Review Summary: Musically brilliant, but lyrically exhausting.
First of all, "Collide With the Sky" is by far the best album Pierce the Veil has ever made. With numerous catchy hooks, intelligent songwriting, and a unique sound, there's something for everybody to love. If there's anything that "Collide With the Sky" has taught me, it's that an album's positives can also be its negatives. Allow me to explain:
Lets start by taking a look at the positives I mentioned before: catchy hooks, intelligent songwriting, and a unique sound.
To begin, there's nothing wrong with the catchy hooks, as they're easily one of the best qualities of the album. The breakdowns and riffs, such as the ones in "Bulls in the Bronx" and "The First Punch" are amazingly done. In fact, all of the instrumentals are masterful. Though the drums and guitar are the easy standouts, there isn't a single song off the record with poorly done instrumentals. "Collide With the Sky's" production is well done too, as it never seemed like any instrument or band member was too powerful compared to the rest.
As I stated before, the songwriting is intelligently done, and many songs tell a story that's easy to understand after only a few listens. Songs like "Hold On Till May" and "Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears" and some of Pierce the Veil's best work ever, mostly because of the beautiful songwriting. However, the songwriting, which is one of the album's best qualities, is also one of its biggest flaws. Sure the lyrics are well written, but Pierce the Veil seems a little TOO determined to save lives, and it shows with "Collide With the Sky's" multiple, sometimes random references to suicide/self-harm/depression/death. As you might imagine, this can become quite exhausting to listen to once you begin to understand the lyrics better. And given that over half the songs on the album have references to these things, you begin to wonder if Pierce the Veil really has good intentions, or if their intentions are a little more exploitive.
As long as Pierce the Veil has been together, they've maintained a very unique sound, mostly because lead vocalist Vic Fuentes has such a unique voice. They've also experimented with infusing mariachi influences into their post-hardcore sound, which no band (at least to my knowledge) has ever done before. For example, the breakdown in "Bulls in the Bronx" has a very noticeable mariachi sound to it. Much like the songwriting though, Pierce the Veil's unique sound is one of the album's greatest accomplishments and biggest flaws at the same time. There are a handful of songs that seem calm at first listen, but the tone is ruined by sporadic screaming with seemingly no build-up. Songs like "Props & Mayhem" and "One Hundred Sleepless Nights" are a perfect example of this.
Overall, if you can look past the depressing, recurring themes of the songwriting and the occasional out-of-place screaming, than you'll likely enjoy "Collide With the Sky." Even though the album has its flaws, the masterful instrumentals are more than enough to save the album from having a negative score. I applaud Pierce the Veil for what they've accomplished, but there are still areas for them to improve upon.
Highlight Songs: King For A Day, Hold On Till May, Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears
yeah I agree, this is their best album, but that's not saying much. This album has a few great songs (Hell Above, Bulls in the Bronx) but the rest are just plain dull. King For a Day is easily the worst track, mainly because of Kellins dreadful vocals
