Hawthorne Heights. A name loved and hated by many people. There are fans, and there are haters. And plenty of them. I am a fan. And I really don't care what people say, because they are a good band. Their music is amazing. But I must say, they are terrible live. Seriously, they suck on stage. Don't know why, but they do. Oh well, a lot of bands aren't nearly as good live as they are in studio. But whatever, whether you hate or love this band, this is a great album. But, one complaint about the reviews on this album: The title is wrong. It is "The Silence In Black And White", not "The Silence In Black In White". But oh well, I would've changed it but I didn't want to waste my time with all the tracks and crap.
Short bio:
Hawthorne Heights formed in Dayton, Ohio as a band called A Day In The Life. They later changed their name to Hawthorne Heights, due to line-up changes and genre changes. Plus, it sounds cooler (just thought I'd throw that in). Nowadays, the band is fairly popular in the USA. The band basically got their fame with the overplayed single "Ohio Is For Lovers", which got a lot of radio play and fans somehow connected to the lyrics. But now, they have more singles and a brand new album (which is also great, by the way). Well, anyway, they are Hawthorne Heights. And with that being said, on to the review.
Paragraph:
Okay, so this band has some emo lyrics. That doesn't necessarily make them emo. And by the way, in my opinion (which shall be left alone), "emo"" is extremely stereotypical. People with bangs going across their face, for instance, are suddenly accused of being "emo". But whatever, whether this band is emo or not, let's get on with it. We're here to learn about the album, now aren't we? Okay, now, there are plenty of good songs on here, which I have no problem with. There are almost no fillers, too, which is definately a plus. Except for "Screenwriting An Apology", which basically feels like you're in "Filler World" (little land I made up, with a bunch of filler songs running around and eating lollipops) when you listen to it. Some of the best songs on here are "Ohio Is For Lovers", "Wake Up Call", "Silver Bullet", and "The Transition". There are also a bunch of other good songs, but those are IMO the best.
Track by track:
Life On Standby- Woah, what an opener. Starts out with a powerful loud sound, and then it goes in to a melodic sound (sorta). Way too much screaming, but it is one of the best songs on here. It is a great opener for the album and it's powerful, agressive, heavy, and loud. 8/10.
Dissolve And Decay- I've never listened to this song all the way through, I just think it's a little boring. but it has a really cool guitar intro and verse. I don't know why, but I don't think this track is as exciting as the others on this album. It's not very hard, and the lyrics to the first verse sound a wee bit gothic (lol, I don't know, weird but cool lyrics). 6/10.
Niki FM- I love this song. I think it was the second single off the album but the video is a little boring. This song is kind of repetitive, but I still really like it a lot. It is really melodic and has some cool guitar and drum work. The lyrics are written very well in this one, too. But I think the screaming in the bridge wasn't needed. It kind of ruined the slow feeling of the song. 9/10.
The Transition- This song is pretty cool. It;s one of my favorites, and it is faster and has much less screaming, which I like. The lyrics are good and so are the guitar, drums, and bass. I think the intro is short but sweet with a fast pull-off guitar riff. And I also love the outro, where the band starts to sing and it eventually fades out. 9/10.
Blue Burns Orange- This could be a slight filler, but I still like it. I think a previous reviewer stated that this song was slower than Niki FM. Not even close, dude. It is much faster, but nowhere near as good. I particularly enjoy the bridge. 7/10.
Silver Bullet- This is one of the better songs off the album. It's got really sweet guitar in it and lyrics. I think it's named after a horror movie about werewolves (hence the title), I think JT may have said that somewhere. But anyway, this song is powerful and enjoyable, and one of my personal faves. 8/10.
Screenwriting An Apology- I think this is the worst on the album. It goes really slow, and really boring. It's pretty much all filler no killer. But I disagree with the other reviewer who said the screaming in here was way too much and gag-causing. I didn't gag nor puke. And he barely screams at all. 4/10.
Ohio Is For Lovers- The overplayed single that we all heard on the radio stations, and we all saw on MTV, MTV2, Fuse, etc. And with that, it's the best song on the album. This is the song that started the whole emo thing about this band. The lyrics "so cut my wrists and black my eyes so I can fall asleep tonight or die because you die" are emo lyrics, but so what. This song is pure rock/punk/whatever and it's great. 10/10.
Wake Up Call- The second best song on the album and one of my faves. This song is faster than the rest. But the lyrics aren't very good, especially in the bridge. But yeah, this song is faster and really good. One of the best. 9/10.
Sandpaper And Silk- I don't really like this song at all. It goes slower and it's just bad. It's not the best, that's for sure, but it's somewhat exceptional. 5/10.
Speeding Up The Octaves- This is a bit like the last track, but a little better. Starts with a piano intro, and then a guitar riff kicks in with some bad lyrics in the first verse. But it's alright, better than the last track. 7/10.
Well, I guess that's it. This album is really good and I would reccomend it to any emo/punk/rock/screamo fan. Bottom line---it's good, buy it.
OVERALL SCORE- 8/10.
