 | Tracklist:
1. Oohs and Ahhs
2. White Fences
3. Slumber
4. Drive All Night
5. A Place Only You Can Go
6. The Reckoning
7. Able
8. Maybe They're on to Us
9. Wanted Man
10. Keep Your Eyes Open
11. Tyrant Kings
12. Devil's Been Talkin'
13. Angel at My Door
14. Learn to Love
Release Date: 09/20/2011 | |
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On 2 Lists
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| Summary: A delightful hodge-podge of rootsy folk and crunching alternative rock. |
I have always considered autumn to be the most contemplative of seasons. Everything about the atmosphere invites introspection – the chilled air, the crunching of dried leaves beneath one’s feet, and the way the tree line looks like orange and brown watercolors spilled across a broad canvas. Perhaps for obvious reasons, it is during this time that I seem to connect with music the most. The guitars blaze with the fury of a freshly lit camp fire, the drums echo like a tree falling deep in the woods, and messages hidden in the lyrics ring out like profound statements on life. To put it simply, my surroundings have always served as the tangible half of my music, offering me the opportunity to see, smell, taste, and touch each eloquent note. The first album to define the season for me this year is Needtobreathe’s The Reckoning, a release that is by no means “ambient” but still manages to embody all of autumn’s traits with its combination of rural country-folk and bluesy, Springsteen-inspired Americana.
The Reckoning is a strange record, really, because it seems to have a foot in every style of music imaginable. Want huge, memorable riffs? Needtobreathe has you covered with ‘Oohs and Ahhs’, a track that features thunderous drums, blistering electric guitars, and eerie falsetto vocals sure to anchor your upcoming Halloween soundtrack. Then maybe you want some jangling, country-styled banjos to balance the intensity? No need to fret, the bluegrass influences of ‘Slumber’ should satisfy your craving. Or how about grandiose pop, a la Kings of Leon? You guessed it, The Reckoning has its share of mainstream gold as well. Perhaps the best example of that would be the accessible, slowly ascending ‘Drive All Night’, a track that would have felt at home on Born to Run. The freedom-seeking lyrics also lend it a certain sense of Springsteen-ness, boasting quotable lines such as “I need a girl who calls me baby…I need somewhere I can drive all night, out into the darkness.” This is not a sentiment limited to ‘Drive All Night’, but rather one that permeates the entire record. While serving the album’s country-boy charm rather well, it also gives Needtobreathe the feeling of a band that is beginning to break free of its own confines. With each boundary they cross, they come one step closer to realizing their full potential – and that’s what The Reckoning is all about. It is not Needtobreathe’s magnum opus, but it strives for freshness – and better yet – consistency within that sense of novelty.
A lot of albums that shoot for experimentalism fail on numerous fundamental levels because the songs lose what made them music to begin with. They might come up short lyrically, emotionally, or in some cases, the music just doesn’t work because of its insistence on being completely, unequivocally unique. With an album like The Reckoning, that is not the case. First of all, Needtobreathe isn’t an off-the-wall progressive metal act, or some kind of super pretentious group of indie gurus. This is more or less straightforward rock, and the aspects that make it qualify as “genre-busting” or “style-blending” lie solely in the album’s ability to effortlessly merge so many aspects of classic rock, blues, folk, pop, Americana, bluegrass, and country. In fact, The Reckoning’s only fault may be that it doesn’t maintain the steam it gathers from the first half of the album, dying off rapidly in both energy and new ideas over that latter half. If Needtobreathe find themselves equally inspired in the near future, and they narrow down their track selections, then it is entirely possible that we may not have heard their best work yet…which considering the quality material present here in frequent doses, that is something that listeners can be truly excited about.
The Reckoning is a surprisingly cohesive work that displays everything you need to know about Needtobreathe, from their showy side to their more reserved acoustic ballads. While its tones range from bone-chilling (‘Oohs and Ahhs’) to pastoral (‘A Place Only You Can Go’), there is never a moment that feels disjointed or out of place. It may not be memorable over the course of its entire length, but there are simply too many unique offerings to overlook what Needtobreathe brings to the table. This is a truly inspired effort with some outstanding individual songs, and it indicates only positive things moving forward for this band.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 3.5
I wanted to submit this on Tuesday, but the album was surprisingly hard to wrap myself around...at first I didn't really like it, then I thought it was amazing (like 4-4.5 material), then eventually I settled on this. Really good, but still room for improvement. I'd recommend giving the first couple tracks a quick listen.
Stream:
http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/6
Digging: mewithoutYou - Ten Stories Digging: mewithoutYou - Ten Stories | | |
hey hey hey!
always heard this band was good. at least among christian outlets. dunno. good review. tl;dr, but good.
Digging: Gotye - Making Mirrors Digging: Gotye - Making Mirrors
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also i agree that autumn is a very introspective season. always an emotionally turbulent season. whereas winter is just eh and in the spring and summer i just dont give a damn.
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Excellent review Sowing! :]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
haha thanks lakes
yeah i read somewhere that they have a christian following but their music (on this album, anyway) never struck me as religious
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
thanks pizzamachine! your stuff is solid too, looking forward to your next review :]
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you should check out their previous two albums. heard some singles from them and its all pretty good if i remember.
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band has a song called "something beautiful" that every girl at my highschool loved...it was awful
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
if you like their old stuff def. check out the stream i posted
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looking forward to your next review :]
Yessss there will be one... there will be... *rubs hands*
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will do brah
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Great album, but so dissapointing compared to their last one. They could easily make a classic album if they realized their full potential
Digging: Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks | | | Album Rating: 3.5
I agree they could make a phenomenal album (not sure about a classic though) if they kind of honed in on their eccentric side (like Oohs and Ahhs).
This just deviates from their creativity a little too often, and has about 3 or 4 tracks that don't add much of anything
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I'm personally not a huge fan of "You want X? This album's got tons of X! You want Y? This album comes with trucks of it!"-styled reviews, but it's hard to disagree with a body of writing that has such neat flow. I pos-ed (of course), and am calling this as a feature by tomorrow morning (today evening your time in the good ol' USA).
Also, I have this nagging feeling that I've read that "I-love-autumn-it-makes-me-think" intro in another review of yours haha XD
Digging: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless Digging: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I'm personally not a huge fan of "You want X? This album's got tons of X! You want Y? This album comes with trucks of it!"-styled reviews
Had to shake things up, plus writing this review didn't come very easily. For some reason this took me days, and I wouldn't say it is any better or worse than my usual.
calling this as a feature by tomorrow morning
way to jinx it! ; )
I have this nagging feeling that I've read that "I-love-autumn-it-makes-me-think" intro in another review of yours
I have done that kind of thing for every single season, and even though I don't specifically recall ever doing one for autumn, I wouldn't doubt it in the slightest haha
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Had to shake things up, plus writing this review didn't come very easily. For some reason this took me days, and I wouldn't say it is any better or worse than my usual.
Yeah man I know what you mean about wanting to shake things up a bit. I've often found myself struggling to come up with novel ideas for writing as well (and I've only got 61 reviews lololol). Also, I didn't mean to imply that this review was "less good" than your usual produce - it actually exhibits the same degree of quality as normal Sowing thoroughfare.
way to jinx it! ; )
That was the plan bro ;) This site ain't big enough for the two of us! Heheh XD
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*PULLS A BIG RUBBERY ONE*
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why do people have to keep bringing me into things?
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Sometimes I think you qualify as a troll account, Ducky.
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I'm excited to listen to this one after the first paragraph. Very nicely done.
Digging: Kidcrash - Jokes Digging: Kidcrash - Jokes
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