Review Summary: This is The Bravery at what is unfortunately their peak.
Since their formation in 2004 the alternative rock band The Bravery reached mainstream success with their hit songs such as “Honest Mistake” and “Believe.” While these singles have made an impact on the Billboard Hot 100 over the years the rest of their catalogue has remained in the shadows and the band itself has been generally pushed to the back of people’s minds since these songs have fallen off the charts. Even the band’s latest album,
Stir The Blood has been relatively ignored by everyone, only getting record sales equivalent to a underground band that is yet to be discovered. The Bravery has made a good living for themselves with the loyal fan base they have, but it is a shame that nothing the band can do can top their self-titled debut album. Why do all the other albums fall in comparison to this you may ask? New direction? Sound change? Actually, it is the bands lack in new direction and sound change made them flop. Their brand of synthesizer pop-punk worked phenomenally on their debut album but grew increasingly tiresome on their following two albums.
The lovely little career-starting gem that is their debut album is probably just as you imagine it. There are no special qualities about this album that make it something that you must listen to before you die, it is just straightforward catchy hook after hook of synthesizers, guitar, and deep vocals. Do not get the wrong impression that this is a bad album though, it is just nothing that will stand out in your mind except maybe when you are on the dance floor at your buddy’s house party. The first song that will come to mind off this album is “Honest Mistake,” the bands first hit. The heavy bass and synthesizer comes thudding in and easygoing guitar is thrown on top, equaling out to a very decent piece of music. Sam Endicott’s voice quickly shifts around from low to high-pitched showing off his impressive range that he continues with throughout the entire album.
The first seven tracks of this eleven-track album are all quite fantastic with just minor flaws of a new band (which they were at the time). The most extraordinary of these are the robotic jam of “Fearless” and the seasonal anthem that is “Swollen Summer” both of which continue with the bands formulated approach at music. It is the following four tracks though where the formula dies. At first it may not be noticeable, but that is exactly the problem, the flaws are not noticeable because they are just downright the same as the previous seven just less enthusiastic. Chances are if you are listening to the album as a whole it is within this range of songs that you will shut it off or just turn down the volume for background noise.
