 | Tracklist:
1.Cashing Out
2.Chyeaaaaa!
3.Elvis Said Ambition Is A Dream With A V8 Engine
4.G.R.I.T.S.
5.Going Lohan
6.I'll Inoculate The World With The Virus Of My Disillusionment - 4:31
7.You, Me, And The Significant Other
8.The He-Man Woman Haters Club
9.M.O.
10.A Soft War
11.Now That You're Gone
Release Date: 2010 | |
| | other reviews | Jonathan ONeal (3.5)
Proof that sometimes less is more, and change is good. FFTL loses a member, changes labels, and puts... | Taylor Jermolajew (1.5)
You know those unshaven fat chicks who show up at parties and try to get laid? This is what would ha... |
On 7 Lists
|
| Summary: From First To Last's middle finger to the world. |
4 of 4 thought this review was well written
From their humble beginnings from Tampa, Florida, From First To Last have been through a lot. Firstly, their first full-length, Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count, was regarded as a 'scene' masterpiece while also being derided as every thing that was wrong with the music scene. Heroine, one the other hand, grudgingly made their detractors admit that maybe, just maybe, they could become a band of substance, while also losing previous fans due to trivial things such as a lack of screaming, it was different, it not what they expected, why does their lead singer look weird, etc.
So what? You may ask, doesn't every band go through a variation of this throughout their careers? And you would be right, but FFTL have had this worse then most, but it didn't start going downhill until their lead singer, Sonny Moore, left due to vocal problems and a want to create his own music. This, compounded by an their underwhelming third, self-titled album being releasesd basically dragged them and their name through the mud, losing even more of their fan base to nostalgia and gaining the detractors form their Dear Diary- era once again.
Anyway, enough about the past, what's the point of this review? Oh yeah, they have released a new album, on Rise Records no less.
This current incarnation of FFTL, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Matt Good, bassist/vocalist Matt Manning, drummer Derek Bloom and guitarist Blake Steiner, has finally lived up to the promise shown on Heroine, stepping up their game in almost everyway and giving the world the middle finger at the same time.
The last several years have taken their toll on FFTL and it shows, with this album carthatically venting all the frustration, anger, despair and depression they have felt, giving us their most raw, personal and emotional album they have released.
Musically, the band is on its A game, with the guitarists almost upstaging Derek Bloom's consistent talent shown. Rather than just sterotypically hamonising and strumming along, they are all over the place, with Blake Steiner and Matt Good being almost all over their fretboards throughout, from needling leads of 'Elvis Said Ambition Is a Dream With A V8 Engine' to the dreamy sounds heard on 'You, Me and The Significant Others'. On top of this bassist Matt Manning providing a tangible bottom end that is audible throughout the album.
is a constant presence throughout the album, with his instrument actually able to be heard, providing the album with a tangible bottom end to grasp onto.
But, as to be expected, drummer Derek Bloom is this albums MVP (that makes it 4 albums running), improving upon his already formidable reputation, speeding up and becoming more schizopheric than we have ever heard his before, but never overplaying a part or overpowering another instrument, providing the band with an almost impenetrable backbone.
A difference they have also taken is the presence of electonic elements throughout the album, ensuring that no part of the album sounds underwhelming or empty, such as making the opening of the track 'The He-Man Woman Haters Club' sound far more interesting that would be expected.
While on their self-titled record, vocalist Matt Good may of sounded uninspired or bored during moments of the album, he has now grown more comfortable into the role of being frontman, with his voice now carrying a consistent, seething feeling of sheer anger and frustration, in the process becoming more a vocalist for FFTL than Sonny Moore ever was. His singing is now more inspired and emotion-filled than ever , this combined with occasional gang vocals for emphasis, allows the listener to legitamately feel what he wants them to feel, not leaving them to draw their own conclusion. This is also the case lyrically, with Matt Good is expressing his annoyance and hatred of the world, taking aim as the music industry ('Cashing Out'), the nightclub scene ('The He-Man Woman Haters Club'), the public's infatuation with celebrities ('Going Lohan') and his own personal experiences (' Elvis Said...'). Also, with the departure of previous guitarist/vocalist Travis Richter, bassist Matt Manning has now stepped up to the plate, taking up the main screamer duties, providing a guttural roar to the proceedings, rather than Travis's previous shrieking yell, this, combined with Matt Good's occasional high-pitched shriek, give the screaming a new edge, prventing monotony from setting in for the listener.
On the subject of screaming, this album marks a difference from their previous works, with an increase in the amount of screaming being found. Instead of being relegated a background role with the occasional chance to shine, it often shares a main vocal presence with the singing throughout (M.O.) and occasionally taking centre stage ('Chyeaaaa!'). Something that is also evident is that the last two tracks of the album shows Matt Good's new-found infatuation with autotone, but fear not, they have not all of a sudden gone Attaack Attack! on us, but use it for the purpose of the track, with 'A Soft War' being entirely auto-tone and easily the weirdest track on the album, while 'Now That You're Gone' uses it for emphasis.
For this album, From First To Last have laid everything on the table, they have taken every dissappointment, every insult, every ounce of apathy and hatred thrown at them during the last couple of years, added that to the chages and improvements of new band members, a new label, a thirst to play the music they want and having nothing to lose, used it, and created their most focued, interesting and unique album to date.
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | |
Album Rating: 2
Album is shit.
| | | Album Rating: 2
His singing is now more inspiring and emotion-filled than ever, allowing the listener to legitamately feel what he wants them to feel
Yeah especially in those heavily auto-tuned sections. Man I was totally feeling his robotic emotion.
| | |
Shut the fuck up seriously.
alright L8
| | |
so is this good or bad?, i still have a soft spot for this band : /
Digging: Graf Orlock - Destination Time Yesterday Digging: Graf Orlock - Destination Time Yesterday
| | | Album Rating: 2
IF you liked Heroine you'll probably hate this.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Is this streaming?
| | |
to be fair, i've liked every single one of their release (heroine more than dear diary or s/t but still i have liked all of em)
| | | Album Rating: 2
Well this one is the self-titled plus auto-tune and a little bit of dear diary style harsh vocals. So basically AIDS.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
album is solid.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This doesn't sound like the self titled much. It's heavier. This sounds like a mix of dear diary and a pinch of heroine to me. I'm still listening to it though. It's a lot better than the self titled though
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
I personally find this album to be extremely good.
It's emotionally charged, Instrumentally astounding. with genre mashing at it's finest. It throws in
a tasteful breakdown or two. With a little southern flair. the Drumming and guitar and even bass is
very, very good. and the most important element to any CD, is it's fun as hell to listen too.
He isn't Auto-tuned in every song. He is auto tuned for a filler track, 'soft war' and parts of
'now that you're gone' so overall, in the 30-35 minute CD, he is auto tuned for collectively..3
minutes? So right there, saying that he's 'auto-tuned' the entire CD is ridiculous. I'm not the
biggest fan of auto-tune, but it's used very effectively (Something I never thought I would say)
this is by far the most focused effort I have ever seen this band produce, and I also have a soft
spot for these kids. But coming at my little quip here completely un-biased, this is metalcore done
right. it's a immense disc, that has ALOT to offer.
edit : I read the comments before I read the review to get a feel on how people were taking this CD.
So I guess I agree almost completely with the reviewer. but to the reviewer I gotta say, throw your
review into a spell checker, there is a few spelling errors and grammatical errors. other than that,
it is a pretty good review.
| | |
........................
| | |
Album is streaming at: http://www.myspace.com/fftl
Reviewer, next time try and add a link if an album is streaming ahead of release
Digging: Goth-Trad - New Epoch Digging: Goth-Trad - New Epoch
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Well I like this
| | |
Zip likes it; I'm sold.
Digging: The Boston Strangler - Primitive Digging: The Boston Strangler - Primitive
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
The production really sucks though.
| | | Album Rating: 2
The whole thing really sucks though.
Digging: Loma Prieta - I.V. Digging: Loma Prieta - I.V. | | | Album Rating: 3.5
You like really weird shit though
| | | Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off
Self-titled is their only good album, will listen
Digging: Milhouse - Everything's Coming Up... Digging: Milhouse - Everything's Coming Up... | | | Album Rating: 2
Except not at all.
Digging: Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love Digging: Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love | | | |
|
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us
