About one year after Blindside was cut from Elektra, Blindside released The Great Depression. Blindside releasedThe Great Depression fairly early, considering they released their previous album only a year ago. The title seems very depressing, althought not all the music is, the lyrical content is mostly dark. Christian's lyrics are very deep and moving , the music may sound good, but is not complicated or that challenging for almost any musician. The strongest part of the album musically are the percussion. All of that aside, this is one of my favourite albums of all time, because the lyrics are so deep.
The Great Depression: This is more of the intro then an actual song, there isn't anything that special about it, but it's pretty poetic. Christian talks fo a minute and a half, I usually skip this. I dont think this should be rated.
This Is A Heartattack: The song starts off with a very electronic type of guitar riff, this part of the riff actually came from a whole techno type song made by Simon. Christian starts singing with distortion, it sounds very quiet, with a slight pause, Christian comes back screaming. My favourite piece of lyric from the song has to be"And I've been searching for a heart that won't get old.." There is quite a beat change when it transfers into the bridge, but does so smoothly. The bridge almost drags on a little too long, they end the song with the chorus. This song is a very appropriate opener to the album. 4/5
Ask Me Now: One of the best tracks on the album, opens up very softly with a nice bass line as the intro. This song's lyrics are very story like, and I love that in a song. The chorus is pretty much the opposite of the verse. The verse is almost talking, then goes into the pre-chorus where there is singing, and then in the chorus there are long notes held. The drumming in this song is probably the strongest in the album, the guitar is steady, nothing mind-blowing.The bridge goes very soft, and distorted with pretty much all instruments at rest except the bass. This is a truly great song, nothing to different, but still a great song. 4.5/5
We're All Gonna Die: This song is one of those mediocre songs, that are good to listen occasionally and don't really stand out or you remember. It is a very stable song, but just not all that good. It is one of the heavier songs on the album. Christian sings the verse in the transition of singing and screaming, which he does occasionally and I would think to be quite difficult. The chorus is screamed at the end of the descent track. 3/5
Yemkela: One of the most emotional songs on the album if not the most, this song goes back to A Thought Crushed My Mind days. This is about a boy who had AIDS named Yemkela, his mother died and his dad was gone. Most people have 1000 T-Cells, if you have 200 you have AIDS, and Yemkela had 20. The song itself is a little repetitive, but you can't really stop listening to it. It ends with a piano part that transitions into Put Back The Stars. 4.5/5
Put Back The Stars: This song starts out very calm, with a very slow intro building up to the guitar and soon after the singing begins. This song is probably the best song vocally. It isn't beautiful, but the transitons between screaming and singing are very good. The drums are yet again strong, the guitar has improved in parts, it is a bit simple, you cannot notice the bass. The music is sort of ignored and overshadowed by the singing. 4.5/5
Fell In Love With The Game: The first and most likely only single for this album, the most interesting and probably the best video Blindside's ever done. It starts off almost explosively, the intro is nice and short and gets to the singing quickly.The verses are probably the best part of the song with the short choppy notes, then the longer ones. The chorus is pretty good not anthing amazingly catchy, but serves it's purpose. The bridge is a nice screaming bridge and very aggressive.The guitar is not at it's best, but very close to. 4/5
City Lights: Starts out with a nice riff, Christian comes in with some soft singing, once again the lyrics are amazing and story like. I almost expected some screaming to come in, and I was actually happy it didn't, it actually sounds nice. The chorus sounds a little etchy when he hits the high notes. The ending of the song is very nice, when he almost yells " You chose me to stay". At first, when he holds the last long note it sounds awful, but as he holds it sounds better and better. After a few listens it isn't as painful, this is probably the softest song on the album and definitely not the best. 3.5/5
We Are To Follow: Very quick to get to the verse, and also very quick to get the chorus. The verse is sort of soft, and so is the beginning of the chorus. Near the end of the chorus there is some screaming, this song gets a little boring, until about the end of the second chorus where it goes into the bridge. This one of my favourite songs on the album, because it's one of the heaviest. 4/5
You Must Be Bleeding Under Your Eyelids: One of the worst songs on the album, it's a very slow song. The music is very boring during the verse, and it feels like it takes forever to get to the chorus. Christian's voice sounds very whiny, and nasal. The bridge has to be the heaviest part. The only good part of the song is the featured singer, although you can barely hear him, he harmonizes well with Christian. 2.5/5
My Alibi: This is by far the worst song on the album, I don't know why they even put it on. His voice gets very annoying, and the song gets repetitive. The techno part is alright, I guess at the end. 1/5
Come To Rest (Hesychia): Starts a little slow, then drums come in, Chritian screams, then a cat gets run over by a car. Oh wait, that's the guest singer, what the hell is that guy doing? He ruined a song that could have been great, and pretty much drowned out Christian's vocals that were actually sounding very good. If you ignore the earsplitting guest artist, this song is actually pretty good. The chorus is by far the best part of the song, because you don't have to listen to that guy screaming. 2.5/5
This Time: It's not the best song on the album, but it's my favourite song on the album, because of the beat of the song. It's one of the slowest songs on the album, but still great. It's sung very nicely by Christian, with nice background vocals as well. With each chorus he increases the strength of his voice, and it sounds better and better. During the bridge, the highlight has to be the bass line, although you can't hear it that well. 4/5
When I Remember: This is a very appropriate closer track, but it's not the best song. This song is obviously very emotional, and is why it's an appropriate closer. The song is very slow, until he hits the chorus for a second time. The song is also very descriptive " A cloud moves in/Thunder strikes...". The best part of the song is when Christian screams "So wash my eyes, my clothes, my skin, my soul, my feet , my love". The album ends very appropriately with "I fell sunshine in the rain". 4/5
This is an excellent album overall, but could have done without a few tracks, I find were not needed. I found it to be Blindside's most experimental album, some was good and some was bad. Blindside has shifted towards the more emo type of music then their previous rock/punk, although some songs stick to their roots. The album stays depressed without getting you depressed listening to it.
