So Sweet.[/b]
Not many bands would put an acoustic as the first track to an album, but the Early November did, and did it well.
The song opens with ace almost whispering "I just found a friend" at the same time as he plays a soft chord. This song also introduces a Musical Orchestra, which appear on most of the other acoustic songs. This adds power to the song, and fits amazingly well with Ace's vocals.
Ace's vocals come of really well, allowing you to feel the emotion he has while he wrote/sang this song. At the end of the song, it has a strange sound effect which continues straight into the next song
4.5/5
Something That Produces Results.
This is the first full band song on the album. It carries on from the strange noise at the end of the last song; ad goes straight into a chorus.
After the fast paced intro, the song is quick to slow down. Ace's voice also calms down as the verse begins. Soon after, the screeching guitar comes in and it goes fast and distorted again. It's a nice mix, it's been done several times by other bands, but not quite so drastically, which makes this song an ideal single to get them noticed.
4.5/5
The Mountain Range In My Living Room.
Everything kicks in at once, vocals included, as this song starts.
Nice little intro, not to complicated, with the two guitars doing different, but simple, things. Then the chorus begins. Ace's voice screams the vocals "it's never been hard to fall, there's nothing to grab, and that's all I want to hold onto". You can sense the emotion being put behind the lyrics, and along with the guitar, it goes together perfectly. The song then slows down, and has an interlude where some random people are talking about them selves along to some quite guitar, it last just about the right amount of time before you would become bored with it, and a chorus kicks in, followed by the ending of the song, which is pretty much Ace singing "ohhhh, oh oh ohhhh oh" over the chorus.
4/5
Sesame, Smeshame.
Song starts of with just a lightly distorted guitar playing a simple riff. Then all the other instruments start playing. After once or twice, ace starts sing. I like the lyrics to this song "the actors, who play our friends", there just simple and you can relate to it a lot. Unfortunately, this song is kind of boring compared to the first 3 songs, but it's still a good song, none the less.
3.5/5
Baby Blue
Starts of very quietly, with Ace singing, and a guitar playing in the background. Once it's stopped, the drums kick in, followed by guitar and bass. Ace's voice shines on this song, great melody, and great to sing along to. It has nice random lead guitar in places, but there not to much and go with the song.
4.5/5
The Course of Human Life.
Starts of with a quit guitar playing the same tune over and over again, then a lead part comes in, you'd think the song would be slow, but your mistaken.
What follows is all instruments coming in, the heavy distortion of the guitar adds an edge to the song, followed by a verse, with some of the best lyrics on the CD "it caught us by surprise, it always waits, till the timing is right", you can really feel what Ace is writing about on this, it can relate to so many people. Then the chorus comes, and it doesn't fail to keep the song going well. All in all, this is probably my favourite song on the album, I can relate to it on so many levels you wouldn't believe. Some of my friends don't like the song, but some do, I guess it's one of the songs where you have to understand what's going on, you have to have been though what he is singing about.
5/5
Dinner At The Money Table.
Starts of with a violin playing, and then Ace starts playing his acoustic. The songs very mellow and laid back, you can really relax to this song. What I like about this song, is that it sounds like he has just gone into his bedroom, wrote down what he is feeling, and put guitar to it, within the space of 15 minutes. Still, with this in mind, the song isn't one of the best, but I do have a soft spot for it. I love the lyrics and Ace's voice.
3.5/5
Exchanging Two Hundred.
Beings with a simple guitar riff, followed by the bass, drums and another guitar.
The songs verse is really slow, but still really good. It then picks up a little, with lead being played faster, and then it slows down again. Then the chorus kicks in, ace screaming "everything, you wanted, you got it", after this, the verse starts again, the same format as before, followed by the chorus again.
At the end, there is about an instrumental which last for about one minute, it has some weird sounds thrown in, but it's nice to just sit back and listen to.
4/5
My Sleep Pattern Changed.
The last acoustic on the album, it doesn't disappoint. It has a nice, soft guitar playing in the background of Ace's vocals. After about 30 seconds, ace starts singing "na na na na na na" softly, normal, I don't like when bands/artists do this, as it seems they just couldn't be bothered writing lyrics, but Ace does it for about 10 seconds softly, and with a break in the intro, it didn't have to be put in, but sounds good enough.
Then the rest of the band come in, this song is the full band acoustic, and it's done so well. Nice and soft, not to much, not to little.
4.5/5
Fluxy.
A guitar starts of playing a simple lead riff, followed by rhythm. A fast intro, followed by an acceptable chorus. This song isn't so bad, but definitely the weakest on the album. Kenny from the Starting Line features as guest vocals for a verse, which adds something to it. Still, not enough to make it as good as the rest of the CD so far.
2.5/5
Everything's Too Cold But You're So Hot.
Guitar starts playing softly, Ace's voice kicks In with a light echo, which is nice.
It's one of those songs where you really have to listen to the lyrics, or you wont get into it. It has a chorus, but it's been written so you can't really notice what's coming, you are feeling totally relaxed while listening to it, after half way through, it gets a tiny bit faster and louder, but you might not even notice. This song has about four or five minutes of child relaxed verse and chorus. The guitar kind of picks up a little towards the end of this, with a semi fast riff, it then stops, into silence for a second, and caries on into the chorus slow again. You then hear a sound effect, followed by Ace screaming the lyrics to the song, with one guitar following the path of his vocals, and another just playing the same as it has throughout the song. The ending with Ace's vocals is amazing, you can feel every ounce of emotion being poured into this song, truly one of the best songs on the album. Also, it's the perfect song to have said "thanks for listening to our CD, hope you liked it, goodbye, the end" it's been picked so well for that.
5/5
Over all, i love this CD, it's one of the best CD's i own, every song on it is enjoyable and something new. I love Ace Enders Vocals, they feel well suited to the bands music. although one or two songs are quite weak, the rest of the album makes up for it. great buy.
final verdict: 5/5
