Review Summary: Cities Never Sleeps
Shocking lights of red and blue filled the sky as it was perceived in this crowded auditorium. For some, this was a highlight of their lives; for others, it was as they’d seen many times before with a slight twist. For me, it was a dream years in the making. Four men entered from the front of the crowded room, one of them an idol. They took their spots to raucous applause from a crowd bleeding in anticipation. The room quieted as the group’s leader approached his microphone and said calmly, “It’s lovely to be with you tonight. We are Anberlin and this is our last time in Salt Lake City. We’ve made some great memories here so let’s cherish these last ones!” The room’s noise level dropped even more before three guitar strums queued the rest of the group. A second guitar joined, signaling a riot, and chaos reigned.
That night was courtesy of Anberlin, a five-man rock band from Florida. Powered by lead man, Stephen Christian, the band was gifted with an emotional genius and a complex poet. In twelve years, the band never won any major awards and never got invited to music awards shows. All the same, their success has been an eye test, as they never toured with any ‘big bands’ and vastly broadened their songwriting abilities with each release. Unlike bands such as Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and others hobbling along as shades of their former glory, Anberlin went out on their own terms, with the hopes of being remembered as such. Although each member is Christian, they’ve mostly avoided the Christian Rock genre, and the only exception is located in their masterpiece album, titled
Cities.
Cities was released in 2007 as Anberlin’s third album. Universally-acclaimed and beloved by many, the album launched Anberlin on a larger platform, slotting them in the Billboard 200 chart. While hardly breaking commercial records, the idle genre of modern rock breathed new life by Anberlin’s successful release. Through innovation and balance, the album covers wide ranges of technical skill and individual artistry.
The first thing to be said about
Cities is that it could have been a tragic failure. Any band that relies on heavy yet accessible guitar riffs to open their songs tends to be enjoyable but forgettable. This wasn’t so much the case for Anberlin’s first two albums as they had many great moments and accumulated a massive, cult-like following. In
Cities, Anberlin takes a much more lighthearted approach. Christian credits the themes of their first two albums,
Blueprints for the Black Market and
Never Take Friendship Personal, to having Man vs. World and Man vs. Man mindsets respectively. Cities ties all three together with a Man vs. Self theme. The energy that fueled the band remains, but the angst they once contained is absent.
A significant change in sound is usually tragic for modern rock bands, such as Muse, Blink-182, and Sum 41, who swiftly fell off the critical radar. However, Anberlin don’t simply manage the change, they excel in it.
Cities is an album that is an exponentially evolved improvement over
Never Take Friendship Personal. Not only does the band’s sound shift, but elements that made their first two albums notable are also present. Attention to detail was essential to making
Cities such a successful album, including the distorted, unrecognizable depiction of the Seattle skyline in black and white on the album’s eye-catching cover.
The opening minute begins with the sounds of Seattle, one of Anberlin’s favorite cities and where the album was recorded, over screeching guitars and distant sirens. The atmospheric harbinger ends in an explosion of guitars and drums that begin the second track “Godspeed.” The album’s stage is set as soon as Christian’s ethereal, unique voice is revealed. As the only straightforward rock song on the album, it has the loudest moments and is one of the band’s best live songs. Mixing grit with refined production, “Godspeed” is a total thrill in the realm aggressive alternative-rock music.
With
Cities came rock at its most experimental. “Reclusion” and “There Is No Mathematics to Love and Loss” both feature synths, which are mixed wonderfully with the fast-paced tracks. Equally brooding and explosive, these tracks inspired future electronic efforts from Anberlin and surprised fans upon release. Although the tracks feel unrefined, their venture to new ground is fresh and feels inspired.
One of the themes in
Cities is nostalgia, and tracks “Adelaide” and “Inevitable” are two of the best examples. “Adelaide” is both energetic and sappy, with Christian’s poetry shining brightest in the song’s bridge when he laments: “Like lipstick traces on pillow cases, some things in life are unforgettable. Like love, loss, lies and us, some things in life are undeniable.” “Inevitable” is a ballad any love-struck couple wants playing at their wedding. The cheesy lines “I want to be your last first kiss” and “I want to break every clock” could cause any possible mixture of cringing and smiling.
Cities’ other ballad, “Unwinding Cable Car,” was originally conceived as a simple acoustic guitar riff that was supposed to be a thirty-second filler track. Instead, it is the rare kind of love song without a direct recipient. Although polarizing, most Anberlin fans view “Unwinding Cable Car” as one of the band’s highlights, as it is the most straightforward and inspirational song in their discography.
Perhaps the most uneven track on the album, “Hello Alone” runs repetitive by the time it overstays its four-minute runtime. Although it features bland lyrics and feels like a trodden-down idea of a song, “Hello Alone” is a forgivable sin by maintaining energy and inspiration. “Alexithymia” features quiet verses and a dark atmosphere. Even though the song is a crafty fan-favorite, the ten-word chorus runs repetitive, and even Christian wishes he had done it differently.
As the penultimate track on
Cities, “Dismantle-Repair” contains one of Anberlin’s most catchy choruses. Through changing pace and thrilling drumming, the verses stand well and build masterfully to a riveting chorus. In the style of “Adelaide,” “Dismantle-Repair” boasts nostalgic, energetically sung lyrics and a deceptively optimistic mood.
The biggest appeal to the greatness of
Cities is in the album’s final track, and the aptly-titled “(*Fin)” steals the show and stands alone on the peak of what is possible in a Christian Rock song. Instead of heavy-handed hints to the power of religion or a typical “I need God to get through” story, “(*Fin)” tells four personal stories Stephen Christian observed throughout his life. Each one recounts people, situations, and experiences that made his Christian faith difficult to sustain while growing up. The song’s message claims those of Christian faith are flawed, and perhaps no one can be saved. Even those without a religious background can appreciate the masterful crafting of words here, with lines such as this one to a single mother abandoned by her husband on supposed mission work: “I wish your drinking would hurry and kill you. Sympathy is better than having to tell you the truth.” A stunning switch from acoustic guitar to electric three minutes in and the inclusion of a choir engulfs the song in epic atmosphere. The track spans nearly nine minutes and the two-minute outro features Christian lamenting over abstract noise. The band claims he made the lyrics to the outro up on the spot during the recording of
Cities. Although that seems like a longshot, the moment is raw and concludes with the climactic line: “Ripping and breaking and tearing apart, this is not my heaven, this is my hell!” With that, one of the most original rock songs ever ends without resolve, a unique trait for a Christian Rock song.
As a whole,
Cities explores dark themes and never settles for simplicity. Housing many different styles of songs cohesively in the same album is difficult—and rewarding when done correctly. The artistry required in making it shows Anberlin was a band that valued music as art instead of entertainment.
Cities was them at their most ambitious, and it will be remembered by many long after Anberlin’s 2014 disbandment. These elements make
Cities one of the best rock albums of the 2000’s.
With talent on the stage, in the studio, and in wordplay, their dissolution with plenty of miles ahead is painful, bringing to light the main theme of
Cities. That accessible theme is loss. Whether it’s a first love, faith, or even hope,
Cities nostalgically recalls a youthful time when decisions were easier and the world was simpler. I remember listening to Cities for the first time as a teenager, thinking I was all grown up. I will never forget Anberlin finishing their final night in Salt Lake City by performing “(*Fin)” to tearful fans. Their eventual disbandment was inevitable, but I felt like I had lost a friend. The truth is everyone continually deals with loss, and
Cities reminds that there is no destination in growing up.
