Northstar have been considered an influential pop-punk band throughout many circles, most of these influences coming from there first album "Is this thing loaded?” the album is a classic album with complicated lyrics and choruses that don't have to be all that catchy. The album has been considered to be favorites by many including the likes of today's hit pop punk band Taking Back Sunday. The band spent more time in the production room and recorded Pollyanna, an album with a more poppy feel to it. Was the album as good as Is This Thing Loaded? No, but it's still a pretty good album.
What I liked:
The album has a good first 4 songs, the songs all containing catchy choruses and well-done drum work added to it. "For Members Only", contains a perfect pre-chorus, which leads into its ear-shattering chorus perfectly. The song's breakdown is kind of a blends in with the chorus, which is kind of cool, but if you put those lyrics in the breakdown in an entire different segment from the words in the chorus, "For Members Only" could probably have been more of a hit. The next song, “Pollyanna”, picks up right was the last track left off. The chorus is again good here, but not quite as good as in the first track. However, the surrounding lyrics are twice as clever and thought of: "You are so heavy, you are so warm, you are just a pillow I've used a thousand times before" is repeated and then the chorus comes in perfectly. The breakdown is probably one of the best you are going to hear in pop-punk as Northstar catchy drum work accompanies Nick [the lead singer] singing: "And I will chase it, Grab it, Stake it, Rub until she fakes it". "American Living" is the next track and it tends to mellow the first two great songs out, the first lines before the chorus are so soft spoken that you can barely hear them, and it leads perfectly into the pre-chorus: "This is so typical, arranged by the author of me". The chorus is pretty well done, but could use some fine-tuning with the instruments in my opinion. The breakdown in this song is all right, but if you compare it to "Pollyanna", well there is no comparison. With some instrumental work, "American Living" could be a great song. "The Pornographers Daughter" comes right at you with non-punk like complicated lyrics, that tend to carry on for a while but the chorus speeds everything up. Nick sings the chorus beautifully, and it is probably the best on the album coming off the pre-chorus: "This is not for me a perfect struggle", the chorus progresses and Nick repeats one of my favorite pop-punk lines of all time: "My hero taste like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead". "Two Zero Two", is one of my favorite songs off all-time. The acoustic beat is accompanied by some of the best pop-punk lyrics I have ever heard, read, or seen. The chorus is absolutely breath taking and well written: "Does that dress fit alright, I want to know why it falls off and on, and are you okay baby? hopefully New York City will lose you like it did me". The second lines surrounding the chorus contain another great Northstar line: "Oh god you look awful like a mouthful of sex like drugs". This is what I liked about the album.
What I didn't like:
The first four songs even though they are all great songs, tend to sound the same to me. The songs on this album tend to sound alike as well. The album is a well-written version of Taking Back Sunday's "Where You Want To Be". The fifth and sixth tracks on the album are very creative lyrically, but they can be a little bit boring and carry on a little bit, but they do lead perfectly into the seventh track. "Digital Me", contains a catchy chorus but the surrounding lines aren't really up to Northstar standards.
Conclusion:
The album I believe is just a few ideas crammed together into one album. And even though Northstar is one of my favorite bands, this is not there best work. The band broke up to form a new band called "Cassino" which is a very good acoustic band. Imagine the song I described "Two Zero Two" and put into four songs by Cassino so far, the band is very good. A good album that could use some work and fine-tuning
