This album is much softer than I expected. There's a lot of acoustic guitar picking, lots of breathy backup vocals, and of course, Bemis continues to sing like a sweeter, more refined James Hetfield – Hetfield and Bemis are both strangely prone to letting out little moans after their words. I don't know what's up with that.
And the whole album is probably – what – 20? 20 BPMS lower than …Is a Real Boy.
So it ain't what I was expecting. I'll give them that. And it works well with the title; fast anarchy music is so cliché, no? But about five minutes into the last track you'll find a short burst of 'punk'.
I always expect Bemis' lyrics to improve on the next album. He's got the word-choice down, he's got the topics down – he needs to work on the “show, don't tell” rule, though. He tries to have it both ways - overstatement and understatement. When he chooses one to go with it works amazingly well, but too often he tries to mix them together. there is a jarring disconnect between the flowering and purple language and the overtness of the topic he is tackling.
But Bemis still writes better than most.
Anarchy, My Dear kept my attention. More than that, it kept me interested – which is saying a lot. But there are some flaws. They should review Frietag's pyramid, figure out exactly what it was they did on ...Is a Real Boy, and try again in the morning.
I have yet to check out "Anarchy, My Dear" but I'm interested in whether or not you have listened to the two albums they've released in between "...Is a Real Boy" and their new release. I don't think either lives up to "...Is a Real Boy" but they're interesting in that they branch out quite a bit in style from their earlier work. I'll be giving "Anarchy, My Dear" a listen soon.
ReplyDeleteI listened to "Anarchy, My Dear" once. I'm frustrated because I know Bemis can write a good album. This one wasn't it. Like you suggested, there is something about "...Is a Real Boy" that he needs to study and attempt to build off of. His recent albums have a lot of good parts but nothing that really leaves me satisfied as a whole. He's capable of mixing up self criticism and criticism of the music industry in a beautifully enjoyable and stinging concoction, but he hasn't been able to produce the same results since "...Is a Real Boy."
ReplyDeletePart of my dissatisfaction has to do with the music and the song structure. It's just not interesting to me. I don't mind slowing it down and doing things differently but he doesn't really do anything different or interesting. Which makes me think the focus is supposed to be on the lyrics, which are hit or miss far too often. He's a great writer but unfortunately not consistently enough. I don't think it's nostalgia that draws me to reference "...Is a Real Boy" as Bemis' best work. I think he just hasn't presented that same energy and lyrical goodness since then. Maybe after a few listens I'll feel better about some of the songs but as it is, I'm disappointed by an album with as cool a name as "Anarchy, My Dear" and that makes me sad.
I enjoyed the album overall. There were a few failures, but for the most part, the songs were enjoyable. I would rank "The Stephen Hawking" and "Peace Out" among some of the best songs in their career. I thoroughly enjoyed these two songs, and seemed to like them more and more with each listen. I really love the lyrics of both songs, and the dulcimer in "Peace Out" is brilliant and beautiful. "The Stephen Hawking," besides having brilliant lyrics and a very interesting pacing, really allows the "...Is a Real Boy" era Say Anything to shine through for a while at about the three minute mark.
ReplyDelete"Say Anything" "Burn a Miracle" "Night's Song" "Admit It Again" "Of Steel" and "Anarchy, My Dear" were all good songs. Nothing earth-shatteringly amazing, but catchy and solid songs.
I was disappointed by a few songs. "So Good" is just about the cheesyest thing the band has written, except potentially "Crush'd" It's a little slow for my taste also. "Sheep" has an awful chorus (in my opinion) and "Overbiter" just isn't my cup of tea I guess.