manuscriptreplica
11-19-2003, 08:07 AM
http://www.audio-ideas.com/reviews/cd-reviews/graphics/at-the-drive-in.jpg
This is one of my all-time favouritest best albums ever, so I thought I may as well do a review on it, since I love writing them so very very much.
First of all – At the Drive-in – what a band. The band has become synonymous with music fans worldwide who appreciate great hard working bands like this one. This was their first major record label album (if anyone says sell out I will personally hit them with several golf clubs) and their 7th album overall. I personally feel this is their best; they seem to have matured in their songwriting (if you saw them live, it’s a different story...) but yeah. This album features two of At the Drive-in’s hits, but in my opinion not their best songs, ‘One Armed Scissor’ and ‘Invalid Letter Dept.’.
At the Drive-in are one of the purest rock and roll bands out there. Whilst not directly rock and roll, they have created their own genre, along with influences such as Fugazi and Led Zeppelin. Every song you can feel the emotion that is being played, and if you could decipher Bixler’s vocals, I’m sure they are sending out a great message. This is what I love about this band, and it was one of the saddest moments in indie history when the band broke up.
Before we indulge into proceedings, I would like to ponder aloud ‘where the hell do they get their song names from??’ Pattern Against User and One Armed Scissor are the only two of the twelve that have lyrics in the song. Oh well.
Song List on ‘Relationship’
1. Arc Arsenal
2. Pattern Against User
3. One Armed Scissor
4. Sleepwalk Capsules
5. Invalid Letter Dept.
6. Mannequin Republic
7. Enfilade
8. Rolodex Propaganda
9. Quarantined
10. Cosmonaut
11. Non-Zero Possibility
12. Catacombs
All songs written by At the Drive-in
ATDI are:
Cedric Bixler – Vocals
Omar Rodriguez – Guitars
Jim Ward – Guitars, Pianos
Paul Hinojos – Bass
Tony Hajjar – Drums
In my song reviews I will include a special ‘weird lyric’ section, exclusive to this band.
Weirdness factor Rating
Hmm 1
Hmmm! 2
Huh? 3
What the...? 4
****ing hell! 5
Arc Arsenal (2:54)
This album begins with a bang, not with a whimper. I smile wryly thinking of this band while recording the song; I cannot imagine Bixler standing still, he would be jumping up and down and overturning PA systems and throwing microphones everywhere. Anyway. After a bit of guitar, we are exposed to the real ATDI – Bixler screaming his nuts off, mad guitars and bass, and drum pounding. Ahhh. You can see (well, hear) the pure emotion that this band is unleashing at our aural pleasure.
Weird Lyric:
sickened thirst, sickened thirst/glues it together/a catatonic leisure/at 1000 miles per hour
Weirdness Factor: Huh?
Pattern Against User (3:17)
This is probably my favourite song on the album, except maybe for cosmonaut. This song is unrelenting. After about 2 seconds you will be nodding your head to this song, it’s just so catchy. While there’s no screaming as such (awww!) there is definitely a message portrayed, although I do not know what it is. A wicked bass line by Mr. Hinojos accompanies this piece, as well as some mad guitar work by Omar (I think – the left hand speaker guitar).
Weird Lyric:
circus carny guarding/the gates of heaven/like stuck in limbo abduction
Weirdness Factor: What the…?
One Armed Scissor (4:19)
An intro not to forget – every guitar player should learn how to play it. It should be law, punishable by death. Not really. Everyone thinks this song is so good, while it’s ok I suppose, it’s not one of my favourites. The changing styles is just not my thing I suppose. I like the chorus, and the third phrasing (dissect a trillion sighs away/will you get this letter etc) but yeah. At the Drive-in’s breakthrough song, it’s good in moderation. And that piano thing at the end freaks me out. Not really.
Weird Lyric:
banked on memory/mummified circuitry/skin graft machinery/sputnik sickles found in the seats
Weirdness Factor: ****ing hell!
Invalid Letter Dept. (6:05)
At the Drive-in’s longest ever song! Cool you think. Not really. There’s about four minutes of boring, meaningful **** you put up with, then one of the awesome-est riffs ever. So it’s probably worth the wait. Another song released by the band, if you have seen the clip, it is about murders of women in El Paso (ATDI’s home town) and that they are all unresolved. It’s nice to see them pay tribute to something that obviously means a great deal to them, but speaking in song sense, the song is to boring for me I’m afraid (apart from the last bit).
Weird Lyric: paramedics fell into the wound/like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant/an anesthetic penance beneath/the hail of contraband
Weirdness Factor: What the…?
Enfilade (5:01)
Great song. A high amount of substance was definitely used in this song (i.e. that weird intro thing) but the rest of the song is cool. It’s quite catchy, it’s similar to Pattern Against User somewhat. And I don’t care where I am (except exams) I always yell out ‘Freight freight train coming!’ it’s the best. Of course there’s a wicked bassline. Bass is the **** man.
Weird Lyric:
this syringe will take a lifespan/it's filled with bait and tackle
Weirdness Factor: hmmm!
Rolodex Propaganda (2:55)
Why O why they didn’t call this song ‘manuscript replica’ (ah HA! you’re saying. That’s your username!) I don’t know. Oh well. This song is too **** short for my liking. Like it’s over before you know it really. It’s so **** catchy, and kind of psychedelic guitar riff thing.
Weird Lyric: in infrared is how we saw/the night that lit up scarecrow plots
Weirdness Factor: hmm
Quarantined (5:25)
This is like the BEST SONG, it has sooo many cool riffs.
Riff count:
1. bass line at the start
2. guitar riff in the verse
3. bass riff in bridge
ok so there’s only three, but they are all so cool! And I love Omar Rodriguez, he would have to be one of the best guitarists of our time, at least one of the top 5 innovative. Just stick your head next to the left hand speaker. The bass is quite solid as well. If you have got about 80 spare mb on your computer, download Quarantined live at Channel V, or something like that. It is the coolest, and has a mad bridge (everyone improvises except the bass)
Weird Lyric: autonomous machete for hands
Weirdness Factor: that is off the scale. TOO WEIRD!
Cosmonaut (3:23)
I love this song. This is pure ATDI – fast, and screaming vocals. Ahhh. I love the lyrics in this song! I also yell this out, once on the bus, all these old people looked at me:
position the stitches/like miles of torpedoes/permission was hinted/lungs that hollered in a sleeper hold
please please listen to this song. It is so good.
Weird Lyric: here comes the monolith/brass knuckles for the hissie fit
Weirdness Factor: what the…?
Catacombs (4:13)
Like Arc Arsenal was the perfect opener to this album, Catacombs is the perfect end. Not a great song, but one of those songs that belong at the end of the album. I like it a bit – lots of screaming and riffs. And a bit of triplet action! What else do you need? Unfortunately I don’t have access to the lyrics (I have the booklet, but I can’t find it… oh I just found it… honestly!) so now I have access.
Weird Lyric: I’m just tired of counting bodies/is this mausoleum ready?
Weirdness Factor: what’s a mausoleum???
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Sleepwalk Capsules (3:27)
This song has no mucking about – straight into the screaming vocals. I’m not a big fan of this song, but I don’t know why. It’s obviously a great song, and the verse and choruses are quite good. The bridge though... everyone tells me ‘it’s so meaningful’ with the lyrics ‘Lazarus threw the party/Lazarus threw the fight’ but I don’t see what’s so good about it. It’s high paced with lots of screaming, so fans of ATDI will like this track.
6. Mannequin Republic (3:02)
In my opinion probably one of the let downs of the album, but it’s still alright. The guitar work is incredible. The chorus is quite catchy, and the only reason I don’t like it I suppose is that I have never really gotten into it.
11. Non-Zero Possibility (5:38)
Hmmm... this is a weird track. It is sort of like a ballad, well it is a ballad, but there’s a problem – Cedric’s vocals do not suit this style at all. It is a radical change from every other track on the album. I don’t mind the chorus though.
Rating – 5/5 – of course. I gave it 5/5 because the good songs far outweigh the bad songs (according to me) and it is hard not to listen to this album and not like at least one song on it.
Weird Lyric of the album: Non-Zero Possibility - contusion is hungry/they still eat their young… wha?????????
This is one of my all-time favouritest best albums ever, so I thought I may as well do a review on it, since I love writing them so very very much.
First of all – At the Drive-in – what a band. The band has become synonymous with music fans worldwide who appreciate great hard working bands like this one. This was their first major record label album (if anyone says sell out I will personally hit them with several golf clubs) and their 7th album overall. I personally feel this is their best; they seem to have matured in their songwriting (if you saw them live, it’s a different story...) but yeah. This album features two of At the Drive-in’s hits, but in my opinion not their best songs, ‘One Armed Scissor’ and ‘Invalid Letter Dept.’.
At the Drive-in are one of the purest rock and roll bands out there. Whilst not directly rock and roll, they have created their own genre, along with influences such as Fugazi and Led Zeppelin. Every song you can feel the emotion that is being played, and if you could decipher Bixler’s vocals, I’m sure they are sending out a great message. This is what I love about this band, and it was one of the saddest moments in indie history when the band broke up.
Before we indulge into proceedings, I would like to ponder aloud ‘where the hell do they get their song names from??’ Pattern Against User and One Armed Scissor are the only two of the twelve that have lyrics in the song. Oh well.
Song List on ‘Relationship’
1. Arc Arsenal
2. Pattern Against User
3. One Armed Scissor
4. Sleepwalk Capsules
5. Invalid Letter Dept.
6. Mannequin Republic
7. Enfilade
8. Rolodex Propaganda
9. Quarantined
10. Cosmonaut
11. Non-Zero Possibility
12. Catacombs
All songs written by At the Drive-in
ATDI are:
Cedric Bixler – Vocals
Omar Rodriguez – Guitars
Jim Ward – Guitars, Pianos
Paul Hinojos – Bass
Tony Hajjar – Drums
In my song reviews I will include a special ‘weird lyric’ section, exclusive to this band.
Weirdness factor Rating
Hmm 1
Hmmm! 2
Huh? 3
What the...? 4
****ing hell! 5
Arc Arsenal (2:54)
This album begins with a bang, not with a whimper. I smile wryly thinking of this band while recording the song; I cannot imagine Bixler standing still, he would be jumping up and down and overturning PA systems and throwing microphones everywhere. Anyway. After a bit of guitar, we are exposed to the real ATDI – Bixler screaming his nuts off, mad guitars and bass, and drum pounding. Ahhh. You can see (well, hear) the pure emotion that this band is unleashing at our aural pleasure.
Weird Lyric:
sickened thirst, sickened thirst/glues it together/a catatonic leisure/at 1000 miles per hour
Weirdness Factor: Huh?
Pattern Against User (3:17)
This is probably my favourite song on the album, except maybe for cosmonaut. This song is unrelenting. After about 2 seconds you will be nodding your head to this song, it’s just so catchy. While there’s no screaming as such (awww!) there is definitely a message portrayed, although I do not know what it is. A wicked bass line by Mr. Hinojos accompanies this piece, as well as some mad guitar work by Omar (I think – the left hand speaker guitar).
Weird Lyric:
circus carny guarding/the gates of heaven/like stuck in limbo abduction
Weirdness Factor: What the…?
One Armed Scissor (4:19)
An intro not to forget – every guitar player should learn how to play it. It should be law, punishable by death. Not really. Everyone thinks this song is so good, while it’s ok I suppose, it’s not one of my favourites. The changing styles is just not my thing I suppose. I like the chorus, and the third phrasing (dissect a trillion sighs away/will you get this letter etc) but yeah. At the Drive-in’s breakthrough song, it’s good in moderation. And that piano thing at the end freaks me out. Not really.
Weird Lyric:
banked on memory/mummified circuitry/skin graft machinery/sputnik sickles found in the seats
Weirdness Factor: ****ing hell!
Invalid Letter Dept. (6:05)
At the Drive-in’s longest ever song! Cool you think. Not really. There’s about four minutes of boring, meaningful **** you put up with, then one of the awesome-est riffs ever. So it’s probably worth the wait. Another song released by the band, if you have seen the clip, it is about murders of women in El Paso (ATDI’s home town) and that they are all unresolved. It’s nice to see them pay tribute to something that obviously means a great deal to them, but speaking in song sense, the song is to boring for me I’m afraid (apart from the last bit).
Weird Lyric: paramedics fell into the wound/like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant/an anesthetic penance beneath/the hail of contraband
Weirdness Factor: What the…?
Enfilade (5:01)
Great song. A high amount of substance was definitely used in this song (i.e. that weird intro thing) but the rest of the song is cool. It’s quite catchy, it’s similar to Pattern Against User somewhat. And I don’t care where I am (except exams) I always yell out ‘Freight freight train coming!’ it’s the best. Of course there’s a wicked bassline. Bass is the **** man.
Weird Lyric:
this syringe will take a lifespan/it's filled with bait and tackle
Weirdness Factor: hmmm!
Rolodex Propaganda (2:55)
Why O why they didn’t call this song ‘manuscript replica’ (ah HA! you’re saying. That’s your username!) I don’t know. Oh well. This song is too **** short for my liking. Like it’s over before you know it really. It’s so **** catchy, and kind of psychedelic guitar riff thing.
Weird Lyric: in infrared is how we saw/the night that lit up scarecrow plots
Weirdness Factor: hmm
Quarantined (5:25)
This is like the BEST SONG, it has sooo many cool riffs.
Riff count:
1. bass line at the start
2. guitar riff in the verse
3. bass riff in bridge
ok so there’s only three, but they are all so cool! And I love Omar Rodriguez, he would have to be one of the best guitarists of our time, at least one of the top 5 innovative. Just stick your head next to the left hand speaker. The bass is quite solid as well. If you have got about 80 spare mb on your computer, download Quarantined live at Channel V, or something like that. It is the coolest, and has a mad bridge (everyone improvises except the bass)
Weird Lyric: autonomous machete for hands
Weirdness Factor: that is off the scale. TOO WEIRD!
Cosmonaut (3:23)
I love this song. This is pure ATDI – fast, and screaming vocals. Ahhh. I love the lyrics in this song! I also yell this out, once on the bus, all these old people looked at me:
position the stitches/like miles of torpedoes/permission was hinted/lungs that hollered in a sleeper hold
please please listen to this song. It is so good.
Weird Lyric: here comes the monolith/brass knuckles for the hissie fit
Weirdness Factor: what the…?
Catacombs (4:13)
Like Arc Arsenal was the perfect opener to this album, Catacombs is the perfect end. Not a great song, but one of those songs that belong at the end of the album. I like it a bit – lots of screaming and riffs. And a bit of triplet action! What else do you need? Unfortunately I don’t have access to the lyrics (I have the booklet, but I can’t find it… oh I just found it… honestly!) so now I have access.
Weird Lyric: I’m just tired of counting bodies/is this mausoleum ready?
Weirdness Factor: what’s a mausoleum???
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Sleepwalk Capsules (3:27)
This song has no mucking about – straight into the screaming vocals. I’m not a big fan of this song, but I don’t know why. It’s obviously a great song, and the verse and choruses are quite good. The bridge though... everyone tells me ‘it’s so meaningful’ with the lyrics ‘Lazarus threw the party/Lazarus threw the fight’ but I don’t see what’s so good about it. It’s high paced with lots of screaming, so fans of ATDI will like this track.
6. Mannequin Republic (3:02)
In my opinion probably one of the let downs of the album, but it’s still alright. The guitar work is incredible. The chorus is quite catchy, and the only reason I don’t like it I suppose is that I have never really gotten into it.
11. Non-Zero Possibility (5:38)
Hmmm... this is a weird track. It is sort of like a ballad, well it is a ballad, but there’s a problem – Cedric’s vocals do not suit this style at all. It is a radical change from every other track on the album. I don’t mind the chorus though.
Rating – 5/5 – of course. I gave it 5/5 because the good songs far outweigh the bad songs (according to me) and it is hard not to listen to this album and not like at least one song on it.
Weird Lyric of the album: Non-Zero Possibility - contusion is hungry/they still eat their young… wha?????????