You'll notice I edited my old impressions of Until It's Gone in the new post and removed some of the over the top praise I had given it before. I've fully admitted to accidentally overhyping UIG before, and have admitted it many times.
Derek: Does this album have an atmosphere to it like ATS does? Does this album have the best overall instrumentation of any album they've ever put out? I've heard so many different things about KTTK, how we will be blown away by it? What about it is giving everyone this effect?
Definitely a stand out track which fans of No Roads Left and The Little Things Give You Away may appreciate. -- I'm glad to see that. No Roads Left is one of my favourite songs. Also, War is definitely the song (from the other half) that I'm most looking forward to hear. Since turtle's review. I really have high hopes for this song. A Line in the Sand looks interesting too.
1. On some tracks, yes. 2. I'd say it's a definite step forward instrumentally for sure. There's a few tracks where Brad in particular really stepped up, and it was pretty satisfying to hear. 3. I'd say KTTK's appeal is just how fast and furious it is for an opener. It's been so normal for the band to have slow burning intros (MTM, ATS) that for something just to come out of the gate like "Hey! Fuck you!" it kinda gets your blood pumping from the very beginning. ATS THP MTM HT LT Meteora ---- THP is practically nipping at ATS's feet on that list for me. I'm just reluctant to place it on top because I want to wait and see how I feel about it in a month after constant listens. I feel ATS is a little bit more creative, but THP scores high for the multiple times on different tracks that it feels different from anything the band has done before in the past. UIG, Wastelands, and GATS really are the weakest tracks on the album. I love them all, but the other tracks really outshine them.
Your reviews are always a great read. I'm really excited to hear War, Final Masquerade, and A Line In The Sand purely from your reviews alone. One question: I've heard Final Masquerade songs like a cinenamatic song. Does it really, in your opinion? If so, what qualities does it have that make it seem that way?
0. Chester sounds like Justin Timberlake on this record. Absolutely. I could see this in a movie. It just has a very dramatic feel to it.
While it's nice you owned up to that, the poster's point still stands. Who's the say the excitment didn't get the best of you when writing this review? I know if I'd be reviewing something I spent months looking forward to and it lived up to even my smallest expectations I'd be hyping it through the roof. This is not an attack or anything, just saying that's how reviews do work (since they are subjective). For example you can be reviewing the best damn Android phone out there and still feel like it's not worth your time since you might be already hyped about the next iPhone. (hope that comparisson makes sense) Anyway thanks for the review, it's nice to know what to expect from the album now. All I'm saying is people should keep the expectations in check following the 3 already released songs.
I admittedly skipped over the 6 tracks from the sampler. No disrespect was intended here. People like what they like, was just saying it appears that so far my opinion and your opinion of what's been released is polar opposite. I desperately hope the trend doesn't continue when I get my hands on the album.
Think War may have surpassed Keys on the hype scale for me.. Also Derek, was the mixing for the rest of the album noticeably 'off' like UIG and Wastelands was?
Btw, Thanks for posting this up before your full review. Extra special thanks for avoiding nonsense buzzwords and trying to keep that delicate balance between colorful writing and actually describing the music.
I feel that I can't really rank their albums, because I enjoy each one for the different sounds they have. My mood and my particular taste in music at that moment makes it hard to really pick my favorite/least favorite album. I'll wait until wednesday evening to give my opinion on THP, although from Derek's review i'm going to enjoy it a lot.
Because I showed it to people who have heard it already and asked them to make sure I wasn't submitting to hyperbole. That I wasn't hyping up tracks that were actually shitty. They agreed with all of my my thoughts and so I felt safe in posting this. I'm not alone in thinking these tracks are fantastic, although admittedly I'm one of the few who currently like War. A few don't. To latch on the review of one track, when I feel my other song reviews have been fairly accurate...is honestly a little unfair imo. Better for sure. I was relieved that for the most part, the shitty mixing was better.