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Staff
Reviews 265
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Album Ratings 3481
Objectivity 69%
Last Active 12-23-22 6:13 pm
Joined 04-27-15
Review Comments 21,098
| My Yellowcard Journey
Seeing as I've had a lot of difficulty keeping up with my discog reviews, I've decided to create a new "journey" series of lists. Instead of entire reviews, I'll create blurbs for a discog that I'm largely unfamiliar with. So to kick things off, I thought I'd start with a strong Sowing recommendation: Yellowcard. I've always heard their name tossed around, but never gave their catalog a proper listen; I'll keep updating this list as I hear each album. Enjoy! | | 1 |  | Yellowcard
Midget Tossing
Oof, what a rough beginning. Instead of the pop-punk and alternative rock the band would later be known for, Midget Tossing adopts a highly derivative form of melodic hardcore. The production is extremely shoddy and weak, not giving these aggressive riffs their proper "oomph". Still, I do appreciate the level of energy on offer here, even if the vocals and songwriting are quite amateurish. Plus, I know they don't linger on this style for much of their career, so things can only go up from here. 2/5 | | 2 |  | Yellowcard
Where We Stand
Where We Stand is basically a more refined version of Midget Tossing, and I can see how this would be a bridge between the band's old hardcore punk sound and their more polished pop-punk sound stylings. Still, subpar vocals and a lack of focus manage to drag this one down, just as they did for Midget Tossing. I don't want to be too harsh towards Ben Dobson, as his early work with Yellowcard is pretty fun from time to time, but I can see why Ryan Key was brought into the fold after this album. But that's a story for the next record; as for Where We Stand, it's a comptetent but unremarkable piece of melodic hardcore with the occasional odd experiment. It's... fine, I guess. 2.5/5 | | 3 |  | Yellowcard
One for the Kids
Alright, now we're getting somewhere! One for the Kids sees the band going for a more polished, melodic pop-punk sound, and it's a pretty solid first stab at the style. Newcomer Ryan Key immediately makes his presence and influence known, delivering energetic vocals while displaying more depth and range than his immediate predecessor. I also appreciate the heightened presence of the violin, as I feel Sean Mackin's work on the band's first two albums was a bit out-of-place, and even somewhat of an afterthought. However, there's still room to grow here and, like Where We Stand, the songwriting and production are still rough around the edges; even at only 41 minutes, the album starts to lose its way and show some inconsistency quality-wise. This is like the proof of concept for Yellowcard's next phase... or as many others have pointed out, the blueprint. But if anything, that just makes me more excited about what I'll be hearing next. 3.2/5 | | 4 |  | Yellowcard
Ocean Avenue | | 5 |  | Yellowcard
Lights and Sounds | | 6 |  | Yellowcard
Paper Walls | | 7 |  | Yellowcard
When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes | | 8 |  | Yellowcard
Southern Air | | 9 |  | Yellowcard
Lift a Sail | | 10 |  | Yellowcard
Yellowcard | |
Koris
05.20.23 | Let the listening begin! | Sowing
05.20.23 | This is already my favorite list
Can't wait to follow along with the rest of the journey | Koris
05.20.23 | Yeah, I'm pretty stoked to do this!
Also: I forgot to mention above, but I'll be going through discogs in order so I can hear each artist's progression/regression over time | Pikazilla
05.20.23 | subscribed
I am watching you | Atari
05.20.23 | Loving the resurgence of YC around here lately! Interested to see where things land for you | Koris
05.20.23 | Alright, Ben Dobson era done. I'll be taking a small break to get ready for the Ryan Key albums, as well as to absorb the first two albums a bit more to see if my opinions change at all :] | Sowing
05.20.23 | Your analysis so far is right on par with mine. So you've never heard a full YC album before this list, or only certain popular ones? | Koris
05.20.23 | Never heard a full one at all. Pop-punk was a massive blind spot for me growing up, so I could honestly fill this entire series with bands from that genre if I wanted to
| Sowing
05.20.23 | That's so interesting considering pop punk was literally everywhere in YC's heyday, but I suppose it also depends on your age. I'm big time jealous that you get to hear all this for the first time, but I'm also wondering if some of the magic will be lost without the nostalgia factor. | Koris
05.20.23 | "I'm big time jealous that you get to hear all this for the first time, but I'm also wondering if some of the magic will be lost without the nostalgia factor."
It's funny that you say that, because it's EXACTLY what I was thinking as well. It's a bit of a double-edged sword for sure. But at the same time... if I listen to these albums now, they can eventually become nostalgic for me later down the line ;]
Anyway, I'm 28, so I grew up with the Hot Topic era rather than the original wave of bands. But even then, I was still more into the metal side of Hot Topic than the pop-punk side - jamming stuff like Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium, Carnifex, As I Lay Dying, etc. Still, once in a while, bands like Paramore and MCR would slip through the cracks and make it into my rotation as well | Sowing
05.20.23 | When I was in high school it was all about American Idiot, Ocean Avenue, & Hot Fuss (for me personally, anyway). College was when I really expanded my horizons and discovered Thrice, Brand New, mewithoutYou, etc. | Koris
05.21.23 | I definitely expanded my horizons in college too, but in my case I started getting into softer genres. A lot more folk, indie rock, new age, and jazz. I'm always going to thank Ghost by Devin Townsend for that, as it was the record that really opened those floodgates for me. Up until then, I was almost exclusively into prog and metal music | unclereich
05.21.23 | My (yellowcard) struggle | Koris
05.21.23 | ^ Yellowkampf confirmed??? | Storm In A Teacup
05.21.23 | The fuxk is q yellowcaes | Koris
05.23.23 | Updated. I'm really excited to get to Ocean Avenue, considering how many people praise it on here | Sowing
05.23.23 | All your descriptions so far are spot on. | Koris
05.24.23 | Yeah, seems like the discog is gradually getting better and better :] | Koris
06.14.23 | Been a little preoccupied lately, but I'll get back on this as soon as I can | Atari
06.15.23 | Can’t wait for your life to improve after jamming Paper Walls | porcupinetheater
06.15.23 | Can't imagine trying to discog Yellowcard without the thickest nostalgia goggles |
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