Saves the Day
Stay What You Are


4.5
superb

Review

by Christopher Y. USER (50 Reviews)
July 7th, 2018 | 13 replies


Release Date: 2001 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A perfectly penned diary that many teens can relate to.

Emo Classics Series: Episode IX

In this series, I’ve previously discussed various kinds of Emo landmark that emerged from the 2000s, ranging from acoustic delight (Dashboard Confessional’s The Places You Have Come…), straight-up riff-heavy pop-punk classics (Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American and Paramore’s Riot!) to political statements (Thursday’s Full Collapse), bloodshed diaries (The Used’s self-titled album and My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers…) and stormy melodramas (Brand New’s The Devil and God… and Taking Back Sunday’s Tell All Your Friends). This time, I decided to take a look on an album that is more stripped-down pop-punk, yet still exhibits every single essence of an Emo classic, and that album is none other than Saves The Day’s breakthrough album, Stay What You Are, as it contains various topics to offer, from interpersonal relationship issues, social commentary to universal anthems and diary lyrics, all the while remaining the true essence of punk.

This album has much to offer. For instance, vocalist Chris Conley presents emotional poems about romantic issues that many teenagers can relate to. With his boyish vocals and exquisite lyrics, Conley sings songs about your romantic issues, from drunk hookups (the honeyed “Firefly”) to problematic romantic relationships (“Freakish”, the sing-along highlight “Jukebox Breakdown” and the satiric crown jewel “Nightingale”) and the aftermath of the breakup (“Certain Tragedy”) that is eligible to be in your diary, it shows that describing romantic issues in a song is nothing wrong per se, it just requires very well-crafted lyrics to flourish them. With lines such as the confronting “And all you want from me is a broken heart” (from “Jukebox Breakdown”) and the sardonic “And I hope your majesty that you like your position” (from “Nightingale”), you will either feel being related to your own romantic breakdown and burst into tears or feeling guilty for being responsible on the downfall of the relationship, all the while being astounded by Conley’s simple yet clever songwriting and headbang at the punchy punk rhythm of the songs.

Meanwhile, Conley showed himself capable of penning universal themes in this album, evident in songs such as “Cars & Calories” and “This Is Not an Exit”. The organ-laden former of which is more of a social commentary on celebrity culture, where Conley sings petrifying lines such as “Her life was magazines and faithful TV screens”, “Living out all her dreams” and the chorus “And it took bites out of her insides /’Til she was just a hollow shell”, helps listeners realise such toxic phenomena isn’t just consuming them back financially, but mentally as well; the similarly sunny latter, on the other hand, is an anthem for living your life to the fullest, as Conley sings empowering lyrics such as “Tonight will be the night that we begin to ease the plugs out of the dam” and “And as the curtain falls, just know you did it all /The best that you knew how and you can hear them cheering now”, it proves that uprising anthems don’t have to be just the lame “you are who you are” and “you can do it” message, while proving the gentle telling that doing your own best and let go your past burden can also be a good material as well. With luminous delivery and razor-sharp lyrics, Conley really showed what universal songs are in the punk-pop genre.

But, Conley himself is also capable of penning darker themes as well, with songs such as the suicidal lament “All I’m Losing Is Me” and the dead friend elegies “As Your Ghost Takes Flight” and “At Your Funeral”, showcased these significance. In the first song, Conley described himself being in a waste dump, while described some tar on his mouth and a piece of glass on his back, and speaking to his friend that he or she can watch him disappear in this world, which is perhaps a horrifying metaphor for him to die; the second one, on the other hand, is perhaps a letter to his friend who struggled with heroin addiction, where he morbidly mourns that he should bring a hammer and some spikes to nail the friends’ body on the wall and mentioned that he would drink the friend’s blood, showing that Saves The Day have already constructed darkly morbid themes beautifully accessible before MCR made it; the last one is perhaps a cherry on the cake among the tracks and the most well-known song in their catalog, where he was warning the same friend to realise the drug addiction is doing him no good(“If I flooded out your house, do you think you'd make it out❓/Or would you burn up before the water filled your lungs❓”), and trying to help him from such misery as a very good friend, evident in the chorus line, “And at your funeral I will sing the requiem /I’d offer you my hand /It would hurt too much to watch you die”. Even though the themes in this songs are macabre enough to raise eyebrows, the band seems to turn them into poppy sing-alongs and allow many to relate to these themes with very little effort, while cementing Conley himself as a gifted lyricist.

Even though there are no weak songwriting in this album, there are, unfortunately, flaws in the album that cannot be unseen. In fact, the album is a bit too songwriting-based that the songs lacked the powerful background sound and the bigger sing-along hooks to complement the emotional lyrics. Sure, there’s nothing wrong to have a Ramones-like stripped punk sound per se, and the fact that the band already shifted their style from being power-chord based to a more intricate compositions, but in the Emo scene, having an explosive dynamic and powerful pop hooks are almost quintessential in the genre itself. However, this can also serve as the silver lining for some serious listeners, as they can simply focus on Conley’s highly refined lyrics and his youthful and honeyed vocals, instead of being distracted by the pounding guitars like some contemporaries do, while singing the lyrics without being conscious about it.

In short, this album may lack the explosive pop hooks like most peers deliver, but with the superbly honest, clever and vivid lyrics, relatable themes and the pitch perfect vocal delivery, Stay What You Are is nonetheless the benchmark of punk-pop and even the Emo genre. It’s a shame that Saves The Day could not attain commercial heights like some peers such as JEW did, because this album showcased every bona fide of the punk pop genre just like Bleed American did bar the powerful pop hooks, and set the base for future generations to replicate their formula. If you want an album for you to snug into a corner to listen to and get emotional instead of blasting it for you to jump around, then this album is for you.



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user ratings (725)
4.2
excellent
other reviews of this album
Athom EMERITUS (4.5)
Tonight will be the night that we begin to ease the plugs out of the dam....

Brady Hayes (4.5)
Saves the Day's best release, and a huge milestone in the history of Pop Punk....

The_One (5)
...



Comments:Add a Comment 
SherlockChris9021
July 7th 2018


222 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Hi guys, this is the ninth episode of the Emo classics series. Like the review of Riot!, I notice that this may qualify more of a pop punk album, instead of an actual Emo album, so please feel free to give constructive criticisms on this review, whether is it related to the category of the album or not.



Oh, I would also like to reveal in the next review series, there will be negative reviews in it, as I find myself being tired of giving praise consecutively. I will reveal what the series' theme in the next episode of this series, a.k.a., the last one. Moreover, the albums that I would review in the series will be more diverse in terms of genres.

Atari
Staff Reviewer
July 7th 2018


28009 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

sweet

Sowing
Moderator
July 7th 2018


44522 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Very nice write up. I'd personally axe the "in this series I've covered..." stuff, because someone following this link from a search engine has no idea what you've been up to, but otherwise gold descriptions here. Also, I prefer ?to the question mark character you use, mainly because it's red and looks goofy.



Am I missing out on something if I love pop-punk and have never listened to an entire Saves the Day album?

onionbubs
July 7th 2018


22190 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

you’re missing out on this for sure

Iamthe Nightstars
July 7th 2018


2986 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Seriously, why do Chris's vocals sound so much better on this album compared to the others? I used to think it was a different singer forever ago.

Sowing
Moderator
July 7th 2018


44522 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Testing the waters now. Yeah, I remember his voice being super nasally and annoying. Doesn't sound so bad on the opener thus far. Kind of like Ryan Key a little.

SherlockChris9021
July 8th 2018


222 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Well, there is a code glitch in this website if you do know, so I had to use the emoji question mark instead of a real one, so the ? would not turn into ".

cold
July 9th 2018


6735 Comments


I love this band so much and it saddens me that they fell off so hard.

Sowing
Moderator
July 9th 2018


44522 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

No I gotcha, was just recommending a different special character that I think looks less cartoon-like. That was all.

Edit - and now with that said, your question mark looks a lot better on my phone than it did on my PC. Eh whatever I guess, lol.

onionbubs
July 9th 2018


22190 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

i don’t really come back to this too much anymore outside of freakish but god damn that’s a classic song

cold
July 9th 2018


6735 Comments


Whatttttt, this whole album rips hard. Same with Through Being Cool

onionbubs
July 9th 2018


22190 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

dont get me wrong this (and through being cool and sorta in reviere and sound the alarm) rule i just don’t come back to them that often

cold
July 9th 2018


6735 Comments


I love In Reverie, I remember how hated it was when it came out. It's nice to see it's garnered some love throughout the years. This thread actually got me on a Saves The Day kick today, I'm Sorry I'm Leaving is such an absolute banger.



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