Album Rating: 1.5

band defines average

lol haven't seen this big a disparity in a staff review score and the average score ever.

Review by SowingSeason STAFF
"Quite possibly the most epic, towering indie-pop record of all time"

fucking rofl

that album cover tho

it looks like it would make a better cover for a lighthearted animation than an album that could possibly be any good

or a sims game

Album Rating: 2.5

Reminds me a bit of the Beatles rockband opening

Album Rating: 2.0

I think Of Monsters and Men is great and I don't hate The Lumineers but this is just aggressively mediocre

"aggressively mediocre"

please explain

Album Rating: 4.0

I honestly expected people to hate this (I warned you all in the first comment of this thread lol), I mean most of it is the bane of sputnik's existence - stenciled-in song structures that are catchy for catchy's sake and nothing else. But honestly that's no different than other albums like this that are at least rated respectably here - MCR, Green Day, etc etc. This is just the folk version of all out and over the top. I loved it but I appear to be alone in that adoration which is fine.

Album Rating: 2.5

but my problem with this record is that it isnt going over the top or all out like American Idiot or The Black Parade. Everything here feels like a paint-by-numbers guide to folk pop but instead of using any unique watercolors its all brown, muddy ass water. There is barely any energy behind the vocalist who sounds really out of place in the first place and the arrangements are nowhere near as passable or catchy as what you hear from The Lumineers or Mumford and Sons who are equally bland artists.



like, im an all out sucker for unabashedly over the top pop music and this record feels so lifeless that it cant even be flashy without substance. its just dull, dull, dull.

Album Rating: 4.0

To each his own; trust me I get it.



Personally, I find the vocalist endearing and I felt like there was plenty of energy. I'm a huge sucker for this stuff like you, but unlike you I found this to be folk's "huge" album - like what The Black Parade was to emo-rock/punk and what AI was to pop-rock. But if you've noticed I haven't wasted much time defending this album against the haters in this thread because, quite frankly, there's no leg for me to stand on. When it comes to sugary over-the-top stuff like this, it's all hit or miss and reliant on your tolerance for such unabashedly streamlines music.

Album Rating: 4.0

Also just realized that the band tweeted about this review, so that's always cool. Just hope they conveniently overlook the site average lol

Album Rating: 4.0

Thanks man, and that song title you came up with is better than any song title I've seen this year. I kind of wish it was real.

Album Rating: 2.0

Credit where credit's due, it is a great review as per usual

"no different than other albums like this that are at least rated respectably here - MCR, Green Day, etc etc."

yes there is. there is one big, giant, massive, difference. those albums have nostalgia factor because they came out while most of their fans were in their youth. in a time period where that kind of music was acceptable no less. this will never ever get there.

Album Rating: 4.0

I feel like you're looking at it from your perspective or something. I don't know how old you are but there will always be a youth who are more impressionable to this type of album, so saying there was a time when this kind of music was more acceptable doesn't really make much sense.



I understand what you're saying about nostalgia but how would it be any different for someone who is 14 now listening to this and looking back in 10 years than it is for me looking back 10 years to the release of The Black Parade? It's the same thing, all just relative to the combination of factors involving age, album, and impressionability.

no its not the same at all because this album isnt ingrained into this generation of youths pop music culture through the media and therefore will never reach as many kids as mcr or green day did and half of their success and nostalgia value is the fact that there are so many people with that same shared experience.

so no, im not looking at it from my perspective. especially considering i never was a part of the mcr and greenday love anyway. blink-182 for me.

Album Rating: 4.0

Oh yes I 100% agree, it will never be even 1/10 as successful as those records (for the reasons you mentioned among several others). I was just looking at the approach/style taken. This is like the folk-pop/radio-whatever-the-fuck-you-wanna-call-it version of some grandiose, parade-worthy bullshit concept album. It's no better or worse in its pretense, and the way the whole thing is one huge pop album disguised as [insert genre] is basically the same thing. I was just discussing the approach.