What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of what a Midtown album will sound like? If you are like me, then you are more apt to believe that you can expect another album in the vein of heinous pop music like New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, and The Starting Line. I had put off listening to this album for quite a few days, until finally I broke down, and decided to give it a try. According to the press release this is a new Midtown, all grown up, which I thought was just useless propaganda by their record company to get me to listen to the new record. After releasing two albums on Drive-Thru records, Midtown made the jump to Columbia records. I have never owned a Midtown album, but the songs I had heard from the band were the typical so called "pop-punk" songs that have plagued the airwaves as of late.
When I first popped it in, I thought that I was hearing a well-produced Anti-Flag, not Midtown. The album starts out with "Armageddon...." a forty seven second instrumental which leads into the first track of the album, "To My Savior" with gang vocals shouting, "So hard to believe what your looking for." The record moves on with "Give It Up" and "Is It Me? Is It True?" which are reminiscent of older Midtown but with more of a rock feel.
The album comes to a halt with another instrumental entitled, "God Is Dead" before the album picks back up, with "Whole New World." In "Empty Like the Ocean", Midtown is able to display a different side to the band--where the break down is just keyboards and drums. The vocals sing, "Dance until the sweat forms on your face."
"Manhattan" starts out softly with just the guitar picking and the vocals gently singing, "I can't believe anything every years the same chew me up and spit me out again" before the piano and strings come in, leading into the rest of the band.
For older fans of the band, they haven't completely alienated their old sound, they have just built on it. With tracks like "So Long As We Keep Our Bodies Numb We're Safe", there is still the same element of the previous Midtown, but with some changes like a grand piano breakdown in the middle of the song, before picking it back up, and it doesn't sound out of place.
The production on this album is what you can expect from a major release, but it still captures the energy and the passion of the band without losing its edge. For many bands, moving on to a major label can spell death, for others they seem to flourish. This is a brave album that is both unpredictable and impressive. It is a collection of rock anthems that are not perfect, but are surprisingly good.
3/4
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2001Student RickSoundtrack for a Generation
