the entire full length. the first two tracks on this cd were the ones they put on their purevolume site months ago and when i first heard them i immediatley thought they were the finest songs they had written to that point. and i still feel that way. those songs lead me to believe that this was going to be the best album i've ever heard once it came out. when i first heard it in its entirety, the record went by those first two familiar songs and then (in my mind) lost a sort of momentum that i was accustomed to with this band. many songs are considerably slower, but some faster tunes were spread out into the mix as well. by nature (and nurture), i am generally not a fan of slower punk tunes, but after a few listens, these songs really won me over. the lyrics are not as trite or contrived as brian mentioned either. there are some particularly great lines in songs such as "matchmaker, matchmaker", "home is where the van is", and "courting my soul". the emphasis seems to be less on socio-political matters this time around and more on the desperation of love, being on tour, growing old, ect. At the same time though, there are many songs still clinging to the political nature that they are famous for, and i dont see this segregation as a flaw, i see it as maturity and necessity. to write a 13 song album and not delve into personal matters is just rediculous. suffice to say... this album definately does not deserve 2 stars. this album stands up to and surpasses many of the bigger names in this genre, and i listen to this CD as much as any new release that goes highly anticipated. heres the plan: see them live and buy this album at the show, you'll be an instant fan.

bizzlebrizzle (May 31, 2005)

I ain't heard the new one, but I've heard the old one.

DeLaHoya fucking rocks though.

Anonymous (May 31, 2005)

i agree with the review, but i think the score is a little low. still a good band.

Anchors (May 31, 2005)

Good live band.

thefirstfive (May 31, 2005)

not a memeber of the street team or friend of the band, but this is a really good album. I just dont get the bad review.

thefirstfive (May 31, 2005)

So... if you've never heard this band they are great. But if you have unfair expectations for their debut you'll think it sucks.... ok.