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| Alkaline TrioAgony & Irony2008 Epic 
 Review by: RedScare See others by this writer Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on July 1st 2008
What's that you say? Okay, calm down. No -- just hear me out -- look kid, it's -- yeah, I know, shut up for a second! Man, I have to start this review off playing defense?!?!
Do you find you like to fall in love with people that you're never gonna meet?Ya know, I am a grouchy old man and it takes a lot to impress me these days, but I think those lyrics are great. Or wait...maybe that stuff appeals to me because I am a grouchy old man? In any case, this shit's awesome, and they've once again managed to make music that speaks to people. On the downside, it's true, this is not the best Alkaline Trio record. There's some stuff that sounds like it belongs in the game Castlevania and lots of samples that may be a bit desperate, but those things don't bother me personally. One of the more interesting elements of this record is the production -- it sheds new light light on the band, and the album wouldn't be the same without all the bells and whistles and fun studio tricks. When I think of all the bands in the last few years that came from the underground and signed with one of the big boys (e.g. Against Me!, Rancid, AFI), this is the best major label debut in my opinion. These guys may have done some things that have made their older fans (note the non-usage of the term “faithful”) scratch their heads, but we're still talking about the same group of guys that write songs you relate to so well and make music that you swear was written about the lives of you and your friends. Don't throw it all away or dismiss the music because it's presented differently; I suggest you come along for the ride. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
The story behind that "gay logo". It's on every alkaline trio album. It's even on the back of Goddamnit. have you ever paid for an album? oh yeah and whats up the gay logo skull in a heart? wtf is that supposed to mean some 1 tell me is their a story behind it? yeah, alkaline sux now their older stuff i miss now their all emo and shit cant stand it! Agreed! I'm starting to appreciate it now when my favorite bands prgress in their music! I see it as them just getting better and perfecting what they do best for themselves and it should be appreciated. I'll always love Trio! Excellent review and excellent views on major label punk bands. They CAN get some really nice shit if they use the major label for better drum sounds and shit instead of using the major label for unnecessary instruments and sounds that are impossible to replicate live (as Fall Out Boy are known to do all the fuckin' time). I haven't listened to this album enough times to know what I'd give it, so I'm not going to rate it at all. Well, yes I will. For the songs I've heard on it a million times. I give them a 10/10. I love Alkaline Trio period. It doesn't matter which album their excellent songs come from, they're excellent. Ok, however said "Dan's best song since 'I'm Dying Tomorrow'" is pretty funny.. I'm Dying Tomorrow is easily one of the worst songs the Trio has ever made.. I thought that was a fact, but as it turns out, it's just my opinion.. oh well It's OK, way better than Crimson. I’ll admit that I use to be one of those kids who got the shits every time one of my favourite bands matured their sounds and became “less punk” or less heavy but now that I’m growing up I’m really embracing bands as they grow and this is a perfect example of a band growing and maturing their sound, some awesome tracks here with yes, a well produced clean sound Goddamnit I always thought this band sucked, because up until like last year, I had only heard their newer stuff. Good Mourning, Crimson... Definitely a step up from Crimson. Didn't blow me away, but I didn't expect it to. Good, solid record. I love this album I love this band. I feel this one was better then crimson. It seems like it's more old school. best review of this album i have read and its all so true. Alkaline Trio has shown everybody there a big boy band now...Not punk enough is stupid. Bottom line if all you care about is how fast they play, or how grungy it should be...well your stuck in a rut. youtube where can I find the "private eye" music video...i've heard about it before but have had no luck in finding it. is the video consistent with the song's lyrics? I'm not gonna say they topped their last album but they came pretty damn close! Certainly going to be in my top five of the year! For me it's Remains time to get shit for my rankings... this is by far their worst. i don't understand the Goddamnit love. Clavicle is prob their best ever song but i just can't bear some of the other stuff on there Why all the Good Mourning hate? It's clearly their best record. There's just one Schlitz. Yeah, yeah. Nothing else comes near. When you're out of Schilitz... you're out of beer. "You actually threw the word "fact" in there when you suggested that I sired a member of Alkaline Trio!" 1. Maybe I'll Catch Fire (ever song damn near perfect) On second read, the only thing I disagree with in the review is the hailing of 'From Here To Infirmary' as their best album. I like it, but I'd rank it last. "Whoever ranked the Trio albums below is so amazingly off, I get the feeling they've never actually listened to Alkaline Trio before." I saw them at summerfest last night. The show was fun, the new songs sounded good live (better than on record, i thought). Also, a great demonstration of the retarded obliviousness of certain members of the human race came when i noticed a couple behind me started making out during "Love Love Kiss Kiss" awesome album, dereks drumming is great I'm way late on this thread, but I just picked this up yesterday and am thoroughly unimpressed. It isn't abysmal, but it just isn't doing it for me, save for two or three tracks. Whoever ranked the Trio albums below is so amazingly off, I get the feeling they've never actually listened to Alkaline Trio before. *obviously disagree In response to wyzo... good call Dante but I don't think you're supposed to undo the diss you can't be a fan of that kid can you? I was no expecting this album to be this fucking good. Jerry Finn was a shitty producer. This new dude has done something goofy to Matt's vocals, but other than that, the whole deal sounds great. Kudos to Alkaline Trio for doing what they do so well for so long. good call Dante but I don't think you're supposed to undo the diss you can't be a fan of that kid can you? good call Dante but I don't think you're supposed to undo the diss you can't be a fan of that kid can you? Good Mourning Oh give wyzo a break he's from Iowa oh poor wyzo is there actually anything to do in that state besides Slipknot concerts? oh give wyzo a break he's from Iowa oh poor wyzo is there actually anything to do in that state besides Slipknot concerts? In response to wyzo... The best part of this review was: "before you cover up your Trio tattoo with a Gaslight Anthem logo..". lol. And for the record, I liked Alk Trio when they were somewhat of a punk rock band - rather than their current mainstream generic regular rock band Regarding the RS scores, there must be a different scoring system in the magazine than in the online version. The only 5/5 I recall ever appearing in the magazine was shit like "OK Computer" and "Smile". I scored this album 7 Rhinos out of a possible 5 Lions. Really I feel that was far. Just because I gave the last Weezer album 8 thumbs out of a possible 4 flower vases doesn't mean it was better. Fuck, who cares who gave it what score? If you like it, listen to it. If not, don't. Don't get your panties in a bunch over a band that was never that spectacular to begin with. Christ... rolling stone hand out 5/5's like its halloween candy, fucking Linkin Park "meteora" and Metallica "st. anger" got 5/5's...I think Limp Dilznik and Brittney Spears have gotten 5/5's from them. Its probably harder to get a 5/5 from alternative press than rolling stone, not that that's saying much, Scott gave the new Weezer album a fuckin 4/5 or some shit and that album is complte shite, far worse than the new Trio (which I believe AP gave a 6/10) "5: RS gave it a 7/10. That's actually a GLOWING review, considering they give a 10/10 about once a decade. No exaggeration." Scott, you're insane Scott's drinking the cool aid, best song since "i'm dying tomorrow"??? You really think "do you wanna know?" is better than "if we never go inside"?? I call bullshit on that opinion! My feelings on this album are somewhat mixed. I hated Crimson at first since it came right after the One Man Army split, which, I think, is the best thing they've ever done. But I grew to like it. My expectations weren't that high for this one, so I wasn't let down. It's a fun album, and "I Found Away", "Do YoU Wanna Know?" and "Ruin It" are amazing songs. It's better than Crimson and Good Mourning easily, and on par with From Here To Infirmary in that both albums have about 6 really strong songs and the rest is filler. The six strong songs on here just happen to be the first six tracks -- the only decent song on the B-side of the record is "Lost And Rendered." The other four, especially "Live Young, Die Fast" and "Love. Love. Kiss. Kiss." are just bland. Besides the basically mumbling and irrelevant asides in this review and the fact that it was written by someone in the bands mom or dad, I take issue with teeny bop boy band type rock fantasy statements like - Well, I like it. There's a couple of stinkers but hey, what can you do. "Crimson" was a pretty decent album, but I thought what really hindered it were the vocal effects, especially on Dan's songs. Oh, and the inclusion of "Sadie" - boy, what a stinker! I'm listening to this record for the first time right now and I'm getting the same vibe on those vocals, which is frustrating because Matt and Dan have two of my favorite voices in punk rock. "You know something has gone horribly wrong when Rolling Stone Thanks dude, keep drinking the kool-aid. This crap sucks. I totally agree with the dude who talked about alkaline trio 2.0 I will be going after lostandclowned. Okay, okay, all of you are WAY out of control! First of all, Toby - nice review. I think this record is great. It's a great pop record. It also happens to be a great punk rock record. Everyone has seemingly forgotten that minimal production does not a punk album make. Bands have been making great "overproduced" punk albums since End of the Century for cryin' out loud! Where is it written that slick production and studio magic automatically un-punk a record? If one of you "punk rock kids" can show me some valid evidence of that fact then perhaps I will relinquish my argument but until then - please see exhibit A - the Ramones. sorry trio, with gaslight leaking, you got KTFO'd after listening it's good but clearly not their best, the bonus cd is worth it however just for the first song they even do acoustic versions with other person singing so that's pretty cool too You know something has gone horribly wrong when Rolling Stone Holy shit this is catchy. Listened to it again, still sucks. If you don't like the record, then go listen to something else. why are people calling this their "major label debut".... Vagrant is a major, don't kid yourselves This score will probably be higher in a week. About a week ago I would have given it a 5, maybe even less. But it's growing on me every time I check it out. "Calling All Skeletons" is great and I've come to like "Over and Out" and "I Found A Way" a lot more. I'm still having issues with "Love Love Kiss Kiss" though. The chorus is just a bit too obnoxious. score is for the phrase "scrotum hoagie". A whole bunch of tears are being cried in this thread. 3 is being generous-it's more like 2.5. There are some good songs here, but most of the choruses are sooo bad I cant bring myself to listen to them. The album? I don't know. Only heard "Help Me" and it sounded ok. The band? The reason I will never buy or listen to this album. And before I get shit on but fan boys: This was my favorite band for years, I'm a bloodpact member (unfortunately) since back when it came with the Halloween 7". I'm not shouting sellout, because that's too easy. I'm calling bullshit because they've said in the past that what they've become today is something they'd never be. Believe in something bigger than yourselves for once. They have little kids making their shoes for fuck's sake. Its definitely growing on me. Its not their best worst, but its not crap either. Its just more one dimensional than previously. The auto-tune on the vocals is outlandish though. I think Good Mourning is the worst thing they've ever done. It sounded like Matt Skiba has strep throat while laying down vocals. Not the disaster it could have been. This album is definitely a grower- I like it more with each spin. It is quite different from their older work. While I for one wish for liquor soaked anthems forever, it's clear that the Trio have grown up some. i'd rate this album at about a c or c . beats the hell out of crimson. Good review, I don't think all the defense is necessary though. I thought Crimson was kind of crappy and I really like this record. In Vein is a great song. *best second major label cd While it's not one of my favorite Bad Religion cds, Stranger Than Fiction is a much better major label debut than this or any other mentioned. It's actually a very good record once you actually listen to it a few times. Far better than Crimson. I like this album. Their sound has changed slightly, but it's still the Trio. sorry, but this is just awful. no way it deserves a 4/5; honestly, it doesn't even deserve a 4/10. there are a couple of listenable tracks, and the rest of the album proceeds to be either something that's boring enough to put you to sleep, or something you wish you could sleep through so you wouldn't have to consciously hear it. come on. don't act like this doesn't suck. is this rolling stone or punk news? after reading this review i had to sit down and give it another listen. its still a disgrace. I had the same reaction that alex does to the ninth symphony This album started out great, i really like the first 3-4 songs, but then it just starts going downhill faster and faster. Love Love Kiss Kiss and Live Young, Die Fast are horribly cheesy. The rest of the album, even the ones with better lyrics, are just dragged down by boring music. Still, I like it better than Crimson.... yea, "sing the sorrow", "indestructable" and "new wave" are all better than this album. First four songs are good, the rest if garbage. "Love, Love, Kiss, Kiss" is one of the worst things I have ever heard. It sounds like something by Cyndi Lauper. A better debut then Sing the Sorrow??...wouldn't say that Awesome record. I agree pretty much 100% with the review. score is for warbrain and only for warbrain I have found that I appreciate a couple of the songs more, after I hear their acoustic versions. Really makes me think the songs could be better if there wasn't so much production on them. But still, it's a decent record. It is by no means their best, but it's an ok summer listen. hopefully this will be thier "Ignorance Is Bliss", you know relize they strayed from "their" sound. this review is too long for my attention span, but i get the point. it's not their best, but the trio is yet to release anything that i would call "bad". i liked matt's songs a lot more than dan's, and overall this record seems a bunch more positive than just about all their previous material. the fact they're now on a major label doesn't appear to have changed much at all. overall, i approve. good for them. I wanted to like this. Really, really badly. Some of it is OK. Some of it - minus the over production - actually sounds like it could have been on an older release. But most of it is exceptionally bad. I don't know who told Dan it would be a good idea to sing with a falsetto voice on "Do You Want to Know" - which frankly wouldn't have been half bad had he sung in his normal voice - but I can't believe they played that back was though it was good. If this had come out when I was in high school instead of Goddamnit, I don't think I would have met any girls at all. This shit is weak. It all sounds the same...like they're chewing on some sweaty balls. Someone find Glenn please. Toby, C'mon man! Dan's songs on this record are average at best. The first four songs gave me hope but the remaining ones were so goddamn-awful. I don't care about the production (although skiba's vocals are cringe-worthingly auto-tuned to the max), it's all about the songs and they really missed on this one. The lyrics are terrible as compared to the ones on Infirmiry (Toby, I agree it is definetly a classic and their best). the album is ok, its not a shit sandwich but it pales in comparison to most of their back catalog. I'm going to have to agree with Colin here. This starts and then before I even realize it, it's over. No variety at all. This score reflects the first 3 tracks, which are pretty good pop songs. Songs like "Live Young, Die Fast" and "Love Love, Kiss Kiss" are completely cringe worthy. It's grown on me. Better than Crimson and Good Mourning, but not awesome. Might pick up the vinyl, we'll see. Not great. Love Love Kiss Kiss was weird, lyrically. Every lyric in that song is either brilliant or stupid. From the example given, I relaly like those first two lines, the sencond two are ridiculous. Fanboy here just giving it a 10. I love this band to death. They can do no wrong in my eys. The songs on the album are good, but as an album, I feel like it drags. I miss the faster beats. But that's just me. This album is their Don't Tell a Soul. just saw them for free yesterday. it was fun. but hot. i saw em tonight in a small venue with only about 300 or less people. This has grown on me a lot. I'd rank it way above Crimson and quite a bit above Good Mourning. It's no Goddammit, but it definitely feels like a return to form in a lot of ways. The trio have been putting out shitty records since good mourning, and this is no different. Was there ever any doubt that this band would eventually blow up? If a band is great, it will eventually find mainstream success. Its happed before and it will happen again (Gaslight Anthem - mark my words). But regardless of whether my 12 year old cousins start listening to Alkaline Trio, it doesn't take away from the fact that they are a great band and have made some of the genre's most praised albums. "And so begins Toby's attempts to get Alkaline Trio to take some Red Scare bands on tour. Score is for the awesome package it came in (at least for the deluxe edition). Nice review. I like the album better than Crimson and it isn't even close. From Here to Infirmary is probably their best album, and this is without a doubt their worst. this score is for the packaging on the deluxe edition and the bonus tracks. very nice Better than Crimson. Still hasn't done anything to blow up my skirt though. Toby, really enjoying this so far, its different but i like it. I had pretty much lost all interest in Alk 3 and thought i had forever. i agree with the person below who said: I hate that "you guys just don't like it because it's on a major" excuse gets thrown around so much on the internet. This record is amazing. people are retarded. From Here to Infirmary is my favorite too, but I don't like this one at all. Weird. I really don't like the mentality of people who say an album sucks just because they think it's going to before it's released but, i don't want to say it's a good album just to spite them. i really didn't enjoy this album at all. does anyone else find that when people hate a record especially before it's even out, it makes you like it better? actually from the quick breeze through the myspace it sounds really decent generic "I hate the album because everyone else on the internet hated it before it came out" comment It's a bit of a grower for me. Some tracks are bland but overall the album is decent. your review is well-written, i just have to disagree on just about every count. i've been a fan of the trio through thick and thin and even enjoyed crimson a bit (at least more than good mourning). I'm enjoying this. I know that's no shock, but I went in thinking it would be a disaster. I was actually surprised by how well it turned out and think these songs would come off very well in a live setting. It's a good review of a solid album. Before the org goes after lostandclowned for his obviously mistaken statement, he broke his wrist and must be under the influence of heavy painkillers, because no person of sound mind would say what he said. it didnt sound so bad at first, but the more i try to listen to it, it just gets worse. and the production gives me a headache. live young, love love, help me, and lost and rendered are totally embarassing to listen to. tcats kicks the shit out of goddamnit for sure. Good review, and just about where I stand on this album. JUST ABOUT. Good review. anti-flag's major label debut was MUCH better. I hate that "you guys just don't like it because it's on a major" excuse gets thrown around so much on the internet. I love the Trio, and I like a few songs on here, but it is really a sub par record and it would be no matter what label it's on. And so begins Toby's attempts to get Alkaline Trio to take some Red Scare bands on tour. those lyrics are AWFUL. |
