When I think of my favorite albums, there are a few that immediately pop into my head with little thought. In the Court Of The Crimson King. Moving Pictures. Deltron 3030. Abbey Road. White People. And then the name Frances the Mute pops into my head, and immediately following that is At the Drive-In’s final masterpiece, Relationship of Command. It’s a strange thought process the brain has; going through 6 albums before you finally realize what the answer truly is to you.
But, to be frank, I despised At the Drive-In and this album when I first heard them. I was a rather large Mars Volta fan, and the announcement of Frances the Mute had excited me so much that I decided to dig up whatever I could of Cedric and Omar’s past. After asking around a bit, I discovered At the Drive-In. I was, of course, recommended this very album, particularly the so-called “revolutionary" song One Armed Scissor. Upon downloading that and a few others (I do vaguely remember Invalid Litter Dept. being one, and Arcarsenal was definitely one of them), I sat down, eager eared and doe eyed, to listen to the beginnings of two of my favorite musicians. I was crushed. One thing that should be cleared up; at this point, I had never dabbled in hardcore, and had dabbled very little in heavy music in general. My immediate reaction was “Cedric sounds awful". Being used to his more singing (and occasional wailing) on De-Loused in the Comatorium, I wasn’t prepared for the much more stripped down Cedric to be found here. I frankly thought he sounded terrible. The music was also not what I was expecting: While I obviously had heard it wasn’t as spaced out and proggy as TMV, I was expecting something along the same veins. The “hXc": riffs and immediately turned me off, and after listening to Arcarsenal, I decided I wasn’t going to be an At the Drive-In fan.
However, enter about one year later. It’s Christmas break, and I’m looking for something to do. Looking through my music folders, I find At the Drive-In once again. Deciding that I had since listened to some more of this “post-hardcore junk" since the last time I had listened, I gave it another spin. This time around, I was more prepared, and immediately thought the high energy Arcarsenal and One Armed Scissor gave off was incredible, and I quickly I decided I would download the whole album the next day. January 4th, 2006 marks the day I began to fall in love with everything At the Drive-In.
Enough with my personal history with, let the review begin!
At the Drive-In- Relationship of command
The album begins with the long-winded scream ATD-I calls Arcarsenal. Beginning with some tribal beats and general atmosphere, once that’s all kicks out and the bass line kicks in, it’s all mana from heaven from there on out. Cedric’s voice is an unrestrained beast here; nowhere else on the album is he as brutal. This is not a song for the lighthearted, or those unfamiliar with ATD-I. However, the incredible amount of energy shown here is the perfect way to kick off the album, and it may or may not be the cause of screaming along at times.
Pattern Against User is a far more lighthearted tune than Arcarsenal. Starting off with a little drum roll, Omar and Jim quickly come in with the trademark riffage/spaciness they’re known for. The song goes as it very well should; Cedric screams a little (“They take the weight out of living"), gives a catchy chorus line (“Pattern against user, dilated"), and is in general spouting of fun nonsense. However, the bridge is easily the highlight of the song, as it breaks down into a strange, electronica-tinged melody. it’s a funny thing; this is probably one of the weaker tracks on the album, yet if I were to rate, I doubt I could go below a 4 with it. That’s the quality level of RoC.
Now, we have ATD-I’s smash single-wait, what am I saying. One Armed Scissor is ATD-I’s only song to ever get any real recognition by the general public, it’s also the song that supposedly turned post-hardcore on its proverbial head. Not to detract anything from the song, as it an excellent piece of work (Omar’s chord progression in the second verse is absolutely sublime and some of his best work on the album), but it isn’t quite such a thing. While it does encapsulate the feel of the album (essentially, “HERE IS NOISE THAT KICKS YOUR ASS"), and the musicianship is excellent (Paul was an excellent line writer), it isn’t on terms with other “revolutionary" songs such as…oh wait, never mind, it isn’t a revolutionary song because a song by itself [u]can’t[/i] be revolutionary. However, it wouldn’t be too bad of a track to play if you wanted to start your own insurgency against, let’s say, New Zealand.
Following that up is Sleepwalk Capsules, which is a return to Arcarsenal’s form. Cedric and Jim’s screams actually harmonize in a strange way, and of course Tony’s drumming is spot on throughout the song. Like many of their numbers, Sleepwalk’s strongest point is it’s strange bridge, where Cedric wails on about Lazarus and how he “threw the fight". Much like most of their music, Sleepwalk makes very little sense. It seems like it could be about a relationship, someone giving a speech, a murder, hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was about how Cedric was afraid to tell the rest of the band members that “Yes, I do have clamidia."
After the onslaught of Sleepwalk, Invalid Litter Dept. is a return to the Vaya E.P’s strangeness, except combined with even more spacey guitars and a chorus that wouldn’t be unwelcome on a pop-punk album. It’s obvious that the boys like their strange little power ballads to have a morbid tint to them; in this case, the songs about the rape and murder of some working class women in Juarez, Mexico. That’s nice and all, but I like my uplifting numbers to be more about, oh, I don’t know, anything but rape. It’s still one of the more moving songs on the album, with Cedric’s yells of “scalpel" somehow becoming a permanent fixture in the rape section of my brain. Not that I normally go there, of course…
Anyways, Mannequin Republic is up next. One of the shortest tracks on the album, Omar and Paul do their best complimenting parts (guitar/bass) on the entire album here, with Paul being especially noticeable. However, it’s one of the more low key tracks. The problem could be where it les: Being stuck between a great song and the highlight of an incredible album is a hard feat to pull off. Regardless, it’s one of ATD-I’s more unconventionally structured songs, and as always it has the energy we’ve come to expect.
It’s not any of the others songs doings, but I just can’t compare any of the other songs here to Enfilade. On nearly every level, it shows ATD-I doing what the do best. The phone call that serves as an intro is the perfect setup for the song, and it begins with a weird synth line. Omar and Jim also have an astounding dual guitar part, and although I really can’t figure who does which, they’re both…amazing. However, what drives the song is once again Paul, perhaps the most underrated member of At the Drive-In. His bass line during the verses is arguably more ear catching than the guitars, and the little bass highlight before the first chorus is orgasmic. However, the juxtaposition is what brings this song to another level: the moody, dark, and scathing verses (highlighted by the heavy vocal effects on Cedric’s voice) work perfectly with the extremely poppy and almost danceable chorus. How often are you going to hear claps and “Hey hey hey!" in a post-hardcore song about kidnapping?
It’d normally be a difficult task to top an epic song like Enfilade, but hell, why even try and top it? Rolodex Propaganda is the weirdest song on Relationship, and that’s only supplemented by the fact Iggy Pop does guest vocals. It’s getting fairly redundant, but the tandem of Jim and Omar are once again incredible here, with Omar providing one of the more acid-induced sounding progressions on the album, while Jim provides a killer riff in between choruses. The song just wouldn’t be as interesting and appealing if it wasn’t for how well Iggy Pop fits in, his affected yelps of “Manuscript Replica" and Cedric’s of “C-c-c-cut it!" are some of the best vocal moments on the album, and the harmonization near the end occasionally gives me a couple of goose bumps.
However, we go back into the “Epic" territory with the slow and occasionally plodding Quarantined. Paul is once again the highlight of the band musically, as his bass line gives the song a gravitas that holds it together. However, after a while of Cedric essentially taking the backseat, he returns in full Cedric fashion to the front once again. What is full Cedric fashion, you ask? Why, a powerful vocal performance, lyrics that while they make no sense feel as though they do, and general eclectic ness. However, not to detract from Jim here; his yells of “Have trigger will travel!" are more intense than a kitten stuck inside a blender.
Cosmonaut might be the only song I don’t understand on the album. While giving variety and strange juxtapositions in song is usually a good thing, placing the extremely high energy Cosmonaut between the two slowest songs on the album (veritable ballads) makes Cosmonaut rather unenjoyable in the context of the album as a whole. Jim’s riffing is once again excellent, and the “noodly" guitar from Omar gives this a closer feeling to “Intertiatic ESP" off of De-Loused in the Comatorium. “Is it heavier than air" is the quintessential line from the song, and although it may seem out of place (a jagged mark on the album, if you will) when listening straight through, it’s a whirlwind of a song that is more reminiscent of previous albums In/Casino/Out and Acrobatic Tenement than anything on here.
We arrive at the close of the album now, Non-Zero Possibility.. For a minute, it’s all very soft; ambience and a little piano melody being the only thing of note until the guitar notes come in. Cedric puts in his most innocuous performance, but at the same it’s perhaps his best. It also has some of the most compelling lyrics At the Drive-In have penned; while there are many different interpretations of the song, the most reasonable to me seems to be that the song is about the general futility of life. This also explains the feel of the song quite well; it’s the most depressing thing they’ve ever put out, with only “Hourglass" and “198d" giving it a run for its money in the ‘beauty’ department. Jim’s harsh vocals in relation to Cedric’s in the chorus are at their pinnacle, and the final repetition of “Fever bliss, into central nervousness. Bitten on the entrance, I was bitten on the entrance" is the most haunting moment of the album. Truly a masterpiece, and while not quite up to the heights Enfilade reached, a strong indication as to why At the Drive-In are considered such a major part of post-hardcores history.
I am not going to say this is the greatest album of all time. To do so would be foolish. Many albums (including a few mentioned at the beginning) trump this one in technical ability or originality. However, what At the Drive-In did here was astounding; the paved the way for bands like Thrice and Thursday to get the mainstream success they are currently enjoying, and influenced countless others the incredible force of will exerted with this album. Relationship of Command is my personal favorite album of all time; I could listen to it for hours upon hours on end. While it far from an accessible album (Cedric’s vocals are harsh for those unaccustomed to the genre), it’s easily one of the best hardcore albums of all time. At the Drive-In showed us all why they were “the best" as they faded out, but it’s hard to imagine a better sendoff than this…unless you recall Refused, but that’s another tale for another time…
Review fin.
Recommended tracks:
Arcarsenal
Enfilade
Rolodex Propaganda
Non-Zero Possibility
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Album Rating: 4
whoaa two in one day. Nice job. I really haven't gotten into that much of ATDI, but I probably will sooner or later. I liked One Arm Scissor though.
This Message Edited On 04.30.06
Digging: Sublime - 40 Oz. to Freedom | | | Album Rating: 4
Outstanding review. Thats essentially all that can be said for this one. This review was beastly. RoC is finally starting to grow on me a bit more.
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Excellent review dude.
This album is strangely, uncompromisingly, incredibly great, for reasons that no-one can seem to pin down. Half the time the band is out of time or out of tune, the other half they sound like they're all playing different songs, the lyrics are nonsense, but goddamn it works...
Non-Zero Possibility is my favourite. The vocal harmonies in the background remind me of Queen.
Seriously, such a great album.
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Great review, although I really don't like this group. At all actually. Splendid review though.
Digging: ratatat remixes vol. 1 GHOSTFACE - Mogwai and Brian Eno
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Cosmonaut is the best song ever, your just silly.
Good review, this album is so very incredible.
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
5 system blurbs, a Maroon 5 review, and a book about Relationship make Iluvatar a tired little boy. Unfortunately seeing as howe he has two half done reviews, he may not be able to go to sleep until they are ****ing done...
And leik womg thx for compliments. I like this review, sans my track reviews for Pattern Against User and Sleepwalk Capsules. They just seem a tad bit weak compared to the rest.
And cheeto, your silly. I enjoy the song quite a bit, it just doesnt fit in the spot it was given well. At all.
Digging: Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward | | |
Sure it does. I like how its the last furious song and it fades into a big epic song that ends the album. Its done perfectly, your just too tired to realize it, once you get your sleep you will understand your mistake and then rock the wtf pwn out to cosmonaut.
| | | Album Rating: 4
I'll be the hyena, you'll see
Digging: Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs | | |
This was a good review! I have just recently learned that ATDI played a show near my hometown back in the day, supporting The Juliana Theory and Zao. I was pretty surprised (and disappointed) because I would have sprinted to that show if I knew what I know about their live tenacity now!
However, as far as ATDI albums go this one is really not as good as some of their other stuff. It's far too "weighty" and caught up in itself, without the high spirits of certain points on Acrobatic Tenement and In/Casino/Out. Still a good starting point for anyone who's curious about them, though.
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Wow, reviewing binge 
Digging: John Wiese - Soft Punk
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At The Drive-In are the biggest influence in modern music thus far I would say. I can't think of a band that I listen to that doesn't have something of them in it.
Masterful.
x
Digging: Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
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Quote:
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At The Drive-In are the biggest influence in modern music thus far I would say. I can't think of a band that I listen to that doesn't have something of them in it.
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Wait, are they saying they're your biggest influence? Or the biggest influence in general on modern music?
If the latter, then I really really really think you're being shortsighted, to the point of blindness.
This Message Edited On 05.01.06
Digging: Ludovico Einaudi - Ritornare | | |
I agree. With Liberi, I mean.
| | | Album Rating: 5
Beast of a review, As most favorite album reviews tend to be. I like this CD alot, it's not my favorite and I prefer De-Loused, but this is is an amazing record.
Great job.
Digging: Daughters - Hell Songs | | |
excellent review. im not into the post hardcore stuff much tho.
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This album is okay.
A standard post-hardcore affair, Acrobatic Tenement is so much better.
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Wow, excellent work. Umm, I'm not really a fan of ATDI over the course of an album. I adore a few isolated tracks, but I don't think they really cut it across an entire album.
Digging: Vince Neil - Exposed | | |
Rolodex Propaganda owns. I have to admit it Iluvatar, you beat me to this review.
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
I don't get whats up with people and Acrobatic Tenement. It's by far my least favorite of their studio albums. I'd still give it a 3.5, but I do think this and In/Casino/Out demolish it most every way.
And thanks for all the compliments everybody, they keep the drive alive.
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This album is damn good, I might have to dig it out.
"Enfilade" is great.
Digging: Two Gallants - What the Toll Tells | | | | Page 1 of 3 | Next > | >> |
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