ScorpionStan: Top 20 Anberlin Songs

JumpTheFkUp** 12.27.08	needs more Soft Skeletons but good choices for 1 - 3, I agree almost completely (aside from order)
OllieS 12.27.08	9 shouldn't be there, but apart from that good list. Paperthin Hymn would have been nice
TheStarclassicTreatment 12.27.08	Needs more Adelaide
Knott- 12.27.08	yeah where's Adelaide?! it would be in my top 5. id've put retrace higher too, but great list :D
ScorpionStan 12.27.08	yeah Soft Skeletons is a good song, i could have put it there instead of Miserable Visu, but Miserable is much more of a musical departure for them, and because they pull it off quite well, i figured that deserved it more. Paperthin Hymn is their most overrated song in my opinion, so i deliberately left that one off. if i was making a greatest hits list, it'd be on there. Adelaide is an awesome song, but i already had 7 songs from Cities, and they were all better than Adelaide to me. i could have put it there instead of Reclusion or Mathematics...but both of those showcase their synth sound they used on that record, which was really cool. it was really tough to leave it off though. also Retrace is great, but for softer Anberlin songs i think *Fin, The Haunting, and Cable Car are all slightly better. thanks for the feedback guys! keep it coming :)
roofi 12.27.08	Outside of Fin, Paperthin Hymn is their best song. :/ I also would have put Adelaide, Audrey Start the Revolution!, Disappear, and maybe Stationary Stationery on here too, but pretty much all Anberlin rules, so there's not too much to complain about on this list.
Masochist 12.27.08	I (like ones before me) wish both "Adelaide" and "Paperthin Hymn" were on this list (I personally like both of those more than, say, "A Day Late"...but yeah, not my list). And which "Feel Good Drag" is that, the '...Surrender' version or the '...Friendship...' version? Just wondering. Still, good list. "Readyfuels" and "Godspeed" make me happy :).
Knott- 12.27.08	I guess I just have a soft spot for Adelaide because of the bridge, 'like lipstick traces on pillowcases...' always struck some incredibly strong and emotional chord in me...I think it has a deep subconscious meaning to me lol. Dismantle. Repair. was what got me into them in the first place, the vocals on that track are pretty much the most awesome thing ever anyway, but he pulls it off live flawlessly... I am LOVING New Surrender right now.
DaveyBoy 12.28.08	Good list. BUT if this is supposed to be in order, then I would spend about 0.0000000000001 seconds to think about putting *Fin at #1.
backinhindsight 12.30.08	I really like Glass to the Arson
Waior 04.10.09	19 needs to be 1.
ScorpionStan 04.22.09	Waior: lyrically, Miserable Visu is easily #1. musically, i unfortunately find it redundant and boring. which really disappoints me, because every time i listen to it, i want it to sound totally epic to match the epic lyrics. but it never does. and it is a musical departure, but so is Fin, & Fin is way better musically. just my opinion
Waior 04.22.09	It's the only song I truly like on New Surrender. I like experimental Anberlin much more. So songs like 4, 20, 19, 3, 6, 12 etc. are always great. When they stray away from being a good pop-punk band lean into being a great band band.
ScorpionStan 04.22.09	good point, they're experimenal stuff is much better than most pop/punk bands. you'd never see any other pop/punk band trying something like Miserable Visu. on another topic, i'm going to update this list. i just realized it didn't have Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen.
Waior 04.22.09	Dance, Dance is great. The reserved instrumental break is phenomenal.
ScorpionStan 04.22.09	yeah it's updated now. i got rid of Cadence & moved Cable Car down a bit. Dance, Dance also has killer lyrics too--summed up the album perfectly. btw, what don't you like about New Surrender? it's the biggest shift in their style, so i would think you would like it.
Waior 04.22.09	Cities was darker, synthier, and heavier. And not as peppy peppy, which Surrender is on multiple occasions. And songs like Breathe do not come close to comparing to Inevitable or Cable Car. Adelaide is the only track coming close to being a weak track, and it's still better than the likes of Retrace, Breathe, Height Street, or Younglife. Surrender feels like NTFP. Like they devolved.
ScorpionStan 04.22.09	dude New Surrender is nothing like NTFP(aside from both having Feel Good Drag). NTFP is a full-on pop/punk album full of catchy rhythm guitar, with every single song about Stephen's female relationships. New Surrender has much better lyrical variety. also, they have several songs on NS that are slow tempo, almost indie-sounding alt rock, which shows growth from the strictly up-tempo pop/punk of NTFP & Cities. to me, NS combines the best parts of NTFP & Cities. it just takes several listens to get accustomed. for instance, Retrace, Breathe, Burn Out Brighter, & Haight St. are all pretty mediocre songs when compared with Cities. but on their own, as happy, summer chill-out songs, you really can't get any better. it's just a totally different vibe when compared with NTFP or Cities. wow that was way overlong...mad props if you actually read this through lol
Waior 04.22.09	Mad props forever then. I love talking music, so as long as you're not writing a novel, I'm reading it. Cities has Inevitable, Alexithymia and Cable Car as the "slower" songs, and they succeed copiously. The only two songs that sound like they could've been on Cities on Surrender were Soft Skeletons and Miserable (and maybe Disappear, with some reworking), and Surrender just seems to be missing that sound. About NTFP vs. NS, listen to Haight St. and then listen to Time and Confusion. Then listen to The Resistance, and then listen to NTFP (the song). Lyrically, it's mile ahead, but musically, a lot of it is just standard Anberlin pop-punk, which is something they progressed AWAY from with Cities. Overlong again. Cheers.
DaveyBoy 04.22.09	Good list. I'd have *Fin at #1. I'd also have Haight Street higher & Northern Lights would get a spot somewhere.
ScorpionStan 04.23.09	yeah same here man, you couldn't ever talk too much music for me. good point on the song comparisons, but the songs are just simply better on NS. taking your examples, The Resistance & NTFP are similar, but The Resistance is better. Haight St. & Time and Confusion are similar, but Haight St. is better. and honestly, those are the only 2 comparisons i find between NTFP & NS. and regarding NS vs. Cities, the 3 slow songs from Cities that you mentioned(along with *Fin) are awesome. however, it's always occured to me that with Cities, you have "the rock album" and then you have "the 2 token acoustic ballads", a formula that is way overused by most pop/punk bands. on NS, the slow songs aren't necessarily acoustic, and in fact there isn't one solely acoustic song on the album(even Breathe has electric guitar come in at the 2nd chorus). so to me, the slow songs are much better integrated into the flow of the album on NS. this is how i look at NS: you have the NTFP-inspired songs(Breaking, Feel Good Drag--obviously, Haight St.), then you have the Cities-inspired songs(The Resistance, Disappear, Soft Skeletons), and you have uniquely NS-style songs(Blame Me! Blame Me!, Retrace, Breathe, Younglife, Miserable Visu) that show progression. that's just my personal analysis.
Athom 04.23.09	fin is kinda eh.
ninjuice 04.23.09	Not at all Adam.
Waior 04.23.09	Yeah, except Breathe sucks. Haha. I would slot Northern Lights on NTFP as well. But good points. And FIN IS NOT EH.
ScorpionStan 04.23.09	yeah Fin is brilliant, redsky. i would start negging all of your reviews now just for that...but the fact that you have 2 Thrice songs in your username saves you. Waior: just so you know, i don't necessarily like NS any better than Cities, they're just different. the music lover in me favors Cities, because i love quick-tempo alternative rock, i love the dark tinge the record has, and i love the emotional lyrics. however, the music critic in me favors New Surrender for it's progression and all the reasons i've mentioned previously. so in the end, i like both equally.
Waior 04.23.09	Haha, okay. To conclude our friendly battle on my part, I will agree that New Surrender may have a more unified sound as an album, but Cities takes my cake for songwriting, sound and delicious darkness. And I do favor Cities. Haha.
ScorpionStan 04.23.09	haha fine with me. Cities is definitely the best pop/punk album i own. it isn't as varied as New Surrender, but that is compensated by the fact that it doesn't have even one weak song. plus, inevitable is one of the best love songs ever written in my opinion haha
Waior 04.23.09	Haha, good! Bottom line, Anberlin is awesome. Yerrr a cool kid.