|
User
Reviews 160
Approval 89%
Soundoffs 63
News Articles 39
Band Edits + Tags 347
Album Edits 622
Album Ratings 3778
Objectivity 83%
Last Active 04-09-22 4:38 am
Joined 11-09-12
Review Comments 25,137
| All Anberlin Songs Ranked (with Descriptions)
This'll be an ongoing series. | | 88 |  | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Disappear" - So you may be wondering, what is Green's least favorite Anberlin
song? The answer is this little track off of New Surrender, which is an album I will always
defend as one of the band's most underrated efforts. You wouldn't get that from
"Disappear", though. It's pretty hard for me to consider an Anberlin song "bad" - hell,
most of their worst ones are just plain out boring. "Disappear" comes close though -
everything plays out like a normal decent Anberlin song - until the chorus. The
drums kick in, and you think something great would follow, but what does follow is
one of Anberlin's most annoying choruses ever. Goddamn, Stephen Christian's
vocals are downright unbearable on this when he cries, "Watch us slowly disappear
with time", and he falls flat on the word "disappear" so badly it hurts. | | 87 |  | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"We Owe This to Ourselves" - I'm in the minority when it comes to this, but Dark is
the Way, Light is a Place is my least favorite Anberlin album, and guess what, "We
Owe This" is my least favorite Anberlin opener. While the instruments do hit hard
like all Anberlin openers do, the most important part of the band falls flat, and
that's Stephen Christian himself. The riffs and drums are on the heavier side, but
save for a few lines in the opening verse, there's no energy in his vocals, especially
in the chorus. Not to mention, the track is pretty repetitive - the chorus, which
consists of two goddamn lines, is repeated six times throughout the whole song. By
round #3, I'm practically begging for this song to just end already. | | 86 |  | Anberlin
Lost Songs
"Everywhere In Between" - There are four B-sides included on this list, and this is the first one to leave. Let's address the
elephant in the room first, which is the fact that "Everything in Between" is a demo. As a result, the production is awful, and
it does sound like it was made in Stephen's basement. Vocally, he provides emotion but also sings off-key and falls flat too
many times. It's also incredibly hard to hear the instrumental section, which is drowned out in the background. To make
matters worse, there's even a key change towards the end that takes a turn for the worse. The song isn't even all that bad,
and it's main problems mostly stem from the fact that it is a demo and it is pretty unrefined. Maybe I'm being too harsh on
this song for being a demo, but I rarely see myself coming back to this one. | | 85 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Closer" - This was chosen as Dark is the Way's second single, and flopped commercially, peaking at #39 on Billboard's
Alternative charts. It's not hard to see why, though - even if the verses do contain a small trace of emotion in Christian's
vocals, I can't look past the terrible chorus, which just consists him monotonously mumbling "Closer, cloooooooooser" with no
energy whatsoever. The main problem with Dark is the Way is that the album contains some of the most boring songs
Anberlin have ever done, yet it was hyped up as dark and visceral. "Closer" runs for only four minutes, but it seems like much
longer with the whole track dragging on what seems like five. As far as the songs on Dark is the Way go, this definitely ranks
at the bottom, with almost nothing working in its favor. | | 84 |  | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Love Song" - While I didn't include any covers that were featured on the B-sides compilation Lost Songs, "Love Song" was
featured on the band's first album, Blueprints for the Black Market, which gets a lot more flack then it deserves. It's filled with
so much youthful energy that it reminds me of the hot summer days, and all the fun associated with it. This cover of The
Cure classic isn't a bad one, but it's definitely not one I come back to that often. It's clearly inferior to the original, and
doesn't do anything to distinguish itself from the original or any other Anberlin songs. At least 311's version managed to
incorporate their signature reggae-rock sound into something interesting, which Anberlin's doesn't. Overall, it's not a horrible
song, but there's definitely nothing special or unique about it at all, and I can't ever listen to it without wanting to spin
Disintegration and witness the greatness of The Cure's original. | | 83 |  | Anberlin
Cities
"(Debut)" - Ohh shit, a song from Cities got dropped this early? Don't fret, Cities lovers, because it's just a prelude. I
consider the songs from here on out to be in a different tier than the first five. Those were songs that I cringe when listening
to, with multiple factors working against their favor. The songs that are being eliminated soon aren't horrible, but they're just
short instrumental pieces that barely last over a minute, and therefore I can't place them any higher. I don't hate anything
about them (unlike the prior five), but it's hard to justify putting an instrumental prelude above, y'know, actual songs, even if
those songs are boring. With that said, "(Debut)" does a pretty good job of opening up Cities. A dark ambiance is provided
through the main riff, low piano chords and track skipping. The out-of-tune violins remind me of city traffic and the
foreboding darkness that disaster will soon occur. A short acoustic lick comes in and the volume cranks up before... | | 82 |  | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"A Heavy Hearted Work of Staggering Genius" - I'm not sure if I made it clear enough in my write-up for "(Debut)", but I
consider these two tracks in a separate tier than the first five tracks I eliminated. Had "A Heavy Hearted Work..." been a full-
length song, I could easily put it a lot higher on the list. Alas, it's only a minute and fourteen seconds long, but all of that
time is well spent. The track begins with some simple strumming on the acoustic guitar before blasts of guitar distortion wave
in and a drumfill starts to play. While the electric riff soon overpowers the acoustic, both intertwine with each other towards
the end. Had the song been at least four minutes long, it would have had more time to fully expand on its ideas and reach a
more satisfying climax. | | 81 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"The Runaways" - So, a song from Never Take Friendship Personal that is not an interlude has finally been eliminated. Before
we go on about this song, I'd like to note that the tracks from here on out are in a different tier than the rest of the list. The
first few songs were ones I had little to no fondness for, and the last two were nothing more than interludes that I couldn't
have ranked any higher. The next 81 positions will be a standard ranking, with no benefits or unbenefits allowed. Anyways,
let's talk about Never Take Friendship Personal. It's Anberlin's most overrated album in my opinion, mainly because they still
hadn't found their sound completely yet, and there are a couple of boring clunkers in the middle stretch. "The Runaways" is
one of them. This is mainly because of the fact that the song's chorus does absolutely nothing for me except put me to
sleep. Stephen Christian's vocals on this are just average, with no cringeworthy moments but no highlights either. There's
just a lack of spark in his voice, which really disappoints me. "Distance is the thief in which you conspire" is a pretty good
lyric, but the chorus is pretty repetitive and cliched. Overall, it's not a bad song, just an incredibly boring one. | | 80 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"You Belong Here" - Speaking of boring tracks, here's another one off of Dark is the Way that exemplifies everything about
why it's my least favorite Anberlin album. The song starts with half a minute of slow instrumentals before Christian slowly
croons, "You belong here, you were meant to be with me". There's simply nothing interesting about it, and it's in the row of
ballads that fill up the album's middle section. I really do like the line "But, a heart that's not worth breaking isn't worth much,
not at all.", but that doesn't excuse the absolute snoozer that the song calls a 'chorus'. There's simply no emotion in
Christian's vocals at all, which is strange, considering he usually nails his ballads. He's the main reason why Dark is the Way
was such a disappointing record, although around 2:55 he belts out a loud, high note that I do really enjoy. Unfortunately,
that's the bright spot in this dark (heh, heh) tunnel of a lullaby. | | 79 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Foreign Language" - As I stated earlier, Blueprints for the Black Market is Anberlin at their most youthful and innocent, with
lots of pop-punk influence in many of the tracks. For a debut album, it isn't half bad. However, Blueprints does have some
annoying songs that are just so damn sugar-coated that it becomes irritating after a while. Case in point: this song, which
combines bad lyrics ("Boys speak in rhythm, and girls in code"), annoying doo doo doos (You're not Third Eye Blind, just
sayin') and a weak chorus. It's not a boring song at all, but after multiple listens it does come off as an amateur song, which
is fitting, giving how young the band was at the time of Blueprints' release. The whole 'foreign language' metaphor is a neat
idea, but the execution isn't strong enough to build upon Christian's heartbroken angst. It's a very jittery song, and Anberlin
were never good at doing jittery songs (hint, hint). | | 78 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)" - Another song from New Surrender goes down, and this time it's one whose main
offense is nothing more than just being absolutely boring. There's no cringeworthy vocals, jittery chorus or horrendous lyrics,
but there's nothing memorable about it. The background cries in the chorus are perhaps the most interesting thing about it,
because the instrumentation is standard and the singing is rather dull. "Burn Out Brighter" tells the story of a man who wants
to live life to the fullest and die for something important, wanting to "burn out brighter than the Northern lights", but he
makes a few mistakes along the way and wishes he could still accomplish his goals. With the imminent disbanding of Anberlin,
these lyrics seem rather self-prophetic, but that's unimportant. The band could have done so much more with that subject
matter, but the result is just plain boring. And on an album as great as New Surrender, just plain boring is enough for it to be
its second worst song. | | 77 |  | Anberlin
Devotion
"City Electric" - On the surface Devotion seems like nothing more than Vital and a few B-sides, but if you look deeper into the
album, you'll see how important each of the added B-sides are to its flow. The slow crescendo of energy that builds in tracks
3-6 is so glorious, and "City Electric" is a part of it. With that said, the song does feel like a B-side, and it comes off as one
of the poppiest tracks Anberlin have ever made. It's not one of their lightest, but at least their acoustic ballads had a
foreboding sense of sadness and melancholy to them. "City Electric" comes incredibly close to sounding like pop-rock, from
the chorus that bears resemblances to an awful One Direction song, a fervent U2 influence and the "whoa oh oh"s in the
bridge. It's not hard to see why this was rejected in favor of Vital's greatest songs. | | 76 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Pray Tell" - At the rate they're falling, there won't be anymore Dark is the Way songs once we past the Top 50. I do have to
note that save for "We Owe This to Ourselves", every song I've eliminated from Dark is the Way is in the album's middle
section of ballads (which only has one song alive, "Take Me (As You Found Me)", so it's not particularly the best stretch of
songs). For a ten song album, Dark is the Way drags the most right after it gets started, not to mention most of the ballads
nearly reach four minutes. "Pray Tell" starts off with a stomp-clap-stomp beat, which is uncommon to hear in an Anberlin
song. Stephen Christian's vocals soon come in, and they kill any momentum the song had going for it. "Hide away, why do
you hiiiiiiiide away from me?", he whines, and I could come up with multiple reasons why is ex flees from his sight all the time.
Not only does the Ballad Row in Dark is the Way consist of the same type of song over and over and over and over again, it's
also filled with such forgettable hooks I can't even call them "hooks", because they don't hook onto any facet of my memory.
It's boring ballad after boring ballad after boring ballad, and it gets unbearable after the second one. People ask me why I
hate on Dark is the Way so much - it's songs like "Pray Tell" that are the reason why. Post-chorus, the stomp-clap-stomps
come back amidst some twangy guitar, which disappears after five seconds. I would have loved to hear more twangy guitar
in this song, because the stomp-claps get repetitive. Christian again delivers a vocal performance that is so damn
unemotional. Such is the way of life down here on Ballad Row. | | 75 |  | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Birds of Prey" - As a song from Lowborn goes down, the only albums without a song eliminated yet are Vital and Cities (not
counting the prelude). After listening to the album for a month now, I can easily say that Lowborn is one of my favorite
Anberlin albums. It doesn't go all-out, it's just a standard Anberlin album, and standard Anberlin still kicks ass. The album hits
the right spots with the soft songs and heavier ones, and it's a great note to end on. "Birds of Prey" is probably the most
minimalistic track on Lowborn, even more so than the closer "Harbinger", which disappointed many. The song begins with a
pretty nice bassline that is repeated throughout the whole song, plus the beat comes in around the same time. I really do like
the verses, especially when Christian goes "and it all ends the same", and the chorus is pretty emotional too. What drags this
song down, then? It's when the whole band comes in, ruining the intimacy the song spent two minutes building. With the
minimalism gone, there's really nothing special about the ending. And what the hell is that man in the background saying? | | 74 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"We Dreamt in Heist" - My favorite moments on Blueprints for the Black Market are when Anberlin are at their most youthful
and innocent. It makes the album rather unique, as the band would later become darker and moodier. "We Dreamt in Heist" is
one of these youthful songs, and its lyrics are about promising your lover you'll stay with them forever. It's a sweet message,
one that gets lost among the angst-ridden post-breakup anthems found on Cities and New Surrender. My main problem with
"We Dreamt in Heist" is that it never completely engages me in any way, shape or form. It's a very boring song, honestly, and
its chorus is two lines, with the only memorable thing being Stephen stretching out the word "try-yyy-yyy-yyyyyyyyyyy-yyy"
for as long as he can, and that gets annoying after a while. What about the verses, then? They're generic and lack emotion.
My favorite moment of the song is the first two lines of the bridge, when Stephen tells his girl "I know Mexico is south of
here, beautiful this time of year, so let's jump the border when the coast is clear". Aside from that, this song puts me to
sleep. | | 73 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Down" - I don't suppose I'm making any friends with this selection, but most of the songs that are being booted in this
section of the list are those whose greatest offense is being boring. "Down" certainly fits that bill to a T, but before we talk
about "Down", I think it's worth noting that half of Dark is the Way has already shown up on the list. All five of these songs
are the reason why it's my least favorite Anberlin album. I've mentioned the Ballad Row before, but outside of it, the songs I
don't like aren't offensively bad, they just don't interest me at all. That's certainly the case for "Down", which manages to be
Dark is the Way's sole acoustic ballad. I'm normally a sucker for Anberlin's acoustic ballads, as the positions for "Breathe" and
"The Unwinding Cable Car" will soon prove. "Down" gets on my bad side as soon as it starts, with an acoustic section that
sounds exactly like "Disarm" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This wouldn't be so noticeable if there wasn't some background
drumming that comes in at the exact same time it does on "Disarm". All they needed was some chimes, and it'd be exactly the
same. Looking past that, the verses come off as incredibly lifeless, which sucks, because Anberlin's acoustic ballads thrive on
the emotion in Stephen Christian's vocals. I wait for the chorus to come in, but before that... a-ha! It's the "Disarm"
drumming again! It's coincidental that they share the same drum beat, and it's also coincidental that the drum beat happens
in the intro and right before the chorus on both songs, right? Yeah, no. Stephen's falsetto on the chorus would sound
beautiful normally, but everything about "Down" is just so damn boring. I keep waiting for the song to pick up later on, but it
never does. And thus, the song sounds a lot longer than four minutes, because the latter half of it drags. Oh yeah, and after
every line in the chorus, you know what happens? The drum beat from "Disarm". Sigh. | | 72 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Time & Confusion" - The middle part of Never Take Friendship Personal is easily the album's weakest section. It features
some incredibly dull songwriting, uninspired vocals and bland choruses. "Time & Confusion" embodies all three of those
aspects. "Live for today, we'll dream tomorrow" is the track's opening line, and overall, its first verse is very anthemic and a
call for action. I really do like when the riffs fade in and out in order so Stephen can cry "And it feels like we could last
forever, and I'm not doing this alone", but what I don't like is the main hook of the song. After building up so much emotion
with its verses, it just dissipates into the air with a less-than-stellar chorus. I don't hate "Time & Confusion", it just bores me
at the wrong time. The hook is supposed to be the most memorable part of the song, but it manages to be the least
memorable on this song. I'm not a huge fan of the bridge either, which is pretty generic. | | 71 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"The Undeveloped Story" - This is the fourth song from Blueprints for the Black Market to go out, and only Dark is the Way
with five has more songs eliminated so far (although look at it this way, there are more songs on Blueprints, and 66% of them
still remain, compared to 50% for Dark is the Way). I think it's clear that Blueprints and Dark is the Way are my least favorite
Anberlin album, although I do enjoy Blueprints a lot more. Blueprints is the sound of a band who were struggling to find their
true sound, lost between the pop-punk influenced sugary innocence and the riff-driven angst that would soon manifest.
There's really not much to say about "The Undeveloped Story", honestly, other than the fact that it's plain boring. I'm not a
fan of the cowbell either. | | 70 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Stationary Stationery" - I do enjoy the pun that the band came up with in the title, playing off the homophonic relationship
the two words have. That's probably the most interesting thing about this cut from Anberlin's second album, which now has
three songs down. New Surrender has lost two, and Vital and Cities have lost none (not counting Debut). I think that pretty
much says enough about how I rank them. Remember in my write-up for "Foreign Language" I stated how Anberlin were never
good at writing jittery songs? Well, "Stationary Stationery" fits NTFP's quota in terms of annoyingly upbeat songs. Although it
isn't as annoying as "Foreign Language", there's nothing really appealing about it. "Do they not have pen or paper where you
are, because I haven't heard from you in ages" is a horrible opening line, and the main hook is mind-numbingly dull. Not to
mention, this song is pretty damn repetitive, with 75% of the last minute and a half being the exact same lines repeated over
and over. Overall, "Stationary Stationery" isn't a bad track, but a repetitive and dull one. Giving credit where it's due, the
pre-chorus is pretty good, but it's twenty seconds of greatness drowned out by three minutes of snoozing. | | 69 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Younglife" - Here's a track that sounds noticeably different from the rest of Anberlin's material. First of all, it's one of the
band's most youthful and innocent songs that isn't on Blueprints for the Black Market, which is rather surprising given the
band dropped that shtick with the release of Never Take Friendship Personal. Second of all, the instruments are a lot more
subdued, with the drums coming in only in the chorus and the guitar riff quieted, hiding in the background behind computer-
generated beats and the main acoustic section. This is one of Anberlin's best jittery songs, although it only comes in 69th
place, which says a lot about the quality of them. I don't even hate the chorus, but what kills this song for me is the way
Stephen sings the line "back of my mind". It sounds rather off, and when that line is one of the most prominent in the whole
song, being repeated a total of four times, it's a ruiner. The song reflects on adolescent memories and teenage fantasies,
which is a theme that hasn't shown up in a while. Some people say that this song is poppy Anberlin, but there are some good
poppy Anberlin songs, so that's not the direct problem. | | 68 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Cold War Transmissions" - I think I'm reaching the end of boring Anberlin songs - for the most part, I like each and every
song now, after I've eliminated the bad ones, the inter(pre)ludes and the bland ones. "Cold War Transmissions" is one of the
heaviest tracks on Anberlin's 2003 debut instrumentally, but what lets it down are the vocals. The song opens up with a nice
repeating riff and some pretty aggressive singing - the guitarwork on "Cold War" is wonderful, I do admit. Milligan adds a
crunch to it that gives the track a much more harder feel than it would without it, so I do admire its songwriting. What I
don't like is the chorus, though, which sounds like generic Anberlin. The aggressive instrumentation does give it somewhat of
a "pop-punk" feel because Christian's vocals aren't as sharp on the hook. Lyrically, it's about relationships (big surprise there),
but the theme of relating a breakup to war is cliched and overdone. | | 67 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"No Love to Speak" - These next 67 songs are going to be hard to rank, especially when all of the tracks are so consistently
great. That's the thing about Anberlin - they're a hell of a consistent band, rarely making a bad album and always crafting out
good song after good song. To put things in perspective, songs 88-84 are a 2, 83-82 are instrumentals and 81-68 are 2.5s
and 3s. From here on out, every track will be at least a 3.5. And "No Love to Speak" is a 3.5 - a low 3.5, but it's still a 3.5.
It's a very emotional song, and Stephen Christian sings with the sadness and melancholy that he uses so damn well. Don't
get me wrong, it's a great track, but whenever I listen to it, it keeps building and building with fervent emotion, but the
payoff just isn't what I expected. The whole song feels like it adds onto that one moment where everything lets go, but it
never does, and that's what hurts "No Love to Speak" the most. It's a great song, and it could have fit on Vital, but it's just
not as good as the other 66 songs that are about to face their ranking. | | 66 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"A Day Late" - Now, this is a song that has grown on me completely ever since I first heard it. It started out around the low
70s quality, but it worked its way up to a very respectable #66, given the scope of Anberlin's discography. "A Day Late" was
the first single the band had ever released, but it didn't do too well commercially. What irked me about it initially was how
much it sounded like a Blueprints for the Black Market B-side; it had that damn annoying upbeat, sugar-coated feel to it that
didn't fit in well with the rest of Never Take Friendship Personal, plus it was pretty boring too. That was two years ago,
though, and now it's too damn infectious to overlook. Even if the lyrics may be a bit lacking, goddamn me if this song isn't
catchy as hell. This is some single-worthy stuff right here, and I hate knocking it out so low but then again, that's just how
good the rest of Anberlin's discography it. "We are who we were when, could've been lovers but at least you're still my day
late friend." That hook really does grab you into the song, and the way the song fades out is also pretty neat. | | 65 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Autobahn" - This is the second song in a row that I've booted despite being catchy as hell. Blueprints for the Black Market
now has 6 of 11 songs out, compared to Dark is the Way which has 5 of 10. It's still a better album though, and the rankings
reflect that - DITW's songs were outed early on, and Blueprints is meeting its end against stiff competition. "Autobahn", like
most other Blueprints songs, has an exuberant youthful innocence, and that upbeat vibe is the album's main MO. It has its
fair share of harder and emotional moments, but for the most part it's such a happy record that really feels like summer. And
a lot of its songs are catchy, while others are dull and irritating. "Autobahn" is in the middle - it's a very catchy song, but it
doesn't have anything else going for it besides its catchiness. The instrumentation is standard, Stephen's vocals are
standard, but it's so damn catchy. It's a great song, but again, it's stacked up against stuff that's so much better. | | 64 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Blame Me! Blame Me!" - Yay, more controversy! Although this time, it's not because I kicked a song off too early, it's
because I kept it on for way too damn long. A lot of people jab at New Surrender for being a mediocre followup to Cities,
when in actuality I think it's pretty damn underrated. Its got everything that a great Anberlin album has, and even if there's
some boring and annoying songs on it, the product as a whole is one of their best. Stephen doesn't like it all that much, but
to me he's wrong, which is one of the few times I'll ever disagree with him. Anyways, back to "Blame Me!". The song fills the
album's quota for "annoyingly upbeat" songs, except it really isn't that annoying. "Foreign Language" is annoyingly upbeat, not
so much this. Lyrically, the song is about the blame game, and how people look to others as the cause of their problems and
not their own. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but Stephen sings it with passion. There's just this sense of energy that the
song gives off, and I was never bugged by how chirpy it seemed to be. That line "Leave me out of this, your life's a sinking
ship" hits all the right notes - it just seems like the perfect 'take that', delivered with contempt. Besides, it's pretty damn
catchy. So come on. Give it a chance. | | 63 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"Dead American" - I hope this choice won't be too controversial, but I never know, given the wide array of opinions on the
site. "Dead American" is probably the heaviest song on Devotion, with only "Desires" rivaling it. On an album that combines A-
sides with B-sides, "Dead American" doesn't exactly come off as an easy B-side, but it's far from "Self-Starter", "Modern Age"
and "God Drugs & Sex". I brought up "Desires" earlier, and that's what this song comes off as, a second-rate rehash of
"Desires". It's placed right before it on the Devotion track list, and it features similar instrumentation. Now, I do give it credit
for its verses, which are very anthemic. It's like a call to action, a message that needs to spread. What is that message,
though?
"WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT NOW! WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT NOW! WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT,
WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT NOW! WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT NOW! WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT
NOW! WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT NOW!"
Damn, that chorus is just the worst part about the song. It's repetitive and it can get annoying upon further listens. And you
know what?
I still like it.
Honestly, the only thing that drags this song down is how repetitive it is. The chorus, at times, can feel even more anthemic
than the verses, even if it's just one or two lines over and over again. "Dead American" is a song to pump you up, and even if
it sounds a bit too similar to "Desires", it's a good song. | | 62 |  | Anberlin
Vital
"Other Side" - As a song from Vital finally goes down, Cities remains the only album untouched (not counting the prelude). I
think that says a lot about the strength of this album, which contains wholly emotional ballads, well executed electronic
elements and up-tempo rockers. Alas, the least best song Vital is "Other Side", which, despite its ranking, is still a very great
song. It starts with a repeating keyboard riff and Stephen slowly crooning on top of it. There's a shaker playing in the
background, which is unique for an Anberlin song. My favorite part about it is the chorus, which is filled with emotions as
Stephen cries to the skies, "Love me! Love me! Hold me! Hold me!" The whole thing feels so epic, and it's one of the best
choruses on the album. Why is it the worst song on Vital then? Simply put, the verses come off as too short, especially the
second one, which is only three lines and eleven seconds long. The chorus comes in so soon, and I feel that detracts from
the song. Had the verses been given more time to fully develop and expand on its thoughts, the chorus second time around
would have so much more impact. It's a nitpick, but when the rest of the song is so grandeur, that one thing takes away
from what could have been an even greater song. | | 61 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Velvet Covered Brick" - Oh hey, more controversy! While this was the standout song for many, I couldn't quite grasp the
love for this as much as others. It's still a great song, no doubt about that, but compared to "Losing It All", "Hearing Voices"
or "Atonement", this never hit me as much. Now, the clear standout part of "Velvet Covered Brick" is the instrumentation,
without a doubt. The whole song is very fast-paced and one of the more aggressive songs on Lowborn, which I do admire.
The furious drumming, epic riffage and awesome guitar solo are all very impressive, and it helps the song create a heavier
mood. What I'm not to big a fan of, however, are Stephen Christian's vocals. They never grabbed me on this song quite like
they did on the rest of the album, and while I'm not saying they are boring, they're not as energetic as they could have
been. Joseph Milligan's guitar and Nate Young's drumming completely make this song, and without them it would falter. Luckily
for "Velvet Covered Brick", the instrumental section is so powerful it only ranks as my 28th least favorite Anberlin song. And
that's no easy feat. So I do congratulate this song. It's accomplished a lot. | | 60 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Intentions" - The 2nd song from Vital has fallen, which means the only album with less eliminated is Cities, which has been
untouched save for the prelude. "Intentions" is a rather odd song in Anberlin's discography - despite being one of the
heaviest, most riff-driven songs on Vital, it's got a very dancey feel to it. Underneath Joseph Milligan's crunching, loud
guitarwork is a repeating line of synthesizer that starts out the song. Rhythm guitarist Christian McHanley plays a repeating
riff that gives the song its main dance vibe. And then comes the chorus, which is just designed for letting loose and
fistpumping into the air. "Intentions" is a feel good song (not Feel Good Drag), and its use of electronic elements helps it
create an upbeat mood that Stephen no doubt wanted to convey. It just doesn't hit me as hard as the other songs on Vital
do - I don't hate it, but it's not very powerful. | | 59 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"IJSW" - Devotion takes its fourth hit, leaving it with three songs left, although those songs won't leave for a while. While
many of its tracks do come off as B-sides, that's only because Vital's tracks were so excellent. The Devotion songs are also
great, but just not on the same level as Vital. And the rankings show that. Now, I hope this won't be too controversial.
"IJSW" is probably Anberlin's most experimental track. It starts out with layered synthesizers over a bass-heavy beat, and
then Stephen Christian's vocals come in. Now, that's probably the most experimental aspect of the song - the vocal effects
put on his singing make him sound like On the Sunday of Life-era Steven Wilson, with a very helium kick to it. Now, I actually
like it as it does bring something new to the table. The beat repeats on and a wide array of more effects are used. The whole
band eventually comes in, and the whole build is amazing. At five and a half minutes, it never feels overlong. Nothing slips
with the electronics. But can I be honest here? There's a few boring patches in the song, and part of me wishes it could be a
little bit more emotional. Overall, it's a wonderful song, but it could be better. | | 58 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Losing It All" - From here on out, I have lots of positive words for the songs that come out. The tracks are all 3.7+ quality
now, and there's hardly anything bad about them. That's the thing about such a wonderful band like Anberlin - their 59th
best song is still excellent, and sadly they have better, so we have to say goodbye to another great track. "Losing It All" is a
rather emotional song, as it talks about their imminent breakup, yet it's still optimistic. "It's not losing it all if we have each
other" is the message of the song. The song is upbeat, but it still has a very ballady feel to it, focusing more on emotions and
not rocking out. The best part about "Losing It All" is the bridge, when Stephen cries "How could I say goodbye? We've come
too far to turn back now". It's just so damn emotional. Despite all it accomplishes, it doesn't fully engage me like it does with
other Anberlin songs. There's something about the instrumentation - there is a nice solo, but other than that, it feels like it's
missing a kick. | | 57 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Adelaide" - OHGODITHAPPENEDIDIDITIDIDITGODDAMNFINALLYWHYDIDIHAVETO. And with this outing, Cities is no longer
unhinged. Then again, it only took 31 songs for it to finally happen, so that alone proves the album's superiority in the band's
discography. When I first heard it, I didn't think much of it but upon further listens, the emotions started pouring out of every
crack of the album. It's a hard 5, and one of my favorite records of all time. And "Adelaide" might be its worst song, but it's
still pretty damn great. Remember how I talked about there always being that one annoyingly upbeat song on every album?
Well, that's what "Adelaide" is to Cities, and given that Cities is their best album, "Adelaide" is Anberlin doing this song style
at their best. The verses and chorus are all catchy, and it is undoubtedly a memorable song. So what did it do to make me
dub it the worst song on Cities? Well, I'm not particularly a fan of the bridge, and let's be honest, the song is repetitive. The
chorus does repeat a lot, and it's only one or two lines. It's catchy, don't get me wrong, but it's not a perfect song. It's the
weakest link on Cities, but as shown in the rankings, it's better than 37% of their discography. | | 56 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Innocent" - Dammit, I can't believe I'm giving "Innocent" the boot already. It's one of the most emotional songs on Vital, and
only Type Three surpasses it, and even that's reaching the end of its line. The song begins with some haunting keyboard
before Christian sadly croons, "Laying you down one last time on the sheets that will never give, a touch that woke you
gently. I'll never know if you saw me." The song is about his grandfather, who went into a coma during the band's tour in
Brazil. Stephen wrote the song and played it to him on his deathbed, which gives "Innocent" a lot of emotional context. Then
the chorus comes in - "We are all born the innocent, we were born to run carefree. I will hold on 'til the end, there'll never be
an end," he promises, and that is some incredibly moving stuff, especially that last line about holding on until the end. Verse
two lays down even more feels, as he asks his grandfather, who opened his eyes at one point, if he could feel his kiss and
touch. I'm not going to lie - this song makes me want to shed a tear, and I absolutely hate the fact that I'm kicking it out so
early. The keyboard is the only instrument in the whole song, aside from the bass-heavy beat and background synths, which
contribute to the sentimentality that I feel with it. Even if it was never planned to go on Vital, I'm glad Stephen made the
right decision and kept it instead of giving it B-side status. Because it's not B-side status. | | 55 | | Anberlin
Cities
"There Is No Mathematics to Love and Loss" - Another song from Cities? Just two songs after I dropped the first one? Well, I
guess I have to explain. Whenever I hear "Mathematics", the first thing that comes into my head is the synth. It was a rather
ballsy move back in 2007, when all Anberlin ever used were the standard guitar, bass and drums. They didn't dare experiment
with electronic, but that was 7 years ago. Hell, Vital and Lowborn thrive off the electronic influences to create the
atmosphere and mood they benefit off of. And to be honest, that's the most interesting thing about "Mathematics". Strip
them away, and it's just a standard Anberlin song. It's not boring, but there aren't that many emotional bits in it. The synths
come in hard on the chorus, which, let's be honest. "Have you ever heard a word? Have you ever heaaaaard a word? Have
you ever heard a word?" I wonder what the next line is. Even if the chorus is a bit repetitive, I do love Christian's vocals on
it, and the riffs on it do give it a bit of a heavier kick. | | 54 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Art of War" - It's been a while since I've booted a song from Dark is the Way, but that just goes to show you the difference
in quality between the album's bottom half and the top half. It's been 19 songs since "Down" went out at #73, and we went
from a point where 1/3rd of every eliminated song was from Dark is the Way to a point where 1/5th of every song that went
out is from it. As I've said, it remains my least favorite Anberlin album, and I've explained why in the writeups. "Art of War"
distances itself from the weakest tracks on DITW, but Anberlin have still made a lot better. The lyrics are incredibly juvenile
and asinine, and the first verse is kinda lackluster for them. At nearly five minutes, it's the second longest song on the album,
and honestly it could have been better. Anyways, about that first verse. It tries hard to be 'emotional', but it ends up rather
unmemorable. All is forgiven with such a powerful chorus that just screams arena-ready. "Art of War" slowly builds until the
second repetition of the chorus, which just lets loose with the pouring down of the drums and guitar, like they're performing
in a coliseum full of bloodthirsty fans. The ending is 'epic' in a sense, at least. | | 53 | | Anberlin
Lost Songs
"Uncanny" - The second of four B-sides to be dropped, "Uncanny" was recorded during the Cities era and I can easily see
why it didn't make it onto the album. Anberlin had such a great flow with that album, and putting "Uncanny" on it would have
disturbed the waters. It also stands out as an outlier on the album, because if anything, it sounds like something that could
come off of Blueprints for the Black Market. It's more on line with their pop-punkier songs like "Cadence" then the darker,
heavier stuff like "Godspeed" or "Dismantle. Repair". With that said, it's not that big of a surprise that it didn't make it on, but
it is pretty damn great. The way Stephen says, "Say anywhere, as long as I'm with you" in the first chorus gives me chills,
while his falsetto at the end of the verse is also great. All of that is a piece of shit compared to the sheer greatness of the
last minute. After some rapid fire "doo doo doos", Stephen lets loose as he cries at the top of lungs the chorus, and it's a
definite vocal highlight. Even if there may not be much special about the first half, that last minute is great enough to boost
it up. | | 52 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Harbinger" - Believe me, it hurts to do this, eliminating this song before we even reach the Top 50. Now, "Harbinger" belongs
to an exclusive set of songs that has not been touched yet. Can you guess what that set it? If you thought it was the
closer, you were right. "Harbinger" is the first Anberlin closer to be ousted, and while this does effectively mean that it is the
band's worst of its kind, that's not to discredit it at all. In fact, since the band are known for ending their albums with long,
sprawling epics, it turns out that it's the only closer to not be the longest on its respective album. On its own, "Harbinger"
has its flaws. It's repetitive vocally and instrumentally, while it doesn't really go anywhere and just drags for four minutes.
But the greatest thing about it is the emotional weight of the song. Stephen's soft, hushed vocals match the tone of the
track, while the lyrics really bring home the message that the band is trying to convey. This song is the bookend to Anberlin's
career, the last song on their last album, and maybe they could have ended with a fifteen-minute long epic, but they didn't.
"Harbinger" is a great song to finish on - as I stated in my Lowborn review, it feels like the aural equivalent of saying goodbye
to a friend at the airport who is moving away. "We'll live forever, together, forever," croons Stephen. "I don't want to go
know, but I've got to, for you to remember me." Those are lyrics that really hit hard with all the circumstances surrounding it.
Listening to it in the context of the album greatly boosts the feels that come with it. Sure, taken on its own it might not be
that good of a song, but if "Harbinger" doesn't move you, you haven't truly experienced Anberlin. | | 51 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Orpheum" - Exiting right before we enter our top 50 is this little cut from Vital, which honestly, I'm surprised survived this
long. When I first heard it, it was one of my least favorite songs off of Vital, but it's grown on me, especially the piano intro
to the song which is perhaps one of my favorite things about it. It's one of the few songs on the album to use piano, and I
frankly think it uses it well, even if it doesn't play that huge of a role. What drags the song down for me honestly is the
chorus, which I'm not that huge a fan of. It just does nothing for me - it doesn't move me, it doesn't pump me up - it's just
there, taking up space. The only time it actually does something is at the end, when Stephen screams it out at the top of its
lungs. There's really not much to say about it - it's not a song that draws much ire or love. I do like the first verse a lot,
where the piano glides smoothly along the vocals and soaring guitars.
And there are still 50 songs better than it. Crazy, right? | | 50 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Breathe" - And just like that, another tearjerker gets dropped. It's a rather hard decision to make, given that I do love this
song dearly, but leaving just inside of the top 50 is the fifth song to exit from New Surrender. Now, that album is Anberlin's
most underrated, and just look at "Breathe" as evidence. The track begins as solely an acoustic ballad, and goddamn it, when
Stephen suddenly sings in his high register at the end of Verse 1, the feels just start to rush right in. "I can finally breathe,
suddenly alive. I can finally move, but I feel revived" is the uplifting chorus, and it's one of the most emotional moments on
the whole New Surrender album. It definitely draws comparisons to "The Unwinding Cable Car", but we won't see that for a
long time. It does have its flaws though - Verse 2 comes in a little too quick without room to evolve. When the drums kick in
at the second go-around of the chorus and Milligan harmonizes with his "whoa oh oh"s, the build pays off with such an
emotional release. | | 49 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Alexithymia" - Goddamn it, it hurts do this, outing a great song like this so soon. We're approaching the midway point of the
list soon, and I wish I could put this higher, but Anberlin have so many great songs it's too hard to choose between the
greatness. From the first line, this song gets me as Stephen cries in his higher register, "Don't try to wake me up even if the
sun really does come out tomorrow", and the emotions just flood right in. That whole first verse brings too many feels, and
the sparse drumming gives it a sadder tone than it already had. The harmonies are just beautiful, and despite its beauty, it's
still a sad song. The whole band comes in soon, and Stephen's vocal performance on this song is just gorgeous. Alexithymia is
a condition when people lack the ability to feel emotion, and you would have to be an alexithymiac if you're not moved by
this. The background aahs over the shredding guitar solo offer a reprieve before Stephen repeats the opening line once more.
What puts this behind the band's other work? Well, the chorus does. It's repetitive, and it's one of my least favorite hooks on
Cities. | | 48 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Stranger Ways" - Lowborn is a definitive album in the Anberlin discography. Aside from it being the band's final release,
there's just so much emotional weight that it carries, and for that it remains my 4th favorite record of theirs. "Stranger Ways"
is a testament to the passion that Stephen Christian is able to create with his voice. The song begins with some piano and
Stephen's haunting vocals, which are the highlight of the song. The way he says, "Right now you're over there" is tearjerking,
and I'll be damned if the way the drums kick in after the first chorus doesn't do anything. The whole song gradually builds to
to that one climax, which is when Stephen cries at the top of his lungs, "Would you stay with me here in my dreams if I
promised you this heaven?". That has got to be one of my favorite moments on the whole damn album, and it truly shows
how emotional Anberlin can be. I do have one problem with the song, and it's that after that jawdropping highlight, the song
still goes on for another two minutes. Clocking in at nearly five, it's Lowborn's longest song, and it overstays its welcome a
tad bit. But it's a small gripe, and I can't help but love it. | | 47 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Hello Alone" - For an album that was seemingly invincible during the first half of this ranking, Cities has taken quite a few hits
recently, losing its fourth song. To many people, I'm pretty sure it's a shock that it's survived this long, but I do like this a
fair deal more than most others. Perhaps the least liked part of "Hello Alone" is its chorus, but to me that's my favorite part.
It's filled with so much emotion, and when he cries "Is anybody out there?", the feeling of desolation and hopelessness are
expressed so flawlessly. If anything, the bridge almost matches it in terms of intensity - the way he yells "DO YOU CARE AT
ALL?" feels like one last chance at redemption, a chance that will never come. "Hello Alone", like much of Cities, thrives on its
emotion, and the heartbroken loneliness shows through all the pain that Stephen sings with. | | 46 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Glass to the Arson" - It's been quite a while since the last song from Blueprints went out, but that just goes to show the
difference in quality between its bottom and upper half. While most of the bottom half songs were annoyingly upbeat, all-too-
innocent pop punk lite jams, the upper half shows some of their more mature earlier work. In fact, "Glass to the Arson" is one
of the heaviest songs on Blueprints, with a nice hard-hitting riff to boast. My favorite part about it is the guitar solo, which
stands as one of the more technical parts on a not-so-technical album, and Stephen lets out a few more lines, with the
shout of "BURNING YOUR CITY DOWN!" rising among the rest. It's a nice change of pace given that it's surrounded by some of
their softer songs. | | 45 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Little Tyrants" - There are essentially two types of songs on Vital, the hard-hitting rockers and the soft, electronic-
influenced ballads, and most of those are some of the best songs that Anberlin have made. But surprisingly, "Little Tyrants"
doesn't fall between the boundaries of either. It's a song that's more upbeat than slow, but compared to "Self-Starter" and
"Desires", it's not that heavy. The instrumentation on it is pretty tight, and Stephen sings with a snarling growl at times. I
really don't have much to say about it. It's not a song that's left any kind of impact on me, just one to shut up and jam to.
That's really the highest praise I can give it, but that doesn't mean it's not a good song - of course it is. There's just not
much to discuss about it, it leaves no mark emotionally, just energetically. | | 44 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Impossible" - Had it not been for this song, Anberlin would have forever been known as one-hit wonders, that status firmly
cemented to their legacy that would soon go on to prove to have more than just "Feel Good Drag". But, because of the lead
single from Dark is the Way, Anberlin are now known as two-hit wonders in popular media! That's right, this top five
alternative rock radio hit may be one of their most well known songs, but it's not one of their best. Even if the verses aren't
anything noticeable for them, it's that chorus where they shine. "Take what you want from me, it means nothing now, take
EVERYTHING FROM ME!" is one of those lines that are so catchy that they stand as iconic in their discography. Even if DITW
is one of their least emotional albums, there's one line in the second verse - "Try to think through what I can do to you" that
is filled with sadness in it, and it's a vocal highlight for Stephen on this song. | | 43 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Armageddon" - If Vital was Anberlin dipping their feet into electronics, than Lowborn is them jumping off the diving board. On
their last album, they did use it to their advantage, creating a more atmospheric listen with their use. Perhaps the song most
driven by them is the album's second track, "Armageddon". What I love about it is that buildup, which is one of my favorite
moments on Lowborn. It starts with some brooding synths, and then Stephen comes in with his beautiful crooning. The drums
start to kick in, and just when everything gets louder, Stephen starts to sing in his higher register as the guitar comes in.
The synths beat in for a second, like the calm before the storm, and then he just lets loose, crying "NO ONE ELSE TO BLAME
FOR THIS WORLD WAR THREE!!!" at the top of his lungs, and that whole build is just wonderful. When it ends, so does the
song. Even though the build might be a bit too long for its own good, the climax is just so wonderful and worth the wait. | | 42 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Breaking" - You make breaking hearts look so easy. Well, I sure do. Hell, that's all I've been doing for this whole list, breaking
the hearts of those who cringe to see me knock out their favorites in the low 60s and the 50s. But the competition is stiff,
and as we approach the Top 40, most of these are interchangeable any day of the week. "Breaking" fits in line with Anberlin's
rockers, although there is a very nice piano section in the intro. Despite it being an upbeat song, it's one of those tracks
that's emotional and high-energy at the same time. When Stephen cries, "You make breaking hearts look so easy", there's a
sense of heartbreak hidden under the riffs and furious drumming, much like "Alexythmia" from Cities. When people ask me why
I love New Surrender so much, it's because of tracks like "Breaking", and "Breathe", and "Soft Skeletons" and "Retrace" that
get everything right. Although I will concede "you make breaking hearts look so easy" is a rather awful lyric. | | 41 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Type Three" - I don't suppose I'm making any friends with this one, but even though I hate my opinion, it's still my opinion.
"Type Three" is an awesome song, no doubt. It's one of the more minimalistic tracks on the album, featuring nothing but
acoustic guitar and drums quietly playing in the background. The vocal effects on Stephen Christian's vocals on the verses
give it a vibrating feel, like he's speaking into a fan, and that's pretty damn cool. As for the chorus?
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you, baby."
That line is so damn powerful. The way Stephen so quietly pronounces it fills me up with emotion. And if that's not enough,
we still haven't made it to verse 2. The way the two vocal parts come together is just beauty, and then the drums kick in for
chorus number two, and "Type Three" hits all the right feels, even with the acoustic guitar solo. | | 40 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Change the World (Lost Ones)" - While most of Blueprints is Anberlin at its most innocent and carefree, "Change the World"
manages to be anthemic and serious while still maintaining that youthful vibe to it. The song feels like a call for action,
proclaiming to the world that he wants to change it, yet it seems more like a bunch of teenagers making plans to make the
world a better place knowing they won't amount to anything. That's not a knock on the song at all, in fact, I think it helps
the vibe. Lyrically, the song, much like the rest of Blueprints, is about breakups. When Stephen sings, "We could rewrite
history if only you and me", he's not talking about ending war or poverty, he's talking about putting the two of them back
together. I really like "Lost Ones" - it's a great pump-up song that ranks among Blueprints' heaviest while retaining some of
the innocence that Anberlin had back in 2003. | | 39 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" - Well, I suppose this will be a controversial pick, so I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.
Anberlin are known for their epic, dynamic closers - "(*Fin)", "God Drugs & Sex" and "Miserabile Visu" are enough to prove
that. We've only seen one closer go out so far, the rather short yet walloping "Harbinger", and dropping another barely
halfway through the album seems blasphemic in a way. There's no doubting "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" is a great song;
Stephen is as on point as usual, the main hook is catchy and it ends Never Take Friendship Personal well. What I do have to
say is that the song feels like it could have ended at the four minute mark, but instead it keeps on going and going until it
reaches seven. That's not to say it drags - the last few minutes are still catchy, but all they do is repeat the chorus multiple
times. Repetitiveness can kill Anberlin, and even if it isn't as severe on "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen", it's noticeable
compared to the sprawling, dynamic "(*Fin)". But then again, this was the first of its kind, and trying something for the first
time will rarely result in a flawless masterpiece. The song is an ode to the late German singer Nico (of Velvet Underground
fame), and her struggles with heroin addiction. The way Stephen cries, "YOUR! BLACK! DRESS! IN DISARRAY" feels like he's
throwing constant punches, refusing to let up. It's fiery, and Stephen is always great when he's fiery. I like the call back to
"The Feel Good Drag" when he says "lips that need no introduction", and the whole verse is there to break up the monotony.
Make no mistake - "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" is a great song, but it pales in comparison to Anberlin's other closers
mainly due to its repetitiveness. | | 38 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"Safe Here" - The two best sides of Anberlin are their aggression and emotion. When both sides collide, the result is fantastic.
Such is the backbone behind "Safe Here", which is one of the finest B-sides on Devotion. Even though the song starts out
rather quiet, with Stephen singing in his lower register, you just know it's about to blow up soon. "But if all can be made right
there's still a chance on New Year's Day" is the transition line, and the pre-chorus is filled with sadness as Stephen reminisces
over lost love, but that's nothing compared to the chorus, which sees everything come together in a release of noise, riffs
and drums. Even though he yells out "You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine" in a rather aggressive manner, the
next line, "There is shelter, shelter from the mire of life" washes away all pretense of anger and post-breakup revenge,
replacing it with emotions that more or less, feel like he's offering her a second chance. Despite their falling out, she's safe in
Stephen's arms, offering refuge in these hard times. Even though he sings it with the furor of "Self-Starter", it still brings out
the emotions of songs like "The Unwinding Cable Car" and "Inevitable". A double whammy if anything. | | 37 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Take Me (As You Found Me)" - I've mentioned in many writeups earlier that the ballads on Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
was far from Anberlin's best. At worst, they were trudgingly boring, tediously dragging on forever and ever, and at best they
sparked no reaction. This is the one exception, because this starts the row of ballads that plagues the middle of the album,
and frankly, if the rest of the album's ballads were as good as "Take Me", I'd be pretty damn happy. But instead, we're left
with this being the outlier, and the rankings clearly show its superiority compared to "Pray Tell" or "You Belong Here". The
emotions start pouring in as soon as Stephen opens his goddamn mouth, and the strain in his vocals when he cries "the world
is on fire" just starts the ride, and it's one of the best moments on the song. All of that builds into the blissful chorus, which
is perfectly complemented with the sparse kick of the drums. The track slowly grows from a short first chorus into a
lengthened second repetition, which is fully effective in expressing all of the emotion that is but a byproduct of Stephen's
forlorn vocal delivery. The way the song slowly fades out to let him cry "take me as you found me" once before the rest of
the band kicks back in is just so damn powerful. Stephen sings the song like he knows it's a hopeless situation, and pleading
won't help, but hell, he still does it anyway. When he sings the line "Who's gonna drink my blood, now that you're gone.
Who's gonna ride up my roads now that you're gone?", a rather abusive relationship comes to mind, rather that be verbally or
physically (most likely verbally), and even though she gave him hell, he misses it. It's all a sad song, and the sad songs that
Anberlin made were some of their best. | | 36 | | Anberlin
Lost Songs
"Downtown Song" - As this gem from Lost Songs leaves, that leaves only one more B-side alive, and I think we all can guess
what that is. That could show up anytime, but I digress. "Downtown Song" was a rejected track from the Never Take
Friendship Personal sessions, and in my opinion, it's better than half the songs that actually made it onto the album.
"Stationary Stationery"? "Time & Confusion"? They're complete crap compared to "Downtown Song", which is a highlight in the
band's early career. The harmonization in the verses is a pure gold, and don't get me started on the chorus - even if it's "only
the lonely know" repeated multiple times, it's catchy as hell, and the instrumentation keeps it interesting. The way they
slowly end to let Stephen sing, "You're the last thing on my mind" before kicking back in before and after the chorus is
effective, and it's one of the song's multiple charms. Even though it sonically fits more in with Blueprints than Never Take
Friendship Personal, it's not that far off from "A Day Late" musically. Why was this a B-side? | | 35 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Cadence" - Many people point to Blueprints as the band's worst album, simply because it was their most immature record and
was too pop-punk influenced compared to their later work. Well, while most of the album is fluff (and those are the ones
ranked amongst the bottom), there are some heavier songs that would become the band's blueprint for later success. And
"Cadence" is definitely one of those songs. With the elimination of this song, that leaves "Readyfuels" and "Naive Orleans" as
the last two songs left on Anberlin's debut - fittingly enough, it's an opener and a closer, but we'll delve into more detail
when we get there. Then again, the only other album with 2 songs left is Dark is the Way, so it's pretty clear that these two
are my least favorite Anberlin records, DITW considerably more. Let's talk about "Cadence", for a change. It's definitely one
of the heavier songs on Blueprints, built among a riff that weaves among aggression in the vocals (complemented by angered
vocal delivery from Stephen) and beauty in the chorus. "The closer I come to you, the closer I am to finding God - you're a
miracle to me" is the only line in it, and it's one of those lines that's coated in religious imagery that Stephen loves using.
The song breaks into a nice guitar solo, and after that the acoustic comes in, and it's nothing but Stephen and the acoustic
guitar, creating an aura of intimacy that was rare on Blueprints. | | 34 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Audrey, Start the Revolution!" - I don't think I have to mention how extremely competitive this section of the ranking in. Any
other day of the week, this song could break the Top 20, but we'll have to settle at a very respectable #34. This is a rare
occasion in Anberlin's discography, but this is just one of those songs where I prefer the verses to the chorus. Well, the first
one at least. "Maybe tonight we?ll get back together, sound the alarms and break all the levers" opens the song, and in my
opinion, it sets the stage very, very well for the rest of the track. Stephen sings the line in his higher register, and 95% of
the time whenever he does that, emotions are seeping out of the cracks of the speakers, and it's just one of his strong suits
as a vocalist. He also does this in the chorus, which I do love, but not as much as the verses, with the line "Do you think we
have a chance tonight?
As streetlights sing". It's an anthemic song, no doubt, which was actually Stephen's intention when he wrote it, with the
titular Audrey referring to Audrey Hepburn, whose humanitarian work earned his respect. As for the verses, they give out the
most anthemic feel on the song, and it's a fist-pumping crowdpleaser that will no doubt go down as one of their greatest
accomplishments. | | 33 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Soft Skeletons" - To all the people who say New Surrender is one of Anberlin's weakest albums, I'd like to disagree with you
right here. Although there are some not-so-good songs, there are gems like "Soft Skeletons", "Haight St." (which isn't that
popular of an opinion) and "The Resistance" that rank amongst the band's best. "Soft Skeletons" is a song that seems epic
even though its length is only barely over four minutes. Funnily enough, it's the second longest song on New Surrender
besides "Miserabile Visu", so that does explain a lot, given that it comes right before it on the tracklist. "Soft Skeletons"
paints the image of a young girl who has been abused, and "hands and bruises cover face". Whether the abuse is physical or
sexual is irrelevant - Stephen's vocals on this are top notch as usual, whether it be the woos in the background or the
verses, which benefit from the instruments taking the low road. "Don't fix your eyes on a fix you'll rely on" is a great lyric, but
perhaps the most moving is the first lines of the chorus - "When the light starts to burn, and the pain returns,
I just wish that I could heal the hurt you feel tonight". The way Stephen sings it feels like he wants to relieve her of her pain,
but he can't and he knows it's a lost cause. The whole song builds to an astounding finale, when he strains his voice to sing
higher, and god damn it's beautiful. And listening to it right before "Miserabile Visu", oh god... | | 32 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Desires" - Vital is an album that contains both aggressive songs and soft electronic-tinged ballads, and "Desires" might just
be the heaviest song on the record along with "Self-Starter". As soon as the opening riff comes roaring in, you know you're
strapped in for one hell of a hard ride, and the song makes good on its promises. The guitar on "Desires" is one of my favorite
parts of the song, quietly prancing in the verses and then constantly attacking in the chorus like a knife constantly stabbing
into its victim. The assaulting riffs are what build the song, and the sudden strike only builds onto its effect. The sudden
change from soft verse into loud chorus makes "Desires" feel anthemic, and Joseph Milligan gets another chance to show off
his skills on the guitar during the shredding solo which makes way for the dramatic ending. Everything sweeps out as Christian
yells "ALIVE! ALIVE! THAT'S WHAT YOU MADE OF ME!" before they come back in, smashing down on the song. | | 31 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Haight St." - As we make our way into the Top 30, another song from New Surrender leaves, although many people have
been waiting for its exit ever since I knocked out some fan favorites. With that said, I do agree on some level as to why this
song isn't all that great - it, along with "Younglife" and "Blame Me! Blame Me!", feel more at home on Blueprints next to
"Foreign Language" and "The Undeveloped Story" instead of next to "Feel Good Drag" and "Soft Skeletons". And I get that -
"Haight St." is a very carefree, breezy song that almost comes off as too immature for men in their 30s to write. But that's
where I draw the line, because "Haight St." is too great to overlook. It begins with some chirping synths, an experiment for
Anberlin back in 2008 when "Mathematics" was the only previous song to utilize it, but the guitar soon comes in and I'm
reminded why I love it. It's just a feel-good anthem for those summer nights, complete with an anthemic sing-along chorus to
boost. It's impossible not to feel happy listening to this, as Stephen's cries of "Old enough to know but too young to care"
and "If there's trouble tonight, well the kids are alright" just feel so damn nostalgic for me, and it's that feeling that "Haight
St." brings that I just can't overlook. It may not be as emotional as their masterpieces, but it still hits some feels pretty hard.
Other tidbits about it include the infectious clapping throughout the whole song, and the bridge that consists of nothing but a
feel-good "whoaohwhoaohoh". "Haight St." is a wonderful tune, one that instantly fills you up with energy and happiness... at
least for me. | | 30 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"Said Too Much" - So, we begin our Top 30, and the first song on its way out is this gem from Devotion, leaving only one of
Vital's B-sides still intact. The thing is, many songs on Devotion are better than lots of the songs on Vital, and songs like
"Said Too Much" easily could have filled the void of "Intentions" or "Innocent". Every second of this song is excellent, and just
from that first line - "Surgery... open heart surgery, confessions committed one by one", you know you're strapped in for one
hell of a song. Stephen's vocals on this are just breathtaking; he goes into his higher register right before the chorus, and
whenever Stephen sings like that, the results are always splendid. Speaking of that chorus, it's one of the most powerful on
Devotion. The instruments suddenly rush in, pounding hard as Stephen cries, "Am I saying too much or not enough?" while
synths distort his voice slightly. All of that combined just shows off the band's talents as songwriters, along with the bridge,
which has the instruments still pounding over a crowd of "oohs" as Stephen meekly sings under the huge rush of noise. It's a
loud, aggressive song, but it also has its moments of beauty. "Said Too Much" deserves its place in the top 30, and it could
make a definitive argument for the top 20 too. | | 29 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"We Are Destroyer" - This song belongs to a category that we last eliminated 58 spots ago. What category is that, you may
ask? Why, that is the opener. That's right - ever since "We Owe This to Ourselves" got the boot at #87, no other Anberlin
opener has left us until now. And that really says something about the strength of them, given that 6 of them are in the top
29, meaning roughly a little more than 1/5th of every song from here on out is the first track on an album. That's insane, but
Anberlin knows how to start and finish a record (speaking of finishing, we'll get to that later). Typically, they hit hard, with
furious riffs, aggressive vocals and fast tempos. "We Are Destroyer" is no exception, but it does have one thing that makes it
unique - synths, which pop in throughout the verses. Of course, that's only natural, given that Lowborn had Anberlin use lots
of electronic influence. The verses are rather quiet, but that only makes the fast build, instanced by the fast rising drum
beat, so much more effective. "In just a matter of minutes, in just a matter of time, we could lose it all!" goes the anthemic
hook, explaining how everything we have could be gone within time because of stupidity and selfishness from humans. When
Stephen yells "WE ARE THE DESTROYERS", the we he's referring to is humanity. | | 28 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Retrace" - Many people believe that New Surrender is a step back from Cities, and I actually agree with that, but that's not
because New Surrender sucks, it's because Cities was so magnificent that anything that followed it would never meet
expectations. In my opinion, it gets too much hate, especially when there's beautiful songs like "Retrace". This song just
shows how emotional Stephen Christian can be as a vocalist - that chorus hits the feels hard, especially on that line
"Counting backwards while the stars are falling"; the way his vocals just trace off (no pun intended) at the end give off a
sense of despair because he's trying to relive the cherished moments he had with his girl, yet those days are gone and he
knows it, but he's still trying to recreate the same feeling he felt back then. The bridge then ratchets up the emotion again,
and when the violins come in during the instrumental break, it doesn't come off as cheesy, it comes off as an example of
excellent songwriting, incorporating strings into the right place. It's just one of the many displays of how Anberlin have
musically progressed since their 2003 debut. I'd like to retrace the emotions I've felt when I first heard this song - it was
wonderful. | | 27 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"(The Symphony of) Blase" - We go from emotional track to emotional track, because following "Retrace" comes this little cut
from Never Take Friendship Personal. In fact, this was perhaps the first acoustic ballad that Anberlin had ever made - none
were on Blueprints, and this was the only one on NTFP. The song has an intimate atmosphere because it's only Stephen, the
restrained drumbeat and Joseph Milligan playing acoustic guitar - the instrumentation (or lack thereof) makes the song so
much more powerful, especially that first line in the chorus - "I don't wanna be where you are", when the drums kick in and
Stephen's vocals become so much more emotional. And like "Retrace", the song ends at the mercy of the violins, which
quietly creep into the background amongst plucked acoustic strings and a beaded shaker. It's Anberlin doing emotional in one
of the best ways they can, and that's why "(The Symphony of) Blase" is so powerful. | | 26 | | Anberlin
Devotion
"Unstable" - Throughout their eleven year long stint as a band, Anberlin have explored multiple topics lyrically - religion,
relationships, youth, death, politics, love and life, but one topic that they haven't explored much is suicide. While many songs
recycle old subject matters, "Unstable" is unique in the way that not many other Anberlin songs discuss this topic thoroughly.
As the last B-side standing off of Devotion, this song is a gem that should have been on Vital, because it is better than its B-
side status would suggest, and it's better than 75% of the songs that are "A-sides". The song begins with a piano riff that
instantly reminds me of "Piano Lessons" by Porcupine Tree, and even if it isn't as good as that (well, nothing is, really), it
leads into the one of the best songs recorded in the 2012 era. Stephen cries the line "How can I talk you down from that
ledge unless you let me in?" with such regret and melancholy that it feels like all hope is gone for the subject of the song.
The drums then kick in, and it's a marching band beat repeating itself over and over until the second verse ends. An acoustic
guitar replaces it, and the sudden switch of instruments doesn't feel choppy at all, it feels like mood whiplash that reflects
the nature of the song. The verse is more accusatory, while the chorus is a plea to "step back from that ledge, my friend".
The drums return to close out the song, but "Unstable" ends on an optimistic note - instead of asking her not to do it,
Stephen's proclaiming that he will talk her out of this - a nice use of subtle lyric change that works very, very well. | | 25 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Dissenter" - And we go from one end of the Anberlin spectrum to the other, from the emotional tearjerkers to the
headbanging rockers. That's just how versatile Anberlin's catalog is - even if it's only for one song, "Dissenter" is completely
different from anything else the band has ever released. Furious drums kick it off, then loud, blaring synths (which doesn't
feel out of place on such a heavy track). This doesn't seem like that big of a deal... until the vocals come in. For a man
renowned for his talents at spreading emotion through is voice, "Dissenter" shows Christian going all out, using harsh vocals
throughout the whole song for the first time ever. It's such an energetic track that pumps you up, especially that chorus.
The first time around, it seems as if he's just speaking it loudly - "WHOA! YEAH! NOW! BRING IT ALL TO ME!", but the second
time a background layer of melody is added and the combination of the two works wonder. There's even an instrumental
break that consists of just acoustic guitar as Stephen sings in his emotional tone, and you'd think the song has completely
changed. Of course, it comes back full circle as the instruments speedily crank up to 11 and Stephen screams out the rest of
the song. The first time I heard "Dissenter", that took me by surprise, but in a great way. | | 24 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"To the Wolves" - When I first heard Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, there was one song that initially stood out to me other
than the epic closer, and that was this little gem in the album's latter half. The whole album is rather slow paced, with lots of
ballads and just lower-tempo tracks. Aside from "Impossible", this is probably the fastest song on Dark is the Way, and it's
one of the best. While Anberlin's ballads were below par on the record, the rockers weren't, and "To the Wolves" is a fast
blitz with lyrics like "You wanna put two in my chest, I wanna be the one in your head" and memorable chants of the titular
phrase. The "whoa-oh"s are incredibly infectious, and like many of Anberlin's rockers, the song is very anthemic. "TO THE
WOLVES! YOU LEFT ME TO THE WOLVES!" cries Stephen as he tries to take action against backstabbers, and it's just so fun
to listen to. Who needs enemies when we got friends, indeed. There's a reason this shines amongst the rest of Dark is the
Way, and that's because it's so damn energetic. | | 23 | | Anberlin
Cities
"A Whisper & A Clamor" - It's been quite a while since the last song from Cities came out - 24 songs to be exact, which is
bigger than the 19 spot reprieve for Blueprints and Dark is the Way. Like those albums, Cities has a significant quality gap.
The first few songs that got the boot were great songs, but the rest are some of the best songs that Anberlin have ever
written in their career. It's such a great album, and one of my favorites of all time. The first half of Cities begins with some of
its rockier songs, including "Godspeed". Electric guitar starts everything off, and there's that one moment in the first verse
where Stephen sings a line in the background, but it's all leading up to that chorus. "Clap your hands, all ye children! There's
a clamor in your whispering tonight!" is just one of those classic Anberlin moments, but the lyric that comes after it "For most
who live and breathe, Hell is never knowing who they are now" is perhaps the most powerful. It means a lot to me, and I feel
a personal connection to it. The drumming on "A Whisper & A Clamor" is top notch, and Nate Young was at his prime on the
Cities album. The way the song ends, with all the instruments but the acoustic guitar fading out as Stephen harmonizes with
himself by using separate vocal tracks, is just bliss. That's what Cities is all about. | | 22 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Atonement" - I can't believe this song is going to fall short just shy of the top 20 - any other day this could have been ten
spots higher. But this region of the ranking is hella competitive, with classic tracks pitted amongst their newer gems. And
"Atonement" is definitely a gem. Out of all the songs on Lowborn, it has to be the most emotional one, and that's not an easy
feat when we have "Stranger Ways", "Losing It All" and "Harbinger". The thing is, what makes this song hit all the right feels is
the fact that Anberlin are self-aware at the fact that this is their last record and that they will break up, ceasing to exist as
a band following its release. Listening to the lyrics of "Atonement" make the song much more powerful - lines like "I?ve seen
faces I may never see again, I?ve been places I never could have dreamt" are reflecting on all the experiences they've had
together as a group. The guitar riff also boosts the emotional facet. The way Stephen sings "I found peace in a foreign
atonement" is so moving, but that's nothing compared to the chorus, which just does everything right. "Don't want to be
here, don't wanna be here without you". With all the circumstances surrounding the band, that line (and the background "I
don't wanna go alone") are the reasons why Lowborn is such a great swan song. It feels like a farewell album, with slow
songs like this that are meant for breaking up. T | | 21 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Readyfuels" - Well, here we are. The song that started it all. Eleven years and 88+ tracks ago, this was the world's
introduction to Anberlin, and they couldn't have kicked off their careers with a better song. Even though Blueprints was a
very poppy album for the band, the opener for it was one of the more riff-driven, heavier tracks on it, and thus the second
best. Before I talk about anything else, I'd like to address Nate Young's drumming on the track, which is fan-fucking-tastic.
The song's instrumental intro starts with him as the focal point, and even in the verses, the drumwork is precise and on beat,
and that's not discounting the fill before the second verse. The whole instrumental section is great on this (shining amongst
the rest of the album), with a nice guitar solo to boot. The song's greatest strength is that it's so damn catchy; that hook is
the definition of an Anberlin earworm. "We're running hot tonight and it feels so good, your arm in mine here near midnight and
it feels so right" is some of the most infectious words that have come out of Stephen's mouth. He sings it with such energy,
just as he damn well should, because it is a very energetic song. Even when they were young, they were still kickin' ass with
their openers. | | 20 | | Anberlin
Lost Songs
"The Haunting" - I've talked a lot in this list about B-sides, and how lots of them turned out to be better than some of the
album's A-sides. Well, here's a song that manages to be my favorite Anberlin B-side of all time, and even though it didn't
make it onto Cities (not surprising given the quality that it had to compete against), the album's flow was too flawless to
have it be tainted by the inclusion of this track. But then again, that's what B-side compilations are for, to let the world know
of all the hidden gems in a band's discography. And "The Haunting" is undoubtedly a true gem, right from the start with the
haunting (no pun intended) acoustics to the final word uttered out of Stephen's mouth. The song is all about the build - it
starts off as a sweet acoustic ballad driven by his cry of "You haunt me baby, you haunt me here tonight," and slowly gets
louder until the electric guitar settles in and the full band comes out to play. The crunching lick that is played in front of
everything else just helps it progress onto heavier things, and soon his repeating of "You haunt me baby, you haunt me here
tonight" becomes less beautiful and more aggressive. It all culminates in a guitar solo and goddamn, it's hard to realize that
this is the same song that started out so intimate and beautiful. Then again, it's still not the most dynamic song recorded
during the Cities era... | | 19 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Never Take Friendship Personal" - In order for you get a hint of how great Anberlin openers are compared to the meat in the
middle of the albums, there are four (including this) of them in the Top 20. In fact, the next opener to fall - which will be
either "Godspeed", "The Resistance" or "Self-Starter" - won't do so for a while. The title track to Anberlin's second album just
shows off everything great about the first track on a record of theirs. From the moment that guitar riff comes in, the tone of
the song is set - a vicious, aggressive behemoth that is filled with the energy of anger. In fact, the first verse begins and
ends with some snarled lyrics - "There's a hatchet! Got a knife? When I awoke there was nothing real in this life" seems to fit
"Never Take Friendship Personal"'s mood well, yet the agitated way Stephen strains his voice at the line "I really do care" is
something that doesn't happen too much on Anberlin. It's partly why the fact it also happens again on "Once a skeptic, now
the critic" is so good. Then again, I didn't mention the screamed line at the end of the bridge either. This song is home to one
of Stephen's harshest vocal performance, and it's the clear highlight of the song. Anberlin openers are always energetic, and
"Never Take Friendship Personal" is one of the most energetic songs on the album that birthed its name, withstanding "The
Feel Good Drag", "Paperthin Hymn" and "Audrey, Start the Revolution!". I haven't even talked about the chorus yet, but that's
partially because everything else is so good that its just less great. At first, it sounds like the line is "Innocence gone, never
take friendship personal" twice, yet in actuality the second time around goes "In a sense gone, never take friendship
personal". Stephen sings them nearly identically, but the small changeup does make the feeling of betrayal and backstabbing
feel more hurtful to the subject of the track. That's why that bridge - "The greatest tragedy is not your death but a life
without reason" and "Your life has no reason, your life has no purpose" feels much more malicious in return. | | 18 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Someone Anyone" - Anberlin always go for the rockers on the first single, and the introduction to Vital is no different. Yet because Vital was
the band's most electronically-influenced album at the time, a blast of synthesizer opens it up before the frenzy of instruments come in and
the aggressive tone for the song is set. Politics isn't an issue that the band often discuss, but on "Someone Anyone" the rattling drums and
blaring synths signify the call for action that the song seems to suggest. Written following the bloodshed during the Arab Spring, it's such a
high-energy track that you can help but sing along to. Even though it's a protest song, with lyrics like "If we don?t learn from their past, we?ll
repeat their history, oh, at last" and "Anyone can start a war, no one can walk away truly alive", it's also one that can be attributed to
personal struggles and dilemmas. The anthemic vocals in the chorus really do build up the feeling of aggression and action that "Someone
Anyone" wants to convey, and for that it succeeds in being both catchy and energetic. The synths on this song are used perfectly, in all the
right places at all the right times. The way the drums kick in right before the hook and the way the electronics smoothly glide against
Stephen's vocals are just a few examples of the excellent songwriting on the tune. | | 17 | | Anberlin
Blueprints for the Black Market
"Naive Orleans" - Well, this is it folks. It's the end of the line for Blueprints, which is the first album to have all its songs completely
eliminated. Somewhat surprising after all those songs from Dark is the Way got the boot so early, huh? But that's the thing - Dark is the Way
has a very distinct upper half and bottom half - while the bottom half is pretty bad, there's still a few songs that are top notch. Blueprints,
however, is one that has its quality spread around all throughout the list. And so here we are. It seems fitting that the last song standing
would be its closer, although it's a different type of closer than the ones that Anberlin usually make. Although it's still the longest song on the
album, it's the shortest closer at 4:08. That's because on Blueprints there was no epic finale, but that doesn't make it any worse of a song -
it's still in the Top 20, even though it's only the third out of seven closers to go out. Blueprints as a whole is still a better album than Dark is
the Way is, but the highest point falls just short of DITW's peak. Anyway, let's actually talk about the song. "Naive Orleans" is the best song
on Anberlin's debut album simply because of the sheer emotion that it brings. And as misused as the term is, it's probably the closest that
they got to emo, with its instrumental section and vocals not too far from some of the genre's classics. It all begins with Stephen lamenting
over lost love over a simple guitar line, spitting out lines like "Come and go now as you please, your actions write the melodies" and you can
clearly hear the pain in his voice when he sings the first verse. The final line of it is "And I finally found that life goes on without you, and my
world still turns when you're not around", spoken with a hushed tone and immense regret. A guitar riff quickly kicks in, making you think that
it's going to get heavier, but then it rapidly fades out leaving the drums alone only to kick back in and be the main drive of the song. The two
deceptions that it pulls are amazing, especially since the band was so young when they wrote this song. It's at this point where "Naive
Orleans" kicks into gear and just lets go. The vocal delivery on "Sitting here beside you but my heart's lost in New Orleans" is just
tearjerking,
and it's one of the saddest moments on the whole Blueprints album. The fire behind the chorus' instrumental section parallels the lyrical
content of it, when Stephen finally realizes that life can go on without her, however tragic it may be. Suddenly, the slow crooner becomes an
upbeat anthem, and that dynamic is what makes "Naive Orleans" so powerful. Listening to this after Anberlin's breakup seems prophetic in a
way - "And I finally found that life goes on without you" is now a metaphor for life after Anberlin, all the fans who couldn't bear to watch their
favorite band finally end. The drumming on "Naive Orleans" is precise and onbeat, which is why devoting the last minute of the song to a
Nathan Young drum solo seems fitting. Still, I can't get past how goddamn powerful that chorus is - all the cries of "Your actions write the
melodies" and "And my world still turns when you're not around" is so fucking sad to me, and as emotional as the songs on Cities are, "Naive
Orleans" is a definite career highlight for Anberlin. Life does go on without them, but that doesn't mean I'm still not sad about it. | | 16 | | Anberlin
Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
"Depraved" - Well, isn't this fitting. Right after Blueprints is completely eradicated with the last song standing as its closer, the same happens
to Dark is the Way, Light is a Place. And as Anberlin's worst album, it still has its highlights in "To the Wolves", "Take Me (As You Found Me)"
and "Depraved". For an Anberlin closer, it's actually on the shorter side, seeing as it's only five minutes long, but it's still one of the best
songs they ever made. Part of this is because of how perfectly the band uses dynamics to change mood so effectively and hastily. It begins
with a simple guitar riff that just plays on in the background as Stephen slowly airily lets out his pleas - "Are you depraved? Or are you
deceived? Excuses aside, stop saying please" is one of the main lines of the song, and it doesn't have that many actually, despite being a long
song. Slowly, it builds - the drums come in on "You're not a slave, now get off your knees", and with each repetition of that line, Stephen's
vocals become more aggressive and louder, only to have everything fade back into the black. It seems like the build was going to go on
before it suddenly ends and everything goes back to the way it originally was. The second verse is exactly the same as the first, with one
minor lyric change, and so is the second chorus, but this time around, the build continues and the whole song erupts as Stephen cries
"Someone tell me your name" over and over again in such arena-ready fashion. It's actually good that this didn't happen the first time around
- had it, the effect that the dynamic change has wouldn't nearly be as powerful. The drums crash, the guitars wail on and on as Stephen
keeps repeating that line - "Someone tell me your name" - thirteen times only for the song just to fade back into the same quiet and calm
that it began with, in fact, the lyrics are the same as the first verse, and it's easy to miss this, but he quietly moans "Don't feel, chained up"
in the background from the third verse to the end of the song. Eighteen times it is repeated, and it is repeated through the sudden change
back into a high-energy rocker again. "Depraved" ends with the rattling cries of "Someone tell your name" over a soft hush of "Don't feel,
chained up", and as Milligan wails on and on, the cymbals crash and the riff slowly draws to a close. It's perhaps one of the band's shorter
closers, but it feels a lot longer due to its excellent use of dynamics, going from 10 to 100 in mere seconds and coming at the most
unexpected points in the song. Without them, "Depraved" wouldn't be the song it is, and it owes a lot to it. Stephen said of the song: "This
song was inspired by those who I observed to be stagnant, to me this life is about those who are willing to go out and take it by throat. We
make our own choices and live with the consequences; it seems others simply react to whatever happens to them, lying dormant until the
next circumstance overtakes them. Go take on this life, its conquerable to those few with determined spirits." | | 15 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Reclusion" - If there was any song that sounded most similar to this on Cities, it would probably actually be "There Is No Mathematics". Both
begin with a blaring line of synth, but that's where the similarities end. While "Mathematics" lacks the energy and spark that most of the
other songs on Cities had, "Reclusion" proves to be amongst some of the best. Featured prominently in the verses, the synths help set the
mood as Stephen quietly, in a whispery tone, sings out lyrics like "There's someone inside me that softly kills everyone around
They don't know they're dead to me cause intent never makes a sound". Even though the instrumentation on the song is tight, the best part
about "Reclusion" is the lyrics. They're so dark and grim, not offering any optimism or hope at all, just sadness and eternal melancholy.
"There's an art in seclusion, a production in depression. If a stranger turns up missing, this song is my confession" is some pretty deep stuff,
for a band that normally focuses on the immediate aftereffect of a broken heart. "Reclusion" isn't heartbreak, it's depression. Stephen himself
admits he was in a very dark place when he wrote the lyrics to this song. And the funny thing is, despite its brooding imagery, the song itself
is very vibrant and energetic. When he cries out, "You're sick, sick as all the secrets that you deny" in the chorus with such fervor, you'd
never guess the rest of the lyrics are as grim and self-loathing as they are. The whole internal conflict isn't portrayed better in any song but
"Reclusion", and even though the words are dissonant from the melody, it stands as one of the best tracks on Cities lyrically. | | 14 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Inevitable" - Amazing how this list turns out the way that it does. I end up hurting the songs I truly love, but it's hard to rank the greatness
of Anberlin without differing opinions. Don't worry though, it's not over now. "Inevitable" is a song that could make my Top 10 any day, and it
sucks that I'm putting double digits next to it. I mean, this is one of those songs by them that everyone knows and loves, but unfortunately
they have 13 songs better than it (Fugazi reference unintended). From the moment that low bassline comes in and the acoustic guitar follows
with the chimes, all the emotions just come back again and it's some stuff that immediately brings me back to the first time I heard this song
in the summer. Everything about "Inevitable" is gorgeously beautiful, from every acoustic strum to the graceful vocals. It's one of the most
emotional songs that Anberlin have ever made, and there's nothing like it. Coming in the midst of darkness ("Reclusion") and sadness
("Alexithymia"), it's a nice change of pace from all the post-breakup drama and for that, its place in the tracklist is perfect. "Do you
remember when we were just kids and cardboard boxes took us miles from what we were missed" is such a whopper of an opening line,
delivering a punch of emotion that the instrumental section so perfectly complements. The songwriting on "Inevitable" is just amazing, and
shows how much Anberlin have progressed from the simple Blueprints days. The way the acoustic guitar plays on with such a wintery,
Christmas-like atmosphere layered on top of the repeating chimes really does make this song feel cold, but it's not a depressing cold, it's
more like the image of snowfall on a dark December night, lit up by colored lights. When the plucking comes in in the second verse and the
harmonies make their way through, everything is just right. The drums start pounding, and then the violins sweep through. The way that
"Inevitable" builds just shows the greatness of Anberlin and the greatness of the Cities album. The haunting delivery of "I wanna be your last
first kiss" comes off as so damn romantic and it's all just so glorious as Stephen spits out that last verse with every ounce of passion that is
contained in his heart. | | 13 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Feel Good Drag" - Alright, now this is not exactly how I planned out my list to be. When I originally calculated everything, I forgot to count the
fact that there were two versions of this song, and I was left with a dilemma as for how to carry this out. But I know exactly what I'm doing
with this, and I'm making a statement with this that should cease the whining from people who use this as a weapon. | | 12 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"The Feel Good Drag" - Yes, I get that you people think that the version on Never Take Friendship Personal is A LOT BETTER that the remake
that went to #1 on the Alternative charts and introduced their name to millions of radio listeners. But that's irrelevant. Because I get that you
love it. But I just don't get how one could hate the version on New Surrender - the only difference is that there's a slightly different intro and
Stephen doesn't scream three words in the bridge, plus the production is a teeny bit neater. That is it. I mean, just from the pummeling
sound of that opening riff, you know that "The Feel Good Drag" is a beast of anger and scorn. Stephen Christian sings the verses of this song
with a sort of swagger to it, lines like "My boyfriend's gone and we can just pretend" or "Lips that need no introduction" are just dripping with
seduction to them, but that's before Stephen just lets loose. "WAS THIS OVER BEFORE, BEFORE IT EVER BEGAN?" is just one of those iconic
Anberlin lines that you can immediately attribute to "Feel Good Drag". I mean, come on. The song just has all the right things - it's got the
energy, it's got the fire and it's still got the emotion. By the time that bridge comes around, with that cry of "Failure is your disease, you
want my outline drawn. You were my greatest failure. DISCOURSE YOUR SAVING SONG!", shit gets real. "The Feel Good Drag" deserves to
be Anberlin's biggest hit, even if it may not reach the band's Top 10, it's a worthy choice for their signature song. It's such a high energy
rocker that solidifies their position. | | 11 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Self-Starter" - Just before the top ten is the opening track of Vital, an album that had Anberlin bounce back from the disappointing Dark is
the Way, Light is a Place. It's also perhaps the heaviest song on the record. The drumming on this song is rapid-fire, and Stephen's vocal
delivery is aggressive with just the right amount of fire. A frenetic blitz, "Self-Starter" also carries one hell of an anthemic chorus, following
in the footsteps of previous Anberlin openers. Nate Young's talents truly shine on this track, and the way the bridge offers a calm before
returning to the storm is just wonderful. It's three minutes long, but that three minutes passes by so fast that it seems like a bit shorter.
Regardless, "Self-Starter" is a kick ass introduction to Anberlin's second greatest album where it ranks 3rd out of 11. | | 10 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Dismantle. Repair" - One of the highlights from Cities, the penultimate track on Anberlin's magnum opus is just a great precursor to "(*Fin)".
Ending on a stretch of four of its best songs, "Dismantle. Repair" leads right into the grand finale, and it does it in such a raucous manner to
place it right inside the top ten. From the moment that Stephen sings, "One last glance from a taxi cab", that feeling resonates in me again
and I know I'm right back at this again. Built upon a simple acoustic riff, the first verse wallops you with so much emotion that when the
electric guitar comes in, the dynamic shift is as effective as it can be. "Things are gonna change now, for the better," he declares, but we all
know they aren't going to. Suddenly, the drums come in for the second verse, which goes back to the soft before the riff hits you in the head.
Then there's that chorus. My god. Very few Anberlin songs reach the heights that "Dismantle. Repair"'s chorus does, and there's a reason why
this is a top ten Anberlin song. As Stephen belts out "Hands like secrets are the hardest thing to keep from you, knives and phrases, like
knives your words keep cutting through", you can feel the pain and intensity in which he sings it all. "DISMANTLE ME DOWN! REPAIR! YOU
DISMANTLE ME, YOU DISMANTLE ME!". The way the drums quickly fade out on that final "REPAIR!" in the last chorus and then come back in,
everything about "Dismantle. Repair" justifies its position at #10. The acoustic version is also a recommended listen, as stripping it down also
brings out emotion. | | 9 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"The Resistance" - Kick ass openers. What more can I say? From the way the drums are pounded during the intro to the way that Stephen
heroically cries "You wanna watch us break? Be the first to take us down!", the first song on New Surrender sounds like the anthem for
teenage rebellion, and although its message is a bit more political in nature, it's got this vicious vibe to it that rings throughout. Nathan
Young's furious drumwork, especially right before the chorus, give "The Resistance" this huge, grand aura, and it's only boosted by its chorus.
"Too late to make demands, when you got a riot on your hands" is one of Anberlin's best lyrics, and Stephen sings it with this fury and anger,
and it's without a doubt one of Anberlin's heaviest songs ever. That bridge goes hard, and even though the band wanted it to be their
Operation Ivy song, it turned out to be their Rage Against the Machine song. Inspired by an interview with Osama bin Laden that Stephen
read in which the notorious terrorist leader called the United States "a bunch of paper tigers", "The Resistance" makes a pretty good
argument for the band's defining political song. An anti-politician rant, the track never comes off as preachy or forced, but rather frenetic and
hostile. | | 8 | | Anberlin
Vital
"God, Drugs & Sex" - I have a feeling that the title is based off of the three things in life that Stephen enjoys the most. After all, they're
probably vital to his everyday life! Bad puns aside, it's actually astounding how much of a grower this song is. Closers like "Depraved" or
"Naive Orleans" were awesome on the first listen, but this one took a while to earn its spot at #8. After all, it doesn't reach that high of a
climax that "(*Fin)" or "Depraved" do, but if anything that makes it all that better. It starts out slow, and as Stephen croons lyrics like "We
were so comfortable living in each others skin, I was dying from within", one can only help but think that maybe, just maybe that he's
showing a more sensual side of himself, although that's just part of the song. "God, Drugs & Sex" has this lush, smooth atmosphere to it
during the whole time, and during the chorus it reaches a maximum, ethereal breaths and chill vibes included. The instrumentation may be a
bit simple, but the whole thing is so graceful. The female vocals provided by Christie DuPree harmonize so well with Stephen. The song
culminates in a loud gang chant, repeatedly shouting "Let go, let go of me, I'm not here, I'm already gone", and when it all ends, it's a
showstopping finale to one of Anberlin's most vital albums. | | 7 | | Anberlin
Lowborn
"Hearing Voices" - This is it. The best song off of Lowborn, and considering the circumstances, would make a great closer for their career.
Although we got the decent but disappointing "Harbinger" to end Anberlin on, "Hearing Voices" is a track that is as epic and grandeur as most
closers while fitting into a length of three and a half minutes. The drumming is on point, the vocals are aggressive with fervor, and the whole
thing gives off a stadium-ready aura. Frankly, with their last show coming up in a few weeks, even though they don't play many Lowborn
songs, maybe they should play this. An attack on the hypocrisy of modern-day religious beliefs, the song's title was originally just "Voices"
before Stephen changed it out of respect to Saosin, whose big hit was also titled "Voices". (Not to mention Alice in Chains). Lyrics like
"Everyone wants to see heaven, but nobody wants to die" and "Everyone wants to know God, but they're afraid of what they find". For all the
press they stir up for vehemently rejecting the Christian Rock label, there are some extreme insults on tracks like this and "(*Fin)" that make
you wonder how far they would go to improve on religion. The verses come in rather subdued with some synths layered in between. Then we
get to the chorus, and it's just pure arena-ready goodness. "Can't escape this feeling, fears are born instead. How can I deny?" he cries out,
and it's such a powerful hook. That final blow at the end of "Can't stand a ghost when the ghost's not dead" adds a wallop and segues right
into "Harbinger", which is still moving in its own right. | | 6 | | Anberlin
Vital
"Modern Age" - Ugh. I hate doing this. I really, really, really wanted to put this in the top 5 so badly, yet in the end it falls just short of the
threshold. But still, it's Anberlin's sixth best song ever, and that's a huge accomplishment giving the stiff competition that's actually in the top
five. It'd be hard to squeeze this in amongst all the greatness that's there, but it almost made it. And deservedly so, as it's the best song off
of Vital, an album that I found to be Anberlin's second best and one that revitalized their career after the disappointing Dark is the Way and
the divisive New Surrender (which I personally adore). Vital showed lots of electronic influence, and that certainly applies to "Modern Age", a
song so anthemic that it could be the theme song to revolutions, uprisings and workouts. As soon as the main riff kicks in, the scene is set for
something grand and epic, and that's what "Modern Age". It's a song about wanting to fit into society's molds, and it just feels like a damn
anthem. The way the drums pound right before Stephen so lushly cries, "Don't we all want to belong? Don't we all write our own song?", the
way he enunciates the words "belong" and "song", all of it just feels so right. The synths in the second verse are well placed in the
background, and while lyrics like "Fall asleep alone, safer than the off-chance of getting your heart attacked, one more time" could come off
as a bit pushy, it's supposed to drive home the message of looking into the future. When the chorus repeats itself a second time, guitarist
Joseph Milligan yells "Sing it!" right before every line, and that's perhaps the best part of the song. It's all "(Sing it!) Don't we all learn right
from wrong? And don't we all want to be loved?", and everything just flows together seamlessly. The "elusive sigh" that Stephen talks about
is never found, although that is for the best, as "Modern Age" doesn't need an elusive sigh. It needs the power and epicness that just gives
off the aura of the band shredding away on the stage in front of a crowd of over 100,000 people, dying to hear Anberlin play one last time
before they break up for good. The bridge takes all this pent-up energy and releases it, ending on that final battle cry - "Futures will never
keep the promises IF ALL WE HOLD IS YESTERDAY!" Eventually, the song fades for that last chorus, and the harmonization on the "sing it"s
are just amazing. The last chorus is the culmination of the whole album before "God, Drugs & Sex" closes it. Anberlin have always made
excellent pentultimate tracks. Hell, 3 of them are in the top 10, just as many closers and more than openers. "Modern Age" is epic. It
deserves everything it has earned. | | 5 | | Anberlin
Cities
"Godspeed" | | 4 | | Anberlin
New Surrender
"Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)" | | 3 | | Anberlin
Never Take Friendship Personal
"Paperthin Hymn" | | 2 | | Anberlin
Cities
"The Unwinding Cable Car" | | 1 | | Anberlin
Cities
(*Fin) | |
NordicMindset
07.18.14 | A new project I'm starting, I'll do a few songs a day
| Sowing
07.19.14 | At first I was like why the hell would you tell me to check this out it's like 2/88ths complete. Cool idea though will read along as you do it.
Don't screw the pooch because if your top 20 don't match my top 20 we clearly can't be friends | kmace
07.19.14 | I don't get your hate for Disappear. It's probably one of my favorites off of New Surrender to be honest but to each their own. This is a sweet idea for a list though. | Snake.
07.19.14 | just to clarify if *fin isn't number one we cannot be friends | North0House2
07.19.14 | *fin is #1. It better be. It has to be. It is. | Friday13th
07.19.14 | [2] | Rowan5215
07.19.14 | we know how this will end, *Fin duh
But yeah the worst one is probably There Is No Mathematics imo | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | Yeah, I do have some unpopular Anberlin opinions, so there might be some surprises and early exits.
So yeah, updated. | Rowan5215
07.19.14 | 81 lol hahah | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | you wish that was true | ConcubinaryCode
07.19.14 | I've only heard cities and no surrender but I'm surprised to see fin so low. | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | *facepalm* | Friday13th
07.19.14 | boooooo | Dreakon
07.19.14 | Uh oh, I'm getting a too cool for the room vibe from this list already and you're only 8 songs in. Look out "fanboys"... this guys gonna blow your mind. | Friday13th
07.19.14 | yay he removed Fin. The power of the boo prevails. | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | That's your opinion, but all I'm doing is stating a list of my opinions about one of my favorite bands. I'm not trying to blow anyone's mind, but if you're upset about a song placement, I'm interested in hearing your opposing argument. I didn't do anything for shock value (save for the Fin scare), it's just my opinion | ConcubinaryCode
07.19.14 | Lol I took fin seriously. I like the idea of this list though. Can I steal it for one of my favorite bands? | tommygun
07.19.14 | no way in heck is fin #1 | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | I'm not saying it is.
What would your #1 be, tom? | Rowan5215
07.19.14 | Its Fin or Cable Car nothing else compares | tommygun
07.19.14 | fukd if i know man it changes all the time depending on situation
i prefer not to rank things all the time cos that's not what music is about to me but will check in on this lil project from time to time :D | Emim
07.19.14 | I don't get why you dislike Dark is the Way so much. Closer is awesome | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | DITW was a disappointment, I know not many fans share that viewpoint but I've always felt that way | Emim
07.19.14 | I disagree, but lo que sea, you know? | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | Well, I kinda based my idea off of this:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/RichardBeast/all_89_dream_theater_songs_ranked_and_reviewed/ | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | The above list is incomplete, just warning y'all | kmace
07.19.14 | Are you gonna include Lowborn's songs on this? Pretty hard to rank those since it just came out (unless you downloaded the leak). | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | I've been listening to Lowborn for the past month, so I got a definitive answer on that. | unaMUSEd
07.19.14 | Dissenter top 10 please | Calc
07.19.14 | "So you may be wondering, what is Green's least favorite Anberlin song?"
ooo i hate you so much | Greenpaw
07.19.14 | Curious to know where Inevitable is gonna be O.O. | Scoot
07.19.14 | unwinding cable car is an easy #1 for me | Sowing
07.19.14 | Closer is too low by about 30 or 40 | Artuma
07.19.14 | damn you really are putting this much effort for this band | Sowing
07.19.14 | Featured. Now make sure that my top 20 are a match with this list, thanks! | Snake.
07.19.14 | This got featured? fucking lol | Sowing
07.19.14 | It's a lot more effort than most people put into lists. | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | daily update time! | BroFro
07.19.14 | surprised to see We Owe This and Runaways so early, I agree with you on everything else though. Closer is easily my least favorite Anberlin song. | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | Also thanks for the feature! | Sowing
07.19.14 | Welcome. And I like "You Belong Here" :( it's not one of their absolute best but it's decent | Friday13th
07.19.14 | Feature? Really, staff? It's not even half finished! No offense, GB. I'm sure it will be good. | Curse.
07.19.14 | Disappear is my favorite song off of New Surrender | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | That's awkward | Sowing
07.19.14 | Who cares if it's half finished. It's an ongoing project. | Curse.
07.19.14 | Yeah well me getting my bachelor's is an ongoing project but they won't give me the diploma ahead of time | Friday13th
07.19.14 | That'll be the day, Curse! | toxin.
07.19.14 | ambitious project, seems like it'll take a ton of time
just fyi you can't call debut an interlude since it's not between ("inter") anything. prelude is probably the best term.
i'm surprised foreign language or younglife aren't up there already haha, easily my least favorite songs by them (especially the prior). disappear does have a meh chorus but it wouldn't be my least fav for sure. also totally agreed on we owe this to ourselves, never really got what people saw in it besides the awesome post-rock bridge | NordicMindset
07.19.14 | Did your favorites escape the Top 75 unhinged? | toxin.
07.19.14 | Pray Tell is one of my favorites from DitW, but besides that not particularly. It's not in my Top 10 Anberlin songs anyways
also i just realized foreign language is up there when i said it wasn't, must've just glanced over it | BroFro
07.20.14 | I gotta second Pray Tell as one of my faves on DitW. Would probably be in the top 25 for me. | Snake.
07.20.14 | are you fucking kidding burn out brighter is the best song on new surrender besides miserabile visu | Skoop
07.20.14 | Dude Pray Tell rules definitly should not be on this list. However you have yet to screw up seriously so cheers. | Snake.
07.20.14 | pray tell sucks | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | You'll be surprised where Blame Me ends up, guys | toxin.
07.20.14 | burn out brighter is pretty meh, it's decent when listening to the album as a whole though | fallenbird
07.20.14 | If you put dissenter low I'm gonna kick your ass. | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | A song from Lowborn is up at bat, so it may be the one getting the ax | Greenpaw
07.20.14 | Yo Baron got a serious question. Just how much have you been listening to Anberlin this week to get
this list right?
Shit must be crazy. | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | I've had lots of the rankings in my mind for a while, working in Lowborn was hard because I love almost all of the album | Greenpaw
07.20.14 | Yeah I could imagine. Just trying to rank all the songs from some of my favorite bands would be such a hard thing to accomplish. Nice work so far. | YoYoMancuso
07.20.14 | I've only heard Vital and Cities, once each because I saw them play for like 25 minutes once. Guess I'll have to check em out more in depth, people seem to dig them on here. | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | For good reason | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | Updated for the day | fallenbird
07.20.14 | Down is in my top 15 Anberlin if not top 10 | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | Yeah, I knew id be breaking a lot of hearts with that one | YakNips
07.20.14 | my mouth fills up with blood | Snake.
07.20.14 | @GB pun intended? | fallenbird
07.20.14 | You make it look so easy | NordicMindset
07.20.14 | I'll be nice to DITW from now on | ScorpionStan
07.21.14 | I already don't agree with hardly any of the song placements here.
DITW is very likely my favorite Anberlin album though, so we obviously favor completely different aspects of the band. I know I'm in the minority with that opinion too, but I personally love the simpler, sparse approach they took with the songwriting and arrangements on that album. And I vehemently disagree with your assessment of Stephen's vocals on that album too (the apparent lack of passion). To me, DITW and Lowborn are his two best vocal performances.
Idk, I just felt like DITW was Anberlin's most "real" record, in a way. They weren't trying to play to their their niche within Tooth & Nail, the whole pop/punk Warped Tour thing (like with NTFP and Cities). They weren't trying to be Top 40 alt/rock (like New Surrender tried to be). They weren't trying to jam together all their influences and combine them with their "signature" sound (like Vital and Lowborn kinda do). And Stephen wasn't going overboard on the emotionally overwrought, wordy, clever-but-slightly-juvenile lyricism (like he does on everything prior to DITW -- and even some after DITW, too).
The band was obviously just doing exactly what they wanted to do in that moment, throwing any preconceived notions about what they "should" do or what they "sound like" out the window. Stephen has even said that DITW is their most "punk rock" record, in the sense that they just did whatever the hell they wanted. They made the record for themselves more than the fans, which is something that I personally really enjoyed witnessing. I had grown up since I began listening to Anberlin, and I felt like the band was growing up right along with me. Pretty cool feeling, at least for me. | Crawl
07.21.14 | Take Me will hopefully be in top 15 | hogan900
07.21.14 | this list is actually such an awesome idea and its really well executed so far. Can't wait to read more. | Sowing
07.21.14 | I wish I thought of this idea. Good job GB | toxin.
07.21.14 | down doesn't sound anything like disarm | NordicMindset
07.22.14 | The drums, it's all out about the drums | kmace
07.22.14 | Alright, I understand Younglife is a different song for Anberlin and you're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong and I hate you. | NordicMindset
07.22.14 | I like it a lot more than most people do, tbh
That, and Blame Me | loneNLwolf
07.22.14 | I'm cringing. Some of my favorite Anberlin songs at the bottom. How is "Disappear" their worst? It's one of the few highlights from New Surrender. Absolutely shameful.
"The Runaways" and "Pray Tell" belong higher up as well. | loneNLwolf
07.22.14 | WHAT.
Destroy this list. Now. "Birds of Prey" rules. | ScorpionStan
07.22.14 | Yeah Disappear is actually one of their best choruses, and Pray Tell is ingenious in how it takes that latin rhythm and translates it so seemlessly into an alternative rock song. And the whole band coming in on Birds of Prey is what MAKES the song, the gradual build-up to the climax. Also I don't like your reoccuring use of "jittery" as a description, it's way too vague and doesn't seem to fit the songs or moments you use it for at all. And there are a million other songs that use sparse drum fills like Disarm and Down, ragging on a song for just that one thing is incredibly stupid.
Sorry to be so critical, but this is getting ridiculous. | NordicMindset
07.22.14 | Alright guys, we clearly have different opinions and everything... | fallenbird
07.22.14 | I agree with scorpion about how DITW is one of their best records, 3rd best for me. And Birds Of Prey is superb | NordicMindset
07.22.14 | I mean, I'm pretty sure most of you would have put Harbinger where I put Birds, but ehh | loneNLwolf
07.22.14 | "Harbinger" > anything | fallenbird
07.22.14 | I don't think anyone dislikes Harbinger. In fact most people hail it as one of the better songs on the album. I haven't seen any hate towards it at all, only acceptance that Anberlin wanted to go out in the most Anberlin way possible. | NordicMindset
07.22.14 | Lots of people rank Harbinger at the bottom. | NordicMindset
07.23.14 | so guys, what songs do you think are going out soon? | loneNLwolf
07.24.14 | "Inevitable" has survived long enough. | Crawl
07.24.14 | Inevitable is top 10 smh | Masochist
07.24.14 | "Paperthin Hymn." I'm really hoping it breaks into your top 10, because I think it's one of
Anberlin's most underrated songs. I'm also interested in how you'll rank both versions of "The Feel-
Good Drag." | Crawl
07.25.14 | How is Paperthin Hymn underrated? | ConcubinaryCode
07.26.14 | Damn dude you're not even close to done. I thought you'd end up doing like 5 a day | NordicMindset
07.26.14 | I haven't updated because I was working on my Lowborn review, but now I'll continue | ConcubinaryCode
07.26.14 | Yay! Ill check out your review in the meantime dude. | NordicMindset
07.26.14 | Not done with the Blame Me write up yet but I am tired so enjoy! | loneNLwolf
07.26.14 | "Autobahn" and "A Day Late", two songs I absolutely cannot stand, both in front of "No Love to Speak", which is the most-played Anberlin track in my library.
This list has frustrated me in ways I never could imagine. | KjSwantko
07.26.14 | I kinda like "A Day Late" actually. Not one of their best obviously, but I enjoy it. | NordicMindset
07.26.14 | I enjoy it, but it can't compete with the rest | NordicMindset
07.26.14 | If I based this list off the opinions of everyone else, it wouldn't be any fun, now would it? Such is the joy of differing opinions | unaMUSEd
07.27.14 | Just saw these guys on Warped today and they were pretty fucking awesome. | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | I want to go to one of their final shows | tommygun
07.27.14 | less shitty bumps and more updates dude are you planning on finishing this before xmas or | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | I'm working on it now. | unaMUSEd
07.27.14 | They played a 30 minute set:
Feel Good Drag
Self-Starter
Someone Anyone
Impossible
The Resistance
Godspeed
Paperthin Hymn | Emim
07.27.14 | Just found out they added a bunch of new dates for the farewell tour, with one near my birthday. Happy birthday to meeeeeee | PorcelainRain
07.27.14 | There's so much greatness left to rank. Only thing so far is I would probably have No Love To Speak and Dead American in the top 40 | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | A few controversial picks, I don't doubt. | loneNLwolf
07.27.14 | "Dead American" and "Other Side" belong in the top-thirty.
It's awesome that we all have such different opinions, but this is beginning to anger me. Maybe I'm too passionate. | Snake.
07.27.14 | other side the worst song off of vital r u fkn kidding me | fallenbird
07.27.14 | Other Side amd Velvet Covered Brick are top 20 mate | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | I warned you beforehand | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | Alright guts, which song should I eliminate bext? I need your approval | BroFro
07.27.14 | i would approve if haight st goes down next | NordicMindset
07.27.14 | That's in the top 10 | BroFro
07.27.14 | i don't believe you | MalleusMaleficarum
07.27.14 | ur ranks suck dix | toxin.
07.27.14 | orpheum is def the worst song on vital | Snake.
07.27.14 | ^ fuck off and dei | Crawl
07.27.14 | orpheum is great | unaMUSEd
07.27.14 | So your least favorite songs on Lowborn are Birds of Prey and Velvet Covered Brick... um whattttttttttt | toxin.
07.28.14 | orpheum has one of the worst choruses the band has ever written :l | NordicMindset
07.28.14 | So your least favorite songs on Lowborn are Birds of Prey and Velvet Covered Brick... um whattttttttttt
what are yours? | unaMUSEd
07.28.14 | Armageddon and Losing it All | NordicMindset
07.28.14 | Losing It All is facing its death soon, but Armageddon might be here for a while. | JM18
07.28.14 | it would be so cool if God, Drugs, and Sex made it to at least the 15th spot, such an underrated song | Snake.
07.28.14 | LET GO
LET GO OF ME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW | fallenbird
07.28.14 | I'm already gone | Zeh1996
08.01.14 | I guess this is never getting finished | TooManyFriends
08.01.14 | wtf why is You Belong Here so low | NordicMindset
08.01.14 | I'm too scared to finish this because people will be pissed at me for everything | MalleusMaleficarum
08.01.14 | youre slow as fuq | Zeh1996
08.01.14 | Please finish it! Its just the internet. We are all kind, respectful, and understanding. Seriously, finish this list though. I wanna hear yo 'pinions. | CK
08.02.14 | Dismantle. Repair. Better be #1 | fallenbird
08.02.14 | It's obv gonna be fin.
Green are we even listening to the same anberlin? | PistolPete
08.02.14 | So many of my top favorites are in the bottom half of this this it makes me sad. "Disappear" last.....how??? | Zeh1996
08.02.14 | Godspeed, Reclusion, Cable Car, Fin, Dismantle. Repair, The Haunting, Paperthin Hymn, Feel Good Drag, Self-Starter, and Hearing Voices all #1. | PistolPete
08.02.14 | Type Three better be in the Top 10 somewhere. You're gonna make (fin*) #1 I'm assuming? :] | NordicMindset
08.02.14 | "Godspeed, Reclusion, Cable Car, Fin, Dismantle. Repair, The Haunting, Paperthin Hymn, Feel Good Drag, Self-Starter, and Hearing Voices all #1."
Close enough... | JM18
08.03.14 | Hope Miserable Visu is in top 10 | JM18
08.03.14 | and I hope the original version of Feel Good Drag is in top 10, or at least higher than the subpar poppy re-recording | unaMUSEd
08.03.14 | He doesn't want to finish because Fin. ISN'T gonna be #1 so he doesn't want the hate. | ilbron
08.03.14 | 'Reclusion' should be number 1. It's one of their most powerful songs in so many ways, but it's actually their MOST UNDERRATED song too. | fallenbird
08.03.14 | New version FGD > Old Verion FGD | MalleusMaleficarum
08.03.14 | nope | PorcelainRain
08.03.14 | If Unwinding Cable Car and Dismantle.Repair. aren't in the top 5 or even top 10 I will riot | PorcelainRain
08.03.14 | No way the old version of Feel Good Drag kicks the new ones ass. That should be ranked the worst song out of sheer pointlessness. | unaMUSEd
08.04.14 | Both versions of FDG would be in my top 10 or 15 but the old one is better. It's not like there's that big of a difference anyway. | TooManyFriends
08.04.14 | wtf Pray Tell is amazing | fallenbird
08.04.14 | How is the chorus of Disappear unbearable? It's one of the best choruses on the album | unaMUSEd
08.04.14 | Is this gonna get updated or what... | Zeh1996
08.04.14 | This needs to be finished while it is still a feature list
| PorcelainRain
08.04.14 | posted almost three weeks ago haha its understandable though Anberlin has about twenty 5/5 songs and ten 6/5 songs. | hogan900
08.05.14 | BUT ADELAIDE IS SO CATCHY AND GOOD..:( | unaMUSEd
08.05.14 | I'd do this type of list for Muse but I'd get absolutely ripped apart for having 7 songs from The Resistance in the top 20... so no. | fallenbird
08.05.14 | but half the songs on here are better than Adelaide :( | SourAK
08.05.14 | check glassjaw | NordicMindset
08.05.14 | "I'd do this type of list for Muse but I'd get absolutely ripped apart for having 7 songs from The Resistance in the top 20... so no."
I think that's what happening to me.
"check glassjaw"
YOU FUCKIN WHORE | hogan900
08.05.14 | But... That was my first anberlin song...:( | NordicMindset
08.05.14 | Adelaide? | Friday13th
08.05.14 | agreed Adelaide and Mathematics are the worst on Cities | Zeh1996
08.05.14 | Alexithymia would be my next Cities song to go. | fallenbird
08.05.14 | Then Whisper & A Clamour | unaMUSEd
08.05.14 | A Whisper & A Clamor is my least favorite song on Cities, including Debut. | TooManyFriends
08.05.14 | Adelaide is FAR from the worst song on Cities | fallenbird
08.05.14 | Easily the worst for me | unaMUSEd
08.05.14 | Green, they're performing Cities in its entirety at a show in NY on their final tour so you'd better get on that ASAP. | BroFro
08.06.14 | Adelaide is my most played song off Cities. Mathematics is the worst from that album for me. | NordicMindset
08.06.14 | You won't see Whisper for a long time. | fallenbird
08.06.14 | Green I think your over exaggerating how good cities is. It's fantastic but it doesn't completely soar above all their other records | NordicMindset
08.06.14 | Well for me, it does. That and Vital. | fallenbird
08.06.14 | For me, the only reason it's better than most of their albums is because of 5 tracks. The rest are no better (and in many cases worse) than any song off their other albums (post NTFP) | NordicMindset
08.06.14 | Well, for you maybe but I love it to death | fallenbird
08.06.14 | Used to have it 5'd but I listened to it recently and felt very disenchanted by it. | Zeh1996
08.06.14 | Cities (5)
Vital & Never Take Friendship Personal (4.5 or 4)
New Surrender (3.5)
Lowborn & Blueprints for the Black Market (3)
Lost Songs & Dark is the Way, Light is a Place (2.5) | fallenbird
08.06.14 | Lowborn and Cities (4.5)
Vital and Dark Is The Way (4)
New Surrender (3.5)
Never Take Friendship Personal (3)
Blueprints (2.5) | YakNips
08.06.14 | how is this not even half done ffs i dont care about this band in the slightest but jesus | NordicMindset
08.06.14 | because it's hard to boot songs you love | unaMUSEd
08.06.14 | Cities (4.5)
Lowborn and New Surrender (4)
Vital and NTFP (3.5)
Dark is the Way (3)
Blueprints (2.5) | unaMUSEd
08.06.14 | Even though Dark is the Way isn't that great from them, Impossible is seriously one of their best songs ever. | NordicMindset
08.06.14 | damn, I'll be breaking hearts | unaMUSEd
08.06.14 | In before Impossible is #54 | Zeh1996
08.06.14 | Cities is one of the best alt. rock records I've ever heard. It is also so consistent with no below average songs (mathematics is the only average one for me; the rest are all great).
Vital's electronic influences fit perfectly with the band. I also find this their most emotional album. NTFP was my introduction to the band, and I love the heaviness and energy laid throughout the album. I can understand how some find it annoying (like runaways, stationary stationary, time & confusion, and a day late), but I don't get tired of them.
New Surrender is their most inconsistent album with some great tracks (the resistance, breathe, and the best version of feel good drag), but has boring tracks as well (burn out brighter, miserable visu).
Lowborn needs time to grow on me. I've only listened to it 3 times, so I need to listen to it more before I give a concrete opinion, but few tracks have latched onto me. It feels like a grower anyways, so I'll just have to wait and see. Harbinger and Hearing Voices are great though. BFTBB is an above average poppy rock record by a new band trying to find their sound. Fun, but nothing special, plus some grating tracks like the undeveloped story and we dreamt in heist.
Lost Songs covers don't do much for me (I've never been much for covers). The acoustic tracks are nice, and the haunting is a personal favorite of mine. DITWLIAP is actually quite boring for me; to the wolves, pray tell, impossible, depraved and art of war are all I can remember from this album. The rest left no impression whatsoever. | fallenbird
08.06.14 | Vital is their least emotional record though | unaMUSEd
08.06.14 | Even thought Vital alone is a 3.5, Devotion bumps it up to a 4.5 easily. | Zeh1996
08.06.14 | Literally bought Devotion and Vital Remix two days ago. Haven't listened to them yet. Will after I finish Lowborn and Rise Against's new album. | JM18
08.06.14 | Vital is their best | Ryus
08.06.14 | damn, the two cities songs you've chosen so far are some of my favorites | NordicMindset
08.07.14 | and out goes 54 and 53 | TooManyFriends
08.07.14 | you don't have to go back and say how long ago the last song from X album was. just say what you need to say about the song and make it short sweet and to the point | NordicMindset
08.07.14 | I'm trying to prove a point, though. | MalleusMaleficarum
08.07.14 | officially my least favourite list on sputnik gj | NordicMindset
08.08.14 | I hope I didn't piss off people with the end of Top 50. | Emim
08.08.14 | Taking your sweet time, that's for sure. | unaMUSEd
08.08.14 | Harbinger out before Depraved WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT | Zeh1996
08.08.14 | Harbinger is great, but it was a bit of a disappointment for a send off. I'd take it over Miserabile Visu, but not over any other closer (it's close to Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen though). The others blow it out of the water. | Emim
08.08.14 | Miserable Visu >>>> every other closer but fin* | Zeh1996
08.08.14 | Depraved was one of my favs off that album... | Zeh1996
08.08.14 | Fin > God, Drugs, & Sex > Naive Orleans > Depraved > Harbinger & Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen > Miserabile visu | unaMUSEd
08.08.14 | Fin*
God, Drugs & Sex
Harbinger
Miserable Visu
Depraved
Naive Orleans
Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen | Rowan5215
08.08.14 | Man I am SO annoyed at the end of your top 50, I'm taking this all so personally | Emim
08.08.14 | "Fin > God, Drugs, & Sex > Naive Orleans > Depraved > Harbinger & Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen > Miserabile visu"
Gonna have to disagree with you there. | Zeh1996
08.08.14 | Maybe Harbinger will grow on me. Lowborn in general has grown over a couple more listens (I'd probably give it a 3.5 or 4 now, and I'd list is above New Surrender). Honestly, I haven't listened to Visu in a while so maybe I remember it being more boring than it actually is. And Naive Orleans was one of, if not the best, off their first album. | ScorpionStan
08.08.14 | Fin
Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen
Depraved
Miserabile Visu
God, Drugs, & Sex
Naive Orleans
Harbinger | ScorpionStan
08.08.14 | Depraved and especially Christa Paffgen are WAY underrated here. The dynamics in both of those songs are phenomenal, the way the tension builds and releases. Simply amazing. God, Drugs, & Sex, Harbinger, and...yes, even Fin (save for the last couple minutes which is where it rises above the rest) all lack that component. | Emim
08.08.14 | Woah ScorpionStan sighting | ScorpionStan
08.08.14 | lol yeah man over 6 years on the site and still less than 2000 comments, I am ashamed... | Emim
08.08.14 | Consider that an accomplishment, bro | toxin.
08.08.14 | your list just reminded me that orpheum is, in fact, not my least favorite song on vital. that honor belongs to innocent | ScorpionStan
08.08.14 | Emim i guess i should, maybe i have a semblance of a normal life after all lol
and toxin agreed 100% on those two songs being the worst from Vital. Not a huge fan of Desires either but that sweet bassline in the second verse gets me every time. Also Modern Age is a fantastic song but they absolutely ruined it with the production somehow. It's almost unlistenable. | toxin.
08.08.14 | i really like desires, but a big part of that is indeed that bassline. re: modern age, i really like it but i agree that the production + stephen's singing of the chorus ruin it somewhat. they definitely should have stuck with a powerful chorus instead of that weird trailing off thing that occurs instead | NordicMindset
08.08.14 | welp... I love Modern Age | Zeh1996
08.08.14 | Cities is such a hard album to rank songs from. I mostly agree with your boot order so far though. Mine would have to look something like this:
Fin* > Reclusion > Dismantle. Repair. > Godspeed > The Unwinding Cable Car > Inevitable > A Whisper & a Clamor > Alexithymia > Adelaide > Hello Alone > There Is No Mathematics to Love and Loss. | fallenbird
08.08.14 | Harbinger > Dance Dance Christa Paffgen.
DDCP sounds so lifeless to me | toxin.
08.08.14 | i actually have no idea what DDCP is about but its vibe always made me think it was about heroin
addiction. lifeless is a good adjective lol | unaMUSEd
08.09.14 | Stranger Ways at 48... this list is dead to me. | Ryus
08.09.14 | getthis shit goin again son | toxin.
08.10.14 | stephen hates burn out brighter
(on another note, it just occurred to me how great the lyrics on new surrender are as a whole) | JM18
08.10.14 | "DDCP sounds so lifeless to me"
except it's their 2nd best song | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | "stephen hates burn out brighter"
he should | tommygun
08.11.14 | three weeks in and you're not even halfway? truly a well prepared list gj | fallenbird
08.11.14 | "except it's their 2nd best song"
it's the second worst of their closers and doesn't even break the top 20 for me | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | well you'll see it soon | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | 2 more fall. | Snake.
08.11.14 | "fuck vinyl"
-Hong Tam, 2014 | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | I said "fuck YOUR vinyl"
because half of it is dadrock | Snake.
08.11.14 | the beatles and bob dylan aren't dad rock lol | unaMUSEd
08.11.14 | Type Three will be 45 calling it in advance | fallenbird
08.11.14 | If Type Three is 45 this list is dead to me | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | such good predictors | KjSwantko
08.11.14 | I pretty much agree with list thus far with 2 exceptions:
-Intentions is an awesome song (maybe my favorite off of Vital, actually). Dem grooves!
-Uncanny, while being pretty hollow and empty in terms of meaning and songwriting, is still very catchy and I think it could've fit onto the Cities disk just fine. | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | A few more broken hearts, I suppose, as we cross the halfway point | LeviofDoom
08.11.14 | I just noticed that if you turn blueprints upside down and squint really hard, it looks a lot like cities. Ancient astronaut theorists believe... | Skoop
08.11.14 | I love the chorus to Alexithymia | toxin.
08.11.14 | it's repetitive, literally. i'd like if the second half weren't identical to the first half of the chorus | fallenbird
08.11.14 | This list is officially dead to me | loneNLwolf
08.11.14 | I come back two weeks later and things have only gotten worse. | Zeh1996
08.11.14 | armageddon before dissenter...no | NordicMindset
08.11.14 | Dissenter rules man | BroFro
08.11.14 | I love Alexithymia, but I can see how the chorus ruins it for some people. Still, it and Adelaide should have lasted longer. | Zeh1996
08.12.14 | Stranger ways is one of my least favorite off lowborn. Armageddon is one of my favorites (that buildup and atmosphere). Dissenter isn't bad, and I like the change and heavier vocals, but it doesn't do much for me.
| toxin.
08.12.14 | lakes i agree with you actually, adelaide is great and stationary stationery is catchy as shit. i can jam haight st. too, it's the closest to YOLO anberlin will ever get
foreign language is just kinda annoying tho | NordicMindset
08.12.14 | Glad to see you share my Haight St. Top 20 placement | ScorpionStan
08.12.14 | Latest issue with this list: Vital is not where Anberlin started "dipping their feet into electronics" at all. C'mon, Green Baron. Cities is
really where it started becoming more prominent, with Mathematics and Reclusion both revolving completely around repeating synth
melodies. Canned electric drumbeats were featured in the latter song as well. By that time Anberlin had also released 2 cover
versions of songs by "electronics"-heavy band The Cure on their albums, and even Blueprints had the synth-led Autobahn. It seems
like a pretty natural and predictable evolution to me for them to keep moving in that direction with their sound. | TooManyFriends
08.12.14 | there's no way there are 70 anberlin songs worse than Haight St | Sowing
08.12.14 | Little Tyrants is a top 10 song.
Other than that glaring mistake (IMO) it's nice to see you continuing this list. | NordicMindset
08.12.14 | 'this nigga likes new surrender too much'
yea | BroFro
08.13.14 | wow really breaking is tops on new surrender | Sowing
08.13.14 | Hahaha no way. The resistance and miseribile visu are way way better. | NordicMindset
08.13.14 | I love Breaking, but Anberlin did better.
Plus "You make breaking hearts look so easy" is kinda a cringeworthy line | tommygun
08.13.14 | if you're not gonna finish this could you at least have the courtesy to stop bumping it every day | Skoop
08.13.14 | ok I'm really surprised that Haight St. hasn't fallen yet. I figured i was the only one who liked that song. | Emim
08.13.14 | "Little Tyrants is a top 10 song. "
dis^ | Crawl
08.13.14 | "Don't try to wake me up, even if the sun really does come out tomorrow" is not a Type Three lyric | NordicMindset
08.13.14 | lol what the fuck
I swore I put the right one there... fuck | Ryus
08.13.14 | let's you and me make a night of it | unaMUSEd
08.13.14 | The Resistance is top 10. | Artuma
08.13.14 | exciting | Zeh1996
08.13.14 | My top 10 (no order): Godspeed, The Unwinding Cable Car, Reclusion, *Fin, The Haunting, Hearing Voices, Paperthin Hymn, Audrey Start the Revolution!, Feel Good Drag (new surrender), & Self-Starter. | NordicMindset
08.14.14 | meh, hate me for all you want | GreyShadow
08.14.14 | Little Tyrants may be my favorite on Vital (if not that then Modern Age, with God, Drugs, and Sex following those) | rotterdog
08.14.14 | Totally agree on Safe Here. Great aggressive track. | Artuma
08.14.14 | ^ don't listen to this guy he rated pinkerton below maladroit | NordicMindset
08.14.14 | 38-37 done. 36 halfway | Zeh1996
08.14.14 | My top 10 all remain alive! | Artuma
08.14.14 | the whole list is irrelevant apart from #1 which is fin | unaMUSEd
08.15.14 | My Top 10 no order: Impossible, The Resistance, Feel Good Drag (NTFP version), Fin*, Paperthin Hymn, Someone Anyone, Self-Starter, An Unwinding Cable Car, Dismantle. Repair., Dissenter. | BroFro
08.15.14 | This list has officially lost all credibility, Dance Dance at 39 is an abomination.
Good lord, Haight St hasn't even gone out yet. | unaMUSEd
08.16.14 | Yeah the fact that so many songs are gone and Haight St still remains is kind of terrible. | PorcelainRain
08.16.14 | You know they just released a new song called "Brother"? | NordicMindset
08.16.14 | I know... I also forgot about the B-sides on New Surrender deluxe edition too. But this is good enough, I hope.
Also 35 and 34 are done. I will breeze through the rest now. | YakNips
08.16.14 | how is this not done yet | PorcelainRain
08.16.14 | Damn man the b-sides off of New Surrender make that album better I'd say. Although the epic closer for New Surrender should be listened to again after you hear the b-sides :) | PorcelainRain
08.16.14 | Shit the b-sides from New Surrender would probably be in my top 30 same with the b-sides from Vital and Cities. | NordicMindset
08.17.14 | I have the Vital and Cities B-sides but I forgot the New Surrender B-sides. | toxin.
08.17.14 | I'm still not sure how Pray Tell is a ballad | NordicMindset
08.17.14 | It's slow | toxin.
08.17.14 | doesn't matter, a ballad doesn't have that kind of chorus | NordicMindset
08.17.14 | I'm using the term loosely | toxin.
08.17.14 | Well using it makes your "ballad row" dubbing misleading at best, since that sequence of songs is not nearly as same-y as you make it sound. Especially when you consider songs 7-11 on New Surrender are also similarly slow-tempo'd and you no problem with them | fallenbird
08.17.14 | Ballad row on DITW >>>>>> Ballad row on New Surrender | TooManyFriends
08.17.14 | Pray Tell is a ballad if the sky is neon green and you shit purple shit | PorcelainRain
08.17.14 | Blueprints For The Black Market is a little better than I last remembered. | NordicMindset
08.17.14 | It's not their worst for sure | NordicMindset
08.17.14 | and Ballad Row on New Surrender definitely >>>> | Curse.
08.18.14 | You couldn't finish this over the course of a full month? | toxin.
08.18.14 | the longer he keeps it going the longer the list is relevant | NordicMindset
08.18.14 | There, I did it, I killed off Haight St just for you guys, happy? | NordicMindset
08.18.14 | sarcasm? | NordicMindset
08.18.14 | oh because I feel that way too lol | toxin.
08.18.14 | Stephen said it perfectly in his analysis of Haight St. It's a fun pop song, but it didn't make sense in that stage of their career. I love that line too, but it'd be so much better on Blueprints. Would be a definite highlight imo | NordicMindset
08.19.14 | i dont mind it on NS | PorcelainRain
08.20.14 | Haight Street is one of my favorite songs off New Surrender. | NordicMindset
08.21.14 | 30 + 29 gone. | toxin.
08.21.14 | the lyrics of We Are Destroyer are not carpe diem lol, or at least the modern usage of it. in fact it's the opposite. it's a criticism of humanity's apathy and general selfishness towards the future
"Give us what we want/ What we don’t want to earn"
"Stop and take it in/ think it through now/ Tread light on our future."
| NordicMindset
08.21.14 | well then I'll be fixing | toxin.
08.21.14 | pretty good list though. not sure how i feel about we are destroyers as #6 in their openers but that probably speaks more to the quality of the other ones | BMDrummer
08.22.14 | the fact that a month has passed and it's not even down to 10 is a little weird | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | I took out 4 songs today. And I'll do more.
I want to finish this. | BMDrummer
08.22.14 | don't give up!! | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | I will.
I struggled earlier because it hurt to eliminate songs I loved so dearly.
Now I have everything set up in play. I might finish the Top 20 by the end of today. | Friday13th
08.22.14 | woot woot! No hard feeling GB, but you gotta admit it's been a while. | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | Yes, I know.
I'm doing another one after this one. | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | 24-23 done. | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | I want you to speculate on what you think 22 might be. | unaMUSEd
08.22.14 | Hearing Voices | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | that's a possibility | fallenbird
08.22.14 | We Are Destroyer is their best opener though
Also To The Wolves is like 2nd or 3rd worst off of DITW | unaMUSEd
08.22.14 | 2nd or 3rd best off of DITW* | fallenbird
08.22.14 | You have to admit, that song is way too generic for anberlins standards | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | To The Wolves is the best or second best song on DITW but I think you misunderstood the lyrical content being he says "who needs enemies when we've got friends like you" that he doesn't need enemies because he had an frienemy instead. | toxin.
08.22.14 | Also To The Wolves is like 2nd or 3rd worst off of DITW
[2] | Crawl
08.22.14 | lol To the Wolves and Dissenter are better than Retrace and Soft Skeletons? | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | ^That I do disagree with haha | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | oh wow Naive Orleans and Ready Fuels made the top 20. | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | and then The Resistance, Feel Good Drag, and Miserabelle Visu
| NordicMindset
08.22.14 | I'M SORRY THIS LIST IS CONTROVERSIAL | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | It is? | NordicMindset
08.22.14 | look at all thse comments | PorcelainRain
08.22.14 | As their biggest fan (approved by toxin), I don't care what you rate any of it so don't worry about it. Those crazy kids can go kick kangaroos. But still....Pray Tell is not a ballad! XD | Skoop
08.23.14 | Ugh not a fan of to the wolves | toxin.
08.23.14 | the acoustic bits to whisper might be one of the best parts the band ever wrote | NordicMindset
08.23.14 | I had it in the Top 10 in my first draft | unaMUSEd
08.23.14 | Just finish it up already. | Snake.
08.23.14 | i know it won't be on here but i'd like to die is definitely top 10 anberlin for me | unaMUSEd
08.23.14 | 1. Fin*
2. Dismantle. Repair.
3. The Resistance
4. Someone Anyone
and the rest | NordicMindset
08.23.14 | Never heard it. | Snake.
08.23.14 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCgIQWXcxLM
NOW | Rowan5215
08.23.14 | why the actual fuck is that a b-side | NordicMindset
08.23.14 | Alrught | unaMUSEd
08.23.14 | why the actual fuck is that a b-side [2]
even more confusing is how its a b-side to a track on DITW. | toxin.
08.23.14 | i actually prefer live versions of i'd like to die to the studio one
it's a fantastic song though | Waior
08.23.14 | Interesting. I'd love to do a counterpoint of this.
This is a helpful perspective for me - it makes me realise how subjective music is and what people enjoy. What we decide is "emotional", or "energetic" is totally interpreted by the listener alone it seems... which was always true, but I disagree with so many of your opinions here, haha, but I'm realising more that we just have majorly different lenses
Thank you for being so thorough, I love a list like this | Waior
08.23.14 | good lord there is some uppity bullshit in this thread (scorpionstan, welcome back)
although it's not exclusive to anybody, goodness, do you guys like to be right about shit it's impossible to be right or wrong about. reading this thread was literally painful - let the guy like what he likes and assume positive intent | toxin.
08.23.14 | i think most of the "wow how is this song ranked so high/low" is in good fun. i mean the minute you create a list like this, you're basically asking for comparison with other people's opinions. it's sort of the point.
as long as you're not too serious/self-important about it | Waior
08.23.14 | yeah i get that
my self-importance alarms are all ringing
don't worry! | toxin.
08.23.14 | haha | PorcelainRain
08.23.14 | Later that day we made our way to the old cathedral door
A flame, a figure, a shadow
Walked away towards the tower alone
We must be close nearby
Hope cannot find our own way
Through dark, it's cold, I'm told it's gray
There's a light that never grows dim
But if all can be made right there's still a chance on New Years' Day
And if Grace were here I would love to see her face somehow, someway
And if all is well that means there's still a chance in hell
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine
There is shelter, shelter from the mire of life
Claiming sanctuary from the fire that drove you in
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine
Climbing the stairs towards heaven
Making our own way into the room
Empty, barren
Not another soul in sight
Then when the moon came crawling
There in the night, a great divide
A whisper, a motion, calling
We're the 99 all right
But if all can be made right there's still a chance on New Years' Day
And if all is well that means there's still a chance in hell
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine
There is shelter, shelter from the mire of life
Claiming sanctuary from the fire that drove you in
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine
Now a tradition said
Buying penance did a wrong and right
A great collapse
Great collapse
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine
There is shelter, shelter from the mire of life
Claiming sanctuary from the fire that drove you in
You are safe here, safe here in these arms of mine | Zeh1996
08.24.14 | "I might finish the Top 20 by the end of today"
Days later.... | toxin.
08.24.14 | Safe Here's lyrics are better than the song itself, although it's a pretty good song as well | toxin.
08.24.14 | nice darth ^_^
i still think think ijsw might be my favorite devotion song, maybe no love to speak | fallenbird
08.24.14 | Mine is unstable, those feels | toxin.
08.24.14 | oh yeah unstable is up there too. reminds me of unwinding cable car, i can't really explain why though | Rowan5215
08.24.14 | Seriously in love with I'd Like to Die so glad I found out about it | ScorpionStan
08.24.14 | Extremely glad Symphony of Blasé made it up so high, that is a criminally underrated track right there. Kudos. Almost makes up for your placement of Disappear--almost ;-)
And Caleb: oh dear lord, excuse me for having opinions. So sorry for offending your delicate wishes. Guess you better report me to the thread police.
Lol you need to lighten the hell up buddy. You've been around here 6 years now: you really expect every list thread to be another verse of Kumbaya? Green Baron knew what he was getting into bro, we're all cool here. Just let it be. Threads like this are the reason Sputnik exists. | toxin.
08.24.14 | i'd like to die would probably be in my top 10 i think, such a gorgeous song | ScorpionStan
08.24.14 | Yeah I'd Like To Die is definitely one of their best.
What does everyone think of their other b-sides that have not yet been mentioned? (Heavier Things Remain, New Fast Automatic, Hell or High Water, All We Have, The Promise, A Perfect Tourniquet)
At least a couple of those are top 20 favorites for me. | toxin.
08.24.14 | i love their version of true faith, which you didn't mention. i haven't really listened to their other b-sides in a while. i do remember really liking heavier things remain & hell or high water, while the others didn't stand out as much to me as much, though. | Rowan5215
08.24.14 | Damn haven't heard any of these is there a place where I can get em all at once? | ScorpionStan
08.24.14 | Oh wow you're right, I had completely forgotten about True Faith! That and their rendition of Mother are the two best covers they've ever done, hands down. | toxin.
08.24.14 | @Rowan, they're on Youtube if you wanna listen, but you could probably also torrent them as I did. It was kind of a pain in the ass finding them legally since they're in weird special editions and shit that I can't get anymore | ScorpionStan
08.24.14 | All We Have is on iTunes but it's an album-only DITW track. Heavier Things Remain, Mother, True Faith, and A Perfect Tourniquet are all on the iTunes Special Edition of New Surrender (along with Said And Done and the acoustic version of Feel Good Drag). Other than that I can't remember exactly where I got 'em. Hell, I've still got stuff on my iPod from Limewire lol | Rowan5215
08.24.14 | Yeah YouTube is always a good go-to was hoping there'd be some sort of compilation with all of them on it I could torrent ah well | PorcelainRain
08.24.14 | Hell or High Water?? All We Have?? Mother?? WHAAAAT????!!!!!! | Gestapo
08.24.14 | check glassjaw | NordicMindset
08.24.14 | lovebites and razolines | Gestapo
08.24.14 | im sorry am i off topic | NordicMindset
08.24.14 | I'll do some more when I get back home tonight | PorcelainRain
08.24.14 | You better.
I'm pretty sure everyone interested in looking at a music site knows who Glassjaw is. | fallenbird
08.24.14 | They're dream pop right? | toxin.
08.24.14 | no they're math/symphonic pseudo-prog | NordicMindset
08.25.14 | onwards to the top 20.
what do you think will be out next | Waior
08.25.14 | oh bother. stan, i just want you to learn to communicate without making somebody wrong
-- looking forward to the rest of the list. | Zeh1996
08.26.14 | I'm just gonna guess your top 18. (unless I forgot one, I assume you're counting "The Feel Good Drag" and "Feel Good Drag" as separate songs).
18. Someone Anyone
17. Depraved
16. Feel Good Drag
15. Modern Age
14. Dismantle. Repair.
13. Naive Orleans
12. The Resistance
11. The Feel Good Drag
10. Paperthin Hymn
9. Reclusion
8. Self-Starter
7. The Unwinding Cable Car
6. God, Drugs & Sex
5. Godspeed
4. Inevitable
3. Miserabile Visu
2. Hearing Voices
1. *Fin
This is also what I think Green Baron's list will look like. Mine would be completely different (your list makes me want to make my own on the subject).
| Storm In A Teacup
08.26.14 | Miserable Visu's lyrics are too depressing for me to ever think of putting it in the top 10. | Zeh1996
08.26.14 | I wouldn't either, but I think Baron likes it...a lot. It wouldn't make my top 20. | toxin.
08.26.14 | putting feel good drag and the feel good drag as two different songs would literally be the dumbest thing ever. i'm sure there's a b-side you're forgetting, zeh | Storm In A Teacup
08.26.14 | There will be a riot if FGD makes it twice I mean what the hell did they do to make that song better? They made it more commercial the second time around. | fallenbird
08.26.14 | the production was way better on the NS version.
Also why would depressing lyrics make a song less enjoyable? I mean, MV isn't even that depressing. | toxin.
08.26.14 | "They made it more commercial the second time around"
giving them enough money to give us 3 more great albums... no complaints here. | fallenbird
08.26.14 | Agreed with toxin | NordicMindset
08.26.14 | Uh oh | Gestapo
08.26.14 | this band sure is big with the kids | Zeh1996
08.27.14 | This list seriously needs to get finished though...
| toomanyxsinmyname
08.27.14 | "this band sure is big with the kids"
lol | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | I'm watching Donnie Darko relax | unaMUSEd
08.27.14 | I don't envy you having to choose a top 10 AND put it in order... | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | I fucked up though. When I counted 88 songs, I forgot about two Feel Good Drags, so I'm gonna have to do it twice I guess.
Zeh's list is actually close to mine. He got #18 right at least. | unaMUSEd
08.27.14 | Someone Anyone is the best song on any of their last 3 albums imo. | fallenbird
08.27.14 | lol no, it's somewhere in the middle of Vital | Masochist
08.27.14 | "Readyfuels" is how I found Anberlin. That one, "Glass To The Arson," "A Day Late," and "Paperthin Hymn"...God, "Paperthin Hymn" is INCREDIBLE. Some of Stephen's absolute best vocals, no doubt. Those were the days, man...when I was completely and utterly into them, and music in general.
When 'Cities' came out, I was blown away. "Godspeed" became one of my favorite songs by anyone for a looooong time. Nowadays, music doesn't do for me what it did back then, but Anberlin will always be a band I respect and admire. Thank you for doing this list. | Storm In A Teacup
08.27.14 | P-Hymn NTFP and A Day Late would make my top 25 easy | unaMUSEd
08.27.14 | Paperthin Hymn is top 10 easily if not top 5. Incredible track. | fallenbird
08.27.14 | don't really care for NTFP | unaMUSEd
08.27.14 | Song or album? | fallenbird
08.27.14 | Both really, The song and album are great but I never come back to them | Zeh1996
08.27.14 | NTFP (album) is probably my 3rd favorite | fallenbird
08.27.14 | Probably in 5th or 6th place for me | Zeh1996
08.27.14 | 1. Cities
2. Vital
3. NTFP
4. Lowborn
5. New Surrender
6. BFTBM
7. DITWLIAP & Lost Songs
9. Vital: The Remix | toxin.
08.27.14 | ditw is mad underrated on this site | Rowan5215
08.27.14 | Man if I'd Like to Die had actually made the album DITW would be like third best | fallenbird
08.27.14 | 1. Lowborn
2. Cities
3. Vital
4. Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place
5. NTFP
6. New Surrender
7. BFTBM | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | 1. Cities
2. Vital
3. New Surrender
4. Lowborn
5. Never Take Friendship Personal
6. Blueprints
7. Dark is the Way | Storm In A Teacup
08.27.14 | 1. Vital 5/5
2. New Surrender 5/5
3. Never Take Friendship Personal 5/5
4. Lowborn 4.7/5
5. Cities 4.6/5
6. Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place 4.1/5
7. Blueprints For The Black Market 3.4/5
This will probably surprise a couple users. Toxin specifically | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | Cities at 5? | Storm In A Teacup
08.27.14 | 1. Vital 5/5
2. New Surrender 5/5
3. Never Take Friendship Personal 5/5
4. Lowborn 4.7/5
5. Cities 4.6/5
6. Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place 4.1/5
7. Blueprints For The Black Market 3.4/5
This will probably surprise a couple users. Toxin specifically | fallenbird
08.27.14 | Really don't like the pop-punk vibe of their first 2 albums | toxin.
08.27.14 | lol storm what is thiiis ??
1. Cities 5/5
2. Vital 4.4/5
3. Lowborn 4.2/5
4. NTFP 4.1/5
5. DitW 3.7/5
6. NS 3.6/5
7. Blueprints 3.2/5 | fallenbird
08.27.14 | Lowborn 4.7/5
Cities 4.5/5
Vital 4.3/5
Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place 3.9/5
Never Take Friendship Personal 3.7/5
New Surrender 3.5/5
Blueprints For The Black Market 3.2/5 | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | Cities 5/5
Vital 4.2/5
New Surrender 4.2/5
Lowborn 4/5
NTFP 3.7/5
Blueprints 3.3/5
DITW 2.3/5 | fallenbird
08.27.14 | No Love for Lowborn around here | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | It's good but not their best | NordicMindset
08.27.14 | and no hate for dark is the way around here either | fallenbird
08.27.14 | I think it's a pretty obvious magnum opus but that's just me | fallenbird
08.27.14 | Because it doesn't deserve it | unaMUSEd
08.27.14 | 1. Cities 4.4/5
2. Lowborn 4/5
3. New Surrender 3.8/5
4. Vital 3.8/5
5. NTFP 3.5/5
6. DITW 3.4/5
7. Blueprints 3/5 | TooManyFriends
08.27.14 | Cities 4.6/5
Vital 4.2/5
Dark 4.2/5
Lowborn 3.9/5
NTFP 3.7/5
NS 2.9/5
Blueprints 2.6/5 | Storm In A Teacup
08.27.14 | Yeah toxin it's not that Cities has grown off me a lot (some though) but I've found a new love for New Surrender and Never Take Friendship Personal.
Also fallenbird I love Lowborn. If I round out my rating it's a 5. | Zeh1996
08.27.14 | Cities 5/5 (4.8 if I'm picky)
Vital (4.4/5)
NTFP (4/5)
Lowborn (3.8/5) (keeps growing on me)
New Surrender (3.5/5)
Blueprints (3/5)
DITW (2.5/5) | Zeh1996
08.27.14 | This list really need to get finished though. It is almost bumped off anberlin's list page! | fallenbird
08.27.14 | I want to 5 Lowborn but it's as close as it can get to being a 5 without feeling like a 5. It's their
most consistent with their best songwriting and has some of their best songs like Velvet Covered
Brick, Hearing Voices, and We Are Destroyer. | toxin.
08.28.14 | storm i'm gonna revoke your "#1 anberlin fanboy" status >:( | toomanyxsinmyname
08.28.14 | cities is ace | NordicMindset
08.28.14 | Cities is on top | unaMUSEd
08.28.14 | Fin and Paperthin Hymn are in the top 5 right? RIGHT?! | NordicMindset
08.28.14 | No and no. It's a shock. | NordicMindset
08.28.14 | 18,17, part of 16. | unaMUSEd
08.28.14 | FIN ISN'T IN THE TOP 5 WTF?! | NordicMindset
08.28.14 | Nope, it might go out soon | toxin.
08.29.14 | lol | NordicMindset
08.29.14 | I don't know what to do regarding Feel Good Drag | NordicMindset
08.29.14 | No because there's room for both versions by mistake. | NordicMindset
08.29.14 | No, I'll do them side by side. | Zeh1996
08.29.14 | New Surrender version is better imo. I understand why most like the NTFP version better (how dare they make a song more mainstream!), but I just enjoy listening to it more. | LeviofDoom
08.29.14 | Damn, it's been long. I forgot about this list like a month ago. | NordicMindset
08.29.14 | Should I do schoolwork or this list? Tough call Idk but idgaf about school so i guess this wins | Zeh1996
08.29.14 | Knock this out man. Priorities | Ryus
08.30.14 | i wanna see this finished soon | NordicMindset
08.30.14 | Sorry, but my teacher says if I don't finish my thing I'll get kicked out of the class so | Ryus
08.30.14 | i was talking about your homework bud | tommygun
08.30.14 | could you be more verbose | TooManyFriends
08.30.14 | lmao^ | Zeh1996
09.01.14 | C'mon man, you gotta finish this! | unaMUSEd
09.02.14 | [2] | Artuma
09.02.14 | goddammit 458 comments for an unfinished list of this shit band
and i'm not helping it, gotta stop posting here | unaMUSEd
09.02.14 | woaaaaaaah this is not a shit band | Zeh1996
09.04.14 | You're so close. Just finish this list already. Don't be afraid of what people think. | NordicMindset
09.04.14 | i need to do homework stop
i procrastintae and this isn't helping | Storm In A Teacup
09.04.14 | why are you refreshing the comments and responding then? | NordicMindset
09.06.14 | two giant updates. take them. | toxin.
09.06.14 | If a stranger turns up missing, this song is my confession" is some pretty deep stuff, for a band that normally focuses on the immediate aftereffect of a broken heart.
... Man are you hoping no one reads this shit? Lol despite their somewhat embarrassingly large collection of breakup songs, they definitely do not mainly focus on it. Maybe two or three songs every album | NordicMindset
09.06.14 | Toxin, I meant when they talk about relationships it's normally about thar | Storm In A Teacup
09.06.14 | It reads to support what toxin said. If that's not what you meant I would definitely edit that my nigga. But ya Reclusion is a top 20 song for me too that's awesome man. | Ryus
09.06.14 | reclusion is like worst on cities tbh | unaMUSEd
09.06.14 | Reclusion is one of their best songs ever. Definitely top 20. | Zeh1996
09.06.14 | Reclusion is probably top 5 for me. At least top 10. (#2 on cities for me) | iswimfast
09.08.14 | hello is this where we talk about anberlin | Pangea
09.08.14 | Great list. Someone Anyone is the only song i've heard from them, but I should change that sometime | Curse.
09.08.14 | how the fuck are you not done with this already | JM18
09.11.14 | Reclusion is one of their worst | unaMUSEd
09.12.14 | best* | Rowan5215
09.12.14 | Is this where you go to get your anberlin changed | TooManyFriends
09.12.14 | Wow same omg | Snake.
09.12.14 | emas | JM18
09.13.14 | Disappear is New Surrender's Reclusion. The heavier filler track of the album, except Disappear is better | unaMUSEd
09.13.14 | Except Cities has no filler tracks. | toxin.
09.13.14 | reclusion rules man | Rowan5215
09.13.14 | YOU'RE SICK
SICK AS ALL THE
SECRETS THAT YOU DENY
SINS LIKE SKELETONS AAAAARE
SO VERY HARD TO HIDE | JM18
09.15.14 | The reason Reclusion bugs me so much is that the vocals in the verses just sound so cheesy to me. The chorus is trademark Anberlin but the verses bring it down for me | toxin.
09.16.14 | Really? I guess that's fair enough. Do you dislike A Whisper and A Clamor too? He does something similar there | BMDrummer
09.16.14 | so it'll never be finished | toxin.
09.16.14 | youu haunt meee baabyy | Sowing
09.16.14 | You have to be shitting me that this isn't complete yet lol | fallenbird
09.16.14 | Green is the ultimate procrastinator. | toxin.
09.16.14 | meh, well idk about yall but i don't even care about the list anymore. it's just a good place to discuss anberlin lol | Rowan5215
09.16.14 | SOMEONE SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT WE'RE RANKING FOR | unaMUSEd
09.16.14 | lmao | loneNLwolf
09.16.14 | no one can walk away no one can walk away truly alive after realizing how disturbingly incorrect this list is | BMDrummer
09.16.14 | hong's gotta get that pussy first | JM18
09.17.14 | @toxin - nah man Clamor is awesome and while the vox in the verses are similar they come off as more natural and less forced than the ones in Reclusion, if that makes any sense. That song is fantastic. | Rowan5215
09.17.14 | Thank you for finishing my pun Lakes | toxin.
09.17.14 | @JM, gotcha. I can see where you're coming from | Hellohello32
09.19.14 | When is the top 10 going to be posted?!?!?!
| Emim
09.19.14 | "You have to be shitting me that this isn't complete yet lol"
this
"how the fuck is this not done yet"
this
"hong's gotta get that pussy first"
not this
"When is the top 10 going to be posted?!?!?! "
this | toxin.
09.19.14 | we're ruunninggggg
we're running hot tonight
and it feels so right
| Storm In A Teacup
09.24.14 | This really should be done by now.
"But I just don't get how one could hate the version on New Surrender - the only difference is that there's a slightly different intro and Stephen doesn't scream three words in the bridge, plus the production is a teeny bit neater. That is it."
And that is exactly enough reason to justifiably (and angrily) boo the NS version. | fallenbird
09.24.14 | List will be finished around the time the next Tool album comes out. | Skoop
09.24.14 | Its probably about time you finished this bro. I'm not much of a fan of most of the rankings, but I'd like to see how this finishes out. | unaMUSEd
09.24.14 | Honestly the fuss over NTFP version vs NS version of FDG is pointless. | Storm In A Teacup
09.24.14 | It's too late Green Baron. She was read but you took too long. | Storm In A Teacup
09.24.14 | Honestly unaMUSEd, we know. | BMDrummer
10.04.14 | can't believe this was never finished lol | mhart8
10.08.14 | This list was a tease! | Storm In A Teacup
10.08.14 | No one gives a flying craps anymore | TooManyFriends
10.08.14 | heavily considering making my own list, without annoying paragraph descriptions or fucking Haight Street in the top 20 | Masochist
10.24.14 | How do you get so damn close to finishing what is certainly one of the most ambitious lists in Sputnikmusic history, and stop right at the end? SEVEN SONGS, that's it, man!
I just got back from seeing Anberlin live. It was incredible. Please finish this list. | GreyShadow
10.24.14 | 7 Hearing Voices
6 Modern Age
5 Paperthin Hymn
4 Godspeed
3 Unwinding Cable Car
2 fin (CURVEBALL)
1 miserabile visu
yeah that's definitely it | GreyShadow
10.24.14 | if anything, i'll say my picks are all 1 place off (either 1 lower or 1 higher than it should be). but i'm still confident I'm right | fallenbird
10.24.14 | It's funny how God,Drugs, and Sex is one of their simplest songs (3 chords, C,Am, and Em) yet it's so lush and perfect. Second favorite Anberlin closer, recently overtook MV. | Storm In A Teacup
10.24.14 | He's been doing this without saying anything lol. | Storm In A Teacup
10.24.14 | Dude fallenbird Unwinding Cable Car is super easy too | fallenbird
10.24.14 | Yeah but UCC actually has lead guitar sections whereas G,D,S has nothing but those 3 chords. Stranger Ways is also extremely easy (C, Am, Em, D, and G) they use simple chords in most of there songs. | NordicMindset
10.25.14 | the top 5 will hopefully be revealed tomorrow, if not, ex malo bonum | fallenbird
10.25.14 | My top 10 is probably
1. *Fin (duh)
2. Velvet Covered Brick
3. God, Drugs, & Sex
4. Hearing Voices
5. Miserable Visu
6. Type Three
7. Dismantle. Repair
8. Unwinding Cable Car
9. Down
10. Inevitable
The last 5 are interchangeable really. | toxin.
10.25.14 | fin is also pretty easy lol | Emim
10.26.14 | how is this not done yet | Masochist
10.28.14 | Hopefully tomorrow it will be, Emim.
Since getting back from that concert, I've been on a completely justified Anberlin kick. I just forget how much I actually like this band sometimes, and that concert really reminded me of what they've done for me in terms of forming my musical taste and discovering other bands (Mae and Jimmy Eat World, for example).
A list like this is exactly what I love from this site--somewhere to talk about a band I currently dig. | toxin.
10.28.14 | Join us on the lowborn/ Cities threads!
I can't figure out if I prefer the live or studio version of UWCC more. Live versions just feel a little slower and breathe better overall, but the studio one has multiple Stephens instead of an inferior backup singer | toxin.
10.28.14 | -type three
-fin
-uwcc
-godspeed
-miserabile visu
hmm | forlifeis
10.28.14 | I would love to pen my own list in a similar vein to this one, but you do it so well I might as well not try! But Modern Age deserves the Top 5, so perhaps I will complete my own list at some point. | Friday13th
10.31.14 | yay I called Fin and Unwinding top 2 | NordicMindset
10.31.14 | I was going to write the blurbs, but they were way too long and dragged out the page, so I removed them for aesthetics. | Snake.
10.31.14 | paperthin hymn in the top 3 seriously | fallenbird
10.31.14 | I bet UWC is gonna be 1 for plot twist. | fallenbird
10.31.14 | Put the blurbs back in by the way, these are the songs that deserve them most. | toxin.
10.31.14 | Oh I didn't realize Type Three was already out. Paperthin Hymn at 3? interesting choice.... | GreyShadow
10.31.14 | 2 Unwinding Cable Car
1 fin
...might as well have finished it | fallenbird
10.31.14 | Paperthin Hymn is good but nowhere neat the top 5. Doesn't break my top 25 | GreyShadow
10.31.14 | Paperthin Hymn would probably end up in my top 15, maybe top 10, but not top 5. | unaMUSEd
11.01.14 | Paperthin Hymn is #4 for me. | Skoop
11.03.14 | Its a good song but i could see it in the top 10 for nostalgia only | Friday13th
11.03.14 | lol that would be awesome if GB just left us hanging with the 1 and 2 spot undecided. | Skoop
11.03.14 | He sure is taking his time with these last 5 | mhart8
11.23.14 | More than four months later, this list is still the biggest tease on the site. | unaMUSEd
11.25.14 | Saw them live tonight and Dismantle. Repair is definitely #1 live song. The moment when all the instruments stop and the entire crowd yells "REPAIR" is so fucking epic. | Masochist
01.14.15 | Why the hell did this never get finished!? | Waior
01.14.15 | HA! | JM18
01.29.15 | 4 is 2 imo. | Sowing
01.29.15 | All good choices in the top 5 tbh | JM18
01.29.15 | I don't know why but I could never get in to cable car. I mean it's obviously good I just feel like pretty much all of their closers are better, except for maybe Naïve Orleans | Sowing
01.29.15 | cable car isn't a closer, unless you meant something else
the only song I'd consider throwing into the top 5 instead of one of the current choices is the original feelgood drag (not the new version). | JM18
01.29.15 | yeah I meant that i'd rank pretty much all of the closers above it. and yeah the original feel good drag is what got me in to the band when I was young, so that will always be one of my all time favorites | Sowing
01.29.15 | Yeah man they have a penchant for incredible closers...I got into Anberlin during the release of Cities, and the first song I heard by them was actually Unwinding Cable Car. | JM18
01.29.15 | yeah I think it was late 2005 when I first heard them. I was 11 years old at the time and I wasn't really big on music at that point. my grandpa's friend made him a mix cd and it had Cadence, The Feel Good Drag, and Runaways on it. I fell in love with those particular tracks, playing them back to back for months before I bought NTFP, but still never truly got into the band until New Surrender was released and they have been one of my all time favorite bands ever since then | Sowing
01.29.15 | Yeah I just borrowed Cities from a friend but I'll never forget going out to buy New Surrender at my local record store and being pumped as hell. | JM18
01.29.15 | yeah that's exactly how I felt. by the time I bought new surrender I was still pretty limited when it comes to musical taste. I was young so I pretty much skipped every song that didn't seem heavy or in your face at the start so I pretty much just listened to The Resistance and Disappear, acting like they were the only songs on the album hahaha | Artuma
01.29.15 | 1 is 1 and that's all that matters | iamamanfromspace
01.29.15 | Holy wow this list is literally an insane thing | Artuma
01.29.15 | yeah, not only did he listen to all of these songs but he also wrote this much about them. that really is insane | Snake.
01.29.15 | 1 is absolutely 1 | Friday13th
01.30.15 | Insane that it took him this long and had us by the throat to see if it was Cable Car or Fin. | Storm In A Teacup
01.30.15 | I've been listening to the Devotion cds and Vital. I think there might be a couple songs from those records that I may now consider better than 1 or 2, but a year ago I would have said 1 and 2 are correct if they were just reversed. Glad this list is officially finally done until the next Anberlin album comes out. Then you'll have to re-do it. :) | TooManyFriends
01.30.15 | 2 is 1 | Storm In A Teacup
01.30.15 | ya | Masochist
02.01.15 | "Glad this list is officially finally done until the next Anberlin album comes out. Then you'll have to re-do it. :)"
One can dream. | iamamanfromspace
02.01.15 | write some stuff for those last five tracks please | iamamanfromspace
02.01.15 | Did the songs just start to get so good he couldn't even describe them anymore | Gyromania
10.01.15 | disappear is great and your top 10 is super cliche | Gyromania
10.01.15 | also epic fail for dance dance coming in at nearly spot 40. the fuck |
|
