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 Review by: Chris See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on September 5th 2006
Hardcore is a very fine line to walk as a band. Generally, a good band will release a great EP and/or LP, and then slowly fizzle out. Progression is too-often criticized to the point where it becomes an unachievable goal. To some, Strike Anywhere were just another band on the same path. After a great start with their first EP, Chorus of One, came the instant classic, their first full-length Change Is a Sound; the followup, Exit English, seemed to be the beginning of the end in the eyes of many. Another hardcore band with a decent run, but their time was over, nothing left to say.
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This is a good record. pick it up. ok. its a great record, except for "How to Pray" and that shit at the beginning of "Gunpowder" like right now i'm listening to Rise Against pandora radio and strike anywhere keeps coming on. logicaly, i should really like Strike Anywhere. great energy, lyrics, melody, intensity, similar to Rise Against, AFI, Good Riddance ETC. even down to the fact that they're near where i live and i get recommendations to them all the time. but i just can't get into them. i can't figure it out. Alot of the songs seemed to reapeat themsleves... but you can read the lyrics on their site! that's why i wrote the previous comment, and didn't wrote that. i don't get why should it be disappointing. it's intense like change is a sound, and has amazing melodies. anyway i don't know about the booklet. i've ordered the vinyl but haven't it yet, so don't know. i noticed one guy below mentioned reading the lyrics and now i'm curious. did the cd come with a lyrics book? mine definitely did not. it's just a digipak with nothing in the little slip space. the only words on the whole pack was s.a. dead fm and the tracklist on the back. not even a recorded by produced by s.a. is so and so. i hope i didn't get screwed out of a lyric book. Right now I give it four and a half stars, but by next month it could be down to three and a half! I just got this in the mail today! RIght now, I'm really digging the record, but strike anywhere albums have this pattern with me: I love them for about two or three months, then I kind of like them for another month, by the fifth or six month I'm so tired of the songs that I can't even listen to it anymore. We'll see how this one ends up! Do any of their songs sound like The Bronx, Paint it Black, or heavy Good Riddance? That's the kind of "melodic" punk i'm looking for; not the Locust, not the Lawrence Arms, not Alkaline Trio. Just punk that feels like it is truely passionate and devoid of pop-punk song undertones. It's so easy for me to dismiss this band, but i'll download it and try... but with preconcieved notions I probably won't like it. This album is brilliant. It has some amazing tracks on it such as "Sedition", "Iron Trees" and "Instinct"... I rate this album on par with Exit English, but slightly lesser than Change is a Sound. If you get rid of The Promise, Speak To Our Empty Pockets, and Ballad Of Bloody Run, you have a pretty solid album. i noticed one guy below mentioned reading the lyrics and now i'm curious. did the cd come with a lyrics book? mine definitely did not. it's just a digipak with nothing in the little slip space. the only words on the whole pack was s.a. dead fm and the tracklist on the back. not even a recorded by produced by s.a. is so and so. i hope i didn't get screwed out of a lyric book. "I don't really see what's disappointing about it unless you all want them to release another "Change is a Sound"." I guess I'm a loser or whatever, but there is nothing hardcore about this album. There's a lot about it that's good though! So I've really tried to get into this band but it's hard for some reason. I've listened to probably a dozen songs total by this band, and I don't know I can't qite put my finger on it. They are a good band to see live, good show. OK I finally got this. This album is amazing, and if you don't agree, go hear them play it live. Seeing them with modern life is war was outstanding. stop calling Strike Anywhere hardcore because they are anything but hardcore. i agree with dude a few posts down about No Trigger's latest being better, but this is still damn fine. barring a few tracks, this album is pretty blah. just doesnt really grab me. the style of chang is a sound is just fucking perfect. this ist just kinda forgettable. definately tops Exit English, ties with the b-sides release Good review. I enjoy this record and I think the melodic stuff sounds better. I guess I'm just soft. Sorry to say it but......... "Ill walk this wasteland with you cause its the least I can do" Ive been singing that line all day. Another great release, way better than Exit. Im glad they decided to go with some different mastering this time, while its still Brian M producing its sounds a little fresher this time. I'm with Brian in thinking Exit English is at least tied for their best. I really thought it was the best record of 2003. definatly a let down. the opening track is a fuckin' killer jam that is easily reminiscent of the band i love. yet heading into track two and beyond it looses more and more what always made them stand out as a band. It ends up being nothing more than some pop rock record with a few sweet guitar lines with well written lyrics. definatly a let down for me from one of my favoirte bands. am i the only one who thinks this is just another strike anywhere record? i don't know how this would be in contention for tops of the year. there's nothing really grasping about it. "ChokingVictim - Go strike anywhere ! I counted 3... Don't have this yet, but after all the comments I'm kinda excited after being a little let down by Exit English. Also, I'm kinda surprised there are no comments on how the reviewer insisted on calling Strike Anywhere a hardcore band 37 times in one review. More melodic hardcore if you ask me, but maybe I'm just nitpicking,which seems to be what this site is all about... oldpunker: sickboi, i agree with you. Top 5 of the year-oldpunker- I really hated it at first, but this one's a grower. I think one of the guitars sounds awful at times, but I love that the singings gone more melodic. Bizzle, unless you bought it (which I don't remember you telling me you did...) I don't think you can really comment on the lyrics. Some of what you were talking about being "lame" lyric-wise may not even be what you think it is. Many of the songs have explainations as to what they're talking about, and I think that if you sat down and had the booklet in front of you, you'd change your mind on at least a couple of those songs. I think the whole thing is very strong, and better than Exit English at the very least. well i picked it up after work yesterday and listened uninterrupted for 31 minutes straight through while reading the lyrics I dunno. I think Anti-Flag's image throws off a lot of people. Very Casualties-ish. If they were just some dudes in t-shirts and jeans, without superduper hair, I think more people would respect them. I think they take the line "we'll take back everything they steal" too seriously... What? Strike Anywhere may be blunt, but they have a much more eloquent way of being blunt than Anti-Flag. I dunno, I just have higher expectations out of them as a band. this is a pretty good cd. prisoner of echoes is my fave right now. and i think this person- *Their songwriting What are you talking about? Strike Anywhere have always been a very "matter-of-fact" political band. They're songwriting is very similar to Anti-Flag's because they don't hide what they are trying to say in confusing metaphors or vague comparisons, they just come right out and say it, which I personally respect. Call is sloganeering all you want, but both bands don't just speak shit, they actually get involved in the causes they speak out against. I mostly just hate those songs they put up on myspace/fat's site, I'm left wondering if it was Anti-Flag who wrote those lyrics. I think Sickboi and I have different copies of this record than most other people because it kills. I swear it gets better and better each time I play it on ye 'ol iPod. there's like 3 or 4 duds on this, but the rest of it's pretty damn good. One of the only worthwhile releases this year. Digging the new Falcon record as well. Year may be savaged yet. Great record. It's all I want/need from a record these days. i like the band but not their music...strange, isnt it?? It's a good, poppy album by the band and something kind of refreshing for the Strike Anywhere fans. Those looking for the second coming of Jesus in this latest album should look elsewhere...like their back catalog for instance. A solid effort. "After "Sedition", it's all downhill from there, but kids, that's the best song the band's made, in my opinion." very pleasently surprised. the songs i had hear werent amazing, but the cd as a whole is great. I'm just not feeling it. I enjoy this, not nearly as much as their previous albums though. Still, "Sedition", "The Promise" and "Prisoner Echoes" are all way awesome songs. I need to give it a few more listens. mm hmm. Speaking of Richmond, VA, what the hell is Jay Rollin's Funeral? Brian, I've never met anyone who thought Exit English was their best except for you. This CD is good, but the music is a bit too polished/poppy and it doesn't sound urgent in the slightest, although the lyrics are fantastic. A solid seven. It's weird; all the internet punx call Chorus of One tops, but all the people I've talked to in person nod to Exit English like me. I think the Inquisition rerelease is a much better purchase. Oh and JayTee i totally agree. The new Anti-Flag rips this thing to shreds on every level, and I've never really liked Anti-Flag before. I've listened to this record about 10 times now, and I can sum it up with one word: Forgettable. I can remember about 3 melodies or lyrics on the whole album and usually after that many listens I have a pretty good handle on a CD, but there are no good choruses, no diversity (that fast beat could be broken up within songs a bit more), and it all just kindof runs together. After "Sedition", it's all downhill from there, but kids, that's the best song the band's made, in my opinion. I kept this on in the background and remember 3/4th of the way through wanting to change what I was listening to, without realizing it was still this album. "Preacher/Pulpit"?? Sickboi, explain yes, yes, yes!! very good yeah, this is good. This album is really rad. Maybe I'll listen to it more later though. If I went back 3 years and told myself I'd be listening to a new Anti-Flag cd more than a new Strike Anywhere I'd have kicked my own ass. But it's true as of late. Allies is my favorite track of the year. As opposed to everyone else, I think the album actually improves in the second half. Allies, Iron Trees, House Arrest and Ballad Of Bloody Run are some of my favorites on the album. oldpunker: Godfather: great as I expected it... great band on a great label with a great record... yeah... means, great! :-) Wonderful album. "Hollywood Cemetery" is my favorite, followed closely by "Ballad of Bloody Run". Good album, i haven thad time to let it sink in yet im sure it'll wear on me and i'll grow to like it more. I remember when i first heard the chorus of one e.p. i wasnt especially fond of it but i let it grow on me and its become one of my favorite e.p's ChokingVictim - I agree with sickboi, allies is great, im leaning towards two thousand voices as my fav so far -oldpunker- it's definitely a lot more melodic and overall, i think it's a better record than exit english. prisoner echoes, how to pray, the promise and gunpowder are instant favorites of mine. thomas sounds excellent as always and his lyrics are poignant and thought provoking. but there's still one too many forgetable tracks on here, especially the 2nd half of the record with allies, house arrest, and ballad of bloody run. overall, a decent record and i can't wait to hear some of the new songs played live. Good CD, too bad I missed them last week, it was raining like a motherfucker and all the streets were flooded. sunday's dc show was great but i hadn't learned all the words to dead fm so i was left out during some of the songs....anyone there early may have caught the cat fight near the entrance in between the first and second acts....one girl with short dikey hair got decked; it didnt last long but it was so funny when the one girl gets up and tries to start talking shit again....oh yeah, ignite and modern life is war put on a great show too....ignite's cover of johnny cash's judgement day was the highlight of the night Remember when the guitarist of this band won the Gilette Sexiest Face contest or something like that? That was crazy. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Wow, after a few listens, this is great...I have a few favorites already that stand out, but overall, muuuuuch more melodic than Exit..im gettin' this on the way home from work today-oldpunker- "Posted by GreatStoryOfApathy on 2006-09-05 13:36:51 some decent songs but it sounds like the rage has gone. sounds more like a pop-punk record score is for the show on Sunday in DC...Ignite/Strike Anywhere were fantastic, one of the best shows of the year That's exactly how I felt. After my first few listens, there were maybe 4 songs I was skipping to. But the more I listen the better of a flow it has. The only song I really do not like is that "Preacher/Pulpit" one, the chorus really annoys me. whoops. that comment below was me. I can't really say what I'd score this album just yet, seeing as I've only had it since yesterday, but I love it. I've listened to it probably about 6 or 7 times already, and I agree with what you've said. There's undoubtably an emphasis on melody, and I think that's for the better. I think there are a couple songs that could have been left off of it to make it stronger, but there's nothing wrong with the flow. It's definitely the winner I expected it to be. It's just taking a bit more time to grow on me because there were only a few songs that REALLY stood out upon the first couple listens, but it's sounding better and better the more I listen. Good record, more developed than Exit English and some better tracks. can't say i agree on this one. there's nothing on this album that makes me think i shouldn't just go put on change is a sound or exit english. it's another strike anywhere record... which, is a good thing, but nothing new or exciting and it's becoming somewhat trite. almost too easy. it doesn't even sound like they're trying after track seven this album shouldn't get more than three stars I haven't found a track like Sunset or To The World on this cd yet. That's when I like this band most. Still a good cd, just not what I was expecting. this record is great, the falcon songs are better though. is that out today too? strike anywhere i think is better off as a melodic band with some "harder" moments.. i never found chorus of one or CIAS to be that aggressive |
