Whats that you hear in the distance could it be!? Yes it is Minerals Power of Failing anyone who enjoys the emo genre knows when they hear those first alternating notes of Five, Eight and Ten that this is going to be an emotional roller coaster thats going to make you laugh cry and possibly resort to some form of self mutilation.
This is my first review so I'm gonna do the best I can here and introduce this lovely quartet. Chris Simpson sings and plays guitar, Scott McCarver plays guitar, Jeremy Gomez plays bass and Gabriel Wiley plays drums. They originated in Austin, Texas in the mid 90's when they signed to Crank! and released two albums The Power Of Failing and End Serenading. The group split shortly after End Serenading was released, former members went on to form The Gloria Record.
On to the record itself. The record starts with a quiet guitar riff and Chris' voice coming in smoothly over it the bass kicks in while the guitar plays a neat melody over the original riff. A nice song to open the album gives a good taste of whats to come. The album continues with Gloria a faster paced song with some very well written lyrics.
"Cause I just want to be
Something more than the mud in your eyes
I want to be the clay in your hands
Hey sorrow where are you
Tomorrow just won't be the same
Without you here
I'll wish for shoulders bold and broad to bear
And strength to hold my head above them"
Oh yeah this is defiantly an emo album. With that said I adore the lyrics. The next song is Slower and thats exactly what it is slower, the tempo slows down from Gloria but once again the loud/quiet dynamic is defiantly there as the chorus comes in feedback fills up the track and the vocals get louder as the move into the rather catchy chorus. The song ends with the guitars climbing up the fretboard and fading into Dolorosa. I am not a big fan of this track it starts out slow and just kind of builds up through the entire song but it never really goes anywhere its just an average track kind of droning just not as interesting as the rest of the album.
80-37 is a very happy track, in comparison to the rest of the album anyway. Starts of with a odd little guitar riff leaving the bass and drums to keep the tempo of the song. I don't even know what you'd call it maybe just an interlude between verses cause its not quite a chorus but at neat fill with the guitar that just sounds grand. It happens at :38 seconds in for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. The song ends rather abruptly as the guitar lets out one last bend at lets it ring until the track ends. Ahh my favorite track on the album. If I Could it starts out with some interesting chords very mellow at the beginning and has a chorus that flows very well with the song, the lyrics are awesome I dunno what they mean but I like them. This song ends pretty fast with feedback leading us out into...
July I also like this song a lot the guitar sounds cool and as it continues on the chorus just hits you with but a small drum roll to warn you of its coming. This band has very good skills at flowing into a chorus the songs fit perfectly as the loud soft dynamic is played into them. Silver is one of the quieter songs on the album similar to Dolorosa but I personally believe it to be a fair amount better than Dolorosa but thats just opinion.
Take The Picture Now is another standout on this album it starts with alternating notes on a guitar and then another comes in and lays a melody and the singing begins. Just when you think well now theres gonna be some distortion nope they don't break out into a chorus they throw a curve ball and keep it mellow until about the two minute mark where the guitars come in all together and take us all the way to the end. Parking lot a lovely way to bring this glorious emo masterpiece to a close the verse begins very mellow with just guitar the vocals begin and when the chorus hits you hear the distorted bend to prove it. It's very epic sounding and the album closes with a fast paced chord progression that leads to some feedback.
I must say that this is one of my favorite albums of all time. It shows very well that you don't have to sweep pick arpeggios at 220 bpm to make an impressive record. The melody and emotional content of this album thrilled me, the lyrics are amazing. Instrumentally the creativity in the guitars I found impressive, the bass was loud enough to hear and he deviated from the root note so that was nice, he did his job well. I'm no drummer so I do not know a lot about them but I do know that he held the rhythm well but I'm not sure if he did anything impressive.
In closing I give this album a 4/5, for those of you reading this sorry if I spelled crap wrong and slaughtered the grammar cause Im bad at English but I did my best and spell checked.
Standout Tracks
Gloria
If I Could
July
Take The Picture Now
Parking Lot
