Review Summary: Could have been a great album, but is held back by moments of apathy by Jonny Craig in particular.
Emarosa is a guilty pleasure for me. I've had to defend them to my friends numerous times, and I always say I like them because of their potential. They have many of the ingredients to be a truly unique band in their genre. Their guitar players are interested more in creating textures of sound than waiting for the next one-note breakdown. And of course, they have (well, now had) Jonny Craig, a singer that sounds like he should be in an early 90's new jack swing group a la Jodeci than in a rock band. Their first album with Relativity had moments of brilliance, namely the intro track of the album, The Past Should Stay Dead, starting off with one of Craig's signature soulful growl. That being said, it wasn't anything close to being a cohesive album. It was obvious that the band had written most of the material before Craig came into the fold. But it was a start- a hint of what could be, and left me anticipating what they would sound like when they wrote songs as a full band.
Now, fast forward to their self-titled second release. The band took a purposeful step back (not in a bad way) to let their singer shine. They simplified the arrangements to the usual "verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus". This was actually promising to me, because of the hope that they would finally put together some great, yet simple songs. The only problem was that Jonny Craig didn't fully deliver. While he managed to write some really catchy hooks, they are almost completely balanced out by lethargic half-hearted melody lines that just kind of meander over the music rather than enhance it, relying on some of the same vocal runs he's used over and over again.
The album starts off pretty solid, with two solid songs with infectious hooks. "Pretend.Relive.Regret" may be their best written chorus. After these two songs, it starts trailing off unfortunately. "Share the Sunshine Young Blood" is just plain awkward vocally. Craig never seems to lock in with the band at any point during the song. The next track, "The Truth Hurts..." is not a bad song, but ultimately forgettable. After that is "Live it. Love it. Lust it", by far the worst song on the album, starting off with Craig doing spoken word and dropping a few pointless f-bombs. The next two tracks, "The Game Played Right" and "Broken v. the Way We Were Born" are solid enough, despite a slightly awkward bridge in the latter. "I Still Feel Her Pt. 4" is after that, and while not as bad as the fifth track, has moments that leave you scratching your head, namely the screaming in the bridge section, which really comes out of nowhere for no reason. The album does finish fairly strong with a solid 6/8 rock/pop song, "The Weight of Love Blinds Eyes" and the mellow almost ballad-like "We Are Life" ending it on a pretty good note.
While this album does continue to show the potential of Emarosa, it's no where near what it could have been. Jonny Craig has since been relieved of his duties of vocalist, and this may not be a terrible thing. While he has the talent, he seems to be too in love with his own voice to pay attention to what the band is doing. Hopefully the can find a singer with both skill and passion for the band. Until then, I'll keep defending them based on what they can be.
