The Juliana Theory

Understand This Is A Dream (1999)

Kurt

Ok. A lot of people hate The Juliana Theory, whether it be because "the are really poppy" or "they are a bunch of emo-fags" or maybe it's that over exaggerated rumor that their "wannabe rockstar singer wears a headset" or maybe it's just because of a certain website (rhymes with "duddyshed") that people allow to control their opinions and thwart their somewhat open minds. Well I'll just say that they are sorta poppy sometimes, they aren't emo nor gay, their singer wears an EARPIECE MONITOR because of his hearing and as for that "certain website", they don't really like anybody besides Radiohead and Cave-In anyways. So yea, here I go to review this cd, please keep an open mind.

The cd opens up with "This is Not a Love Song" which apparently, it is. The suttle, melodic guitar intro combusts into a fast tempo pop-rocking gem that is made even better with the oh-so-lucious voice of one Mr. Brett Detar and other members of the band doing back up duties. If you love harmonies, this song/cd/band is for you. Next up is "Duane Joseph", and angstful song about a childhood friendship gone aray that might be one of the few songs they do that could be considered remotely "emo". Another faster song with a great breakdown complete with more harmonies. "August In Bethany" is the next track, which is a more slower ballady-type "emo"-pop song. Just beautiful. "Music Box Superhero" follows, which is another slower ballady-type song, but rocks a little bit more, and more harmonies. Brett's voice is one of the better voices in indie-rock today by the way. "Seven Forty Seven" get's the rock going again in a more faster tempo happier song complete with a happy "Wheeeew!" before the last chorus. Things slow down with the next song "The Closest Thing", which is about as poppy as this band gets, and a beautiful song nonetheless, topping it all of with a nice little moog solo. The happiness level climbs back up with the next song "Show Me the Money", which manages to make a near 4 minute song out of one whole sentence for the lyrics ("I thought about what you said, and it's not your money, and I don't care") This is one of my favorite songs, and I love it when Brett says "Wheeeew!", since he does it on this song too. "For Evangeline" is another almost "emo-ey" song, that just seems to float around. Very cool, it even has a little screamo part out of nowhere towards the end. "P.S., We'll Call You When We Get There" is a very happy song, a little more on the pop-punk side, as the Brett envisions the future of his band. This song is ok I guess. The cd then closes out with the very well-crafted "Constellation" with haunting echoing vocals and bursts of rock that come out of nowhere. This song simply needs to be heard to completely be understood, words do it no justice.

So there you go guys, the first in a series of superb albums from a superb band. While later on The Juliana Theory's music makes some dramatic changes, this cd is still what I consider to be their true sound, mainly because all the songs on splits before this cd could of very well been on here. If you are close minded or something, take their bassist Chad's advice: "Screw what you've heard and come see us play". Or maybe download more than one song from them, since all their cd's are different and they can go from N'Sync acoustic ballads to Far-influenced emo-rock to screamo. Oh well, I'm still anticipating a bunch of mindless idiots posting stupid messages below…..