Review Summary: The Question: Where were you when I was...
This review is pt. 1 of a 3 part "miniseries" of albums that literally became the soundtracks to the biggest emotional spirals of my life.
For every trying time in a person's life, there is at least one thing that later comes to embody every feeling and thought that went through that persons head throughout that period. That thing might be a person, a specific location, a painting, an album, or a multitude of other things. For me, that one thing happened to be The Question. On August 5th, 2005, I purchased this album from the FYE at my local mall, completely unaware that this album would start to become the proverbial soundtrack to one of the most hellish periods of my life in less than 24 hours. The album was a recommendation from my now ex-girlfriend, with whom I had been in a relationship for about eight months at the time. The next two years entailed a multitude of breakups and fights that were mainly caused by the fact that we lived approximately 1,000 miles apart. She was also bipolar/manic depressive, so that didn't help much either. On the night of August 6th, during the middle of So Cold I Could See My Breath, we broke up for the first time. I won't go into detail about the fight, but it lasted for almost the duration of the album, finally ending around the middle of In A Win, Win Situation. In fact, the first thing I remember hearing after hanging up the phone was the first verse...
"There's only telephone calls in the afternoon/Stretching through a thousand walls/So I'll pray/For words to say/To make these miles disappear". Of course, I immediately started sobbing uncontrollably, and then restarted the album.
From the opening of So Cold I Could See My Breath, the album connected with me on a level that nothing else had previously. Maybe it was just because I was in an extremely vulnerable emotional state and anything could have connected with me at that point, or it could have been that the album would have connected with me in such a way regardless of my emotional vulnerability, but either way, I still feel that the album captures a lot of the struggles that most young people deal with in a nearly flawless manner. Whether it be the struggles of long distance relationships in In A Win, Win Situation, the questioning of religion in Listening To Freddie Mercury, or the painfulness of a separation as portrayed in Returning The Smile You've Had From The Start, every song here contains a personal narrative about struggle that is easily relate able to almost anybody that has gone through the same things, and they manage to do so without jamming in a lofty and unnecessary concept (The Question itself
is a bit of a concept but its doubtful many listeners notice the layout of the songs and themes in relation to it). However, the lyrical themes and concepts presented aren't the only thing that contribute to the emotional impact and worth of the album.
The music fits the lyrical themes in every song like a glove for the most part, by either matching the lyrics in force and intensity, like the breakdown-esque riffs in Returning The Smile You've Had From The Start and the mixtures of fluidity and staccato bursts in Studying Politics, or by being almost playfully ironic like the airy beats and bubbly synthesizers at the end of Listening To Freddy Mercury. The music might not be technically jaw dropping, but every instrument is used in a way that conveys the overall feeling portrayed in the lyrics. The most interesting aspect of the instruments themselves would be the fact that Emery employs the use of three guitarists, something that has turned into somewhat of a handicap for other bands (Hawthorne Heights anyone?). Whereas most bands with three guitarists could clearly do without the superfluous third man that always plods along with the same melody as the other two, Emery makes the third guitarist an almost essential part of their sound by either using one guitar to create an atmosphere under the normal dual guitar work, or to provide the rhythm track while the other two carry on harmony duties.
The vocals are perhaps the most noteworthy and recognized aspect of the bands sound, and for good reason. The melodic vocals, while they don't necessarily posses an overwhelming range, are delivered in a very emotive and controlled manner, and the harsh vocals are mainly only used when absolutely necessary. The melodic and harsh vocals are often used simultaneously, but what makes them slightly different is the fact that they are usually saying two different things that convey different aspects of the lyrical theme. The climax at the end of Returning The Smile You've Had From The Start is a perfect example, as the melodic vocals convey a more mournful feeling throughout, while the screamed vocals in the background convey a more angry aspect of the songs overall feeling. Another thing that I've found interesting about the vocals after countless listens is the fact that the clean vocals are only harmonized at points where a certain line needs to be stressed (but not to the point where a scream is needed), rather than just being harmonized for the sake of harmonizing, and while this might not be a new and completely innovative technique (in fact it almost seems like something that should be done without thought), it definitely gives the album a more coherent and focused feel to it throughout.
While most will probably merely write this off as just another album in the rapidly expanding post-hardcore scene, to do so would be to overlook what has become, in my mind, one of the standout records of the genre in recent years. At face value, the album probably does seem like nothing more than a very enjoyable release from just another post-hardcore band, but if you really spend time with it and dig a little bit deeper than what is found on the surface, I'm almost certain you can find at least one track on this album that in some way will connect with a previous personal struggle. The album might not necessarily be a masterpiece of modern post-hardcore, but the execution of the emotional aspects of the lyrical themes and concepts put this at least a step above the countless other albums of the genre released in the same period of time.
