If you haven’t heard Chiodos before, you are probably sick of hearing about them, at least in my hometown.
One of the hardest things to decipher around the music scene is genre. People often only listen to music by genre. You have some Hardcore fans, Emo fans and so on. So the first thing you need to know about Chioods, no matter what genre their listed as on whatever forum or website that’s just dominated music the last few year, they are just plain pop rock. No they're not emo, no their not Hardcore. If you except and expect Chiodos to be poppy, melodic and pleasant, that’s what you'll get. Its just a band trying to hit your ear as hard as possible. Their capable of bobbing anyone’s head no matter what age.
If you want emo, go elsewhere, if you just want straight up melody and poppy sing alongs, you've came to the right place.
The lead singer, Craig Owens, has that high-pitched, Anthony Green type voice. Like usual high-pitches voices, sounds strange and awkward for about two songs, then it hits your ear hard, just full of melody.
The drummer, Derrick Frost, following the direction of the band, uses interesting but not original sounds from his cymbals, using the bells constantly through most songs, just adding the extra accent they are just made for.
They also sport a keyboardist, containing most of the melodic and easy to the ear sounds that make Chiodos. The guitars are almost always in effect, making everything trying to sound as catchy as possible. They go from poppy sing along, to melodic breakdowns almost. what I like to call a pop breakdown. A little faster than Hardcore breakdowns, with Craig’s voice either deeply screaming or singing through them. Hardcore fans might find them simple, boring, and sometimes pathetic. But it's all part of trying to make the most melodic sounds possible, something that just can't take away from their sound.
1. Prelude- Basic interlude of random and pointless sounds, starting the ocean theme that reoccurs throughout the Album.
2. All Nereids Beware- 4/5 Chiodos, from the first song, tries to show you what you are about, what to expect from the rest of the album, giving you the full potential of his voice, adding in "pop breakdowns" through the song. A song you will first get into when starting to listen.
3. One Day Women Will All Become Monsters- 4/5 The track starts off right as "All Nereids Beware" left off. the songs full potential right from the beginning, with a catchy riff that’s replayed through the songs, intelligently and not overused like some other poppy bands. My favorite on the Album. Again some breakdowns throw in.
4 Expired In Goreville 2.5/5- This songs starts with just a minute or so of the sound of the ocean, again the reoccurring theme, but toward the middle of the sound you won't even be able to decipher which song it is right away, almost sounding identical to #’s 2 and 3.
5. Baby, You Wouldn’t Last A Minute On The Creek 4/5- This is the first song that changes the sound from the first 3 songs. This is my favorite song by Chiodos. The song is made by it’s hook. Showing just how “pop” they are. Nevertheless probably the catchiest hook I’ve heard. I’ve caught my self numerous times singing loudly like a little girl, actually putting a little bit of fun back in music.
6. The Words “Best Friend” Become Redefined 3.5/5- This one starts off with a introduction totally different from the rest of the cd, repeating an easy guitar riffs, but it sounds great. The song ends up slowing down after the harder intro and Craig sets the mood with his powerful voice, but ending up sounding like the other songs on the album.
7. Interlude Pt. 1- Just a weird interlude with a lot of sound effects
8. There’s No Penguins In Alaska- 3.5/5 This one reminds me of #3, great hook, dominating singing. This is the most random unethical song on the album, going from random verse patterns, somewhat resembling hardcore, but only in the format. Still at points returning to the pop rock type sequences later in the song.
9. Interlude Pt. 2- Another interlude.
10. We’re Gonna Have Us A Champagne Jam- 3.5/5 This is probably the hardest song on the album. Starting off if an emo like soft speaking intro, into a harder but melodic, showing some of the diversity in their music, taking from all different genres to put into a form that will sound good to everyone’s ear. Again the only thing that keeps this song from a 5 is the song later in the song sounding too similar to the rest of the songs on the album.
11. No Hardcore Dancing In the Living room- 2.5/5 This song starts the trend for the end of the cd, strange effects and sounds never heard before, most songs almost sounding like a circus. This song just seems too average to be labeled as anything but average itself.
12. Who’s Sandie Jenkins 2/5- This is another typical song from the latter part of the cd, using effects to make it through a lackluster song.
13. To Trixie And Reptile, Thanks For Everything- 2.5/5This is the poppiest of them all. Almost always going to the chorus, something you’d see on MTV. It still sounds good, but maybe they took it too far on this one.
Overall this is an enjoyable album. If you tell yourself it’s just not hardcore or not whatever enough you’re not going to like it. If you are expecting just some good sounding simple music, you’ll have a lot of fun.
