Release Date: September 2007
Label: Victory Records
Now i know there's already a review on Colors, and while I do think jackhammer did a fine job reviewing it, I'd thought I'd share my own views on what I consider one of my favorite albums and one that I think everyone should hear.
One of the most interesting things about Colors is the fact that it's one large continous piece of music; where one song ends is where the next begins, and so on. With 8 songs, and a total of 64 minutes, this isn't something that you can just listen to a bit; you have to experience the entire thing. Half of the songs boast 8 minute plus epics that go everywhere musically. The entire band has their spotlight on here, with the guitars, vocals, keys, bass and drums getting their just due. Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring are are a great guitar duo, where Dustie provides a great foundation and atmospheric feelings to the songs, Paul spins a web of guitar acrobatics that one can only describe as astonishing. Dan Briggs' bass is all over the place and in yo' face(yeah), with sleeper style attacks that lead up to his true moment in the sun. Blake Richardson is a bombastic drummer, with just sweet fills and parts that incorporate different styles in his repitoire. Then there's Tommy Giles Rogers Jr, the little guy with the massive voice. His singing can go from brutal to angelic, and while not the best keyboardist, he adds subtle touches in the mix. Also noteworthy is his lyrical work on the songs. If you think that the lyrics are just mindless dribble, you're sadly mistaken, because each song has a specific meaning and a "designated color", both of which you can check out here:
Between The Buried And Me Album Trailer : Colors : In Stores September 18
I feel that these guys did something special, not only for their genre, but music as a whole. Sure, there may be some parts that seem rehashed and cliche, i'll admit, but in a genre like theirs, this is a breath of fresh air. This is something that you may have to listen to a few times to really digest cause of all the stuff that's going on, but once you do, you'll discover things you missed the first time around. In all, even if you don't find anything that special about Colors or don't get all the hype around it, it's still one hell of a ride.
10/10
Foam Born Pt.A: The Backtrack-A soft, lonely piano starts off the album in a song reminiscent of something by Queen. Then the rest of the band comes in and starts to tear sh*t up. This is a pure introduction, kicking off the album. Both this song and Pt.B are designated the color
Orange. Both part A and B have the same theme:
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Foam Born: the idea of being born again in many different forms (gas, liquids, and solids). This song is about growing old and realizing the most important things in your life. Even though the world gives you many ups and downs, you have to keep waiting to find what truly makes you happy. I use some imagery such as waves pushing me to an isolated island where it's just me and my thoughts (the environment I tried to mentally be in when writing this record).
This song also speaks of the horrible writers block I get every time we write a new record...the older I get, the happier and more peaceful I seem to be (the idea I spoke about before)... and the more peaceful I become the harder it is for me to write about negative aspects of life (something I've always written about in the past). The end of this song is basically saying thanks to all of those who enjoy the music and lyrics we create with each record. A lot of bands take their lives for granted and forget that they are here because of their fans. Thank you.
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Foam Born Pt.B: The Decade of Statues-This songs sounds a bit more like a standard Between the Buried and Me song, a bit tried, but true. In the middle is a pretty unusual interude that makes it all just better. One part I enjoy here is the chorus of "It's a must these days, Colors are fading", possibly an inspiration for some ideas of the album.
Informal Gluttony-This is the
Green song. It starts of with a middle eastern vibe that's basically my favorite part of the song.
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This song is about rebuilding our lives as individuals and as an entire society.
Some themes in the song:
“Construction paper traffic”: the idea of building cities with paper… trying to find a child like mood in all the bull**** we create as adults.
“Clock tower”: living our lives by a 9 to 5 mindset… constant routines.
“Wrinkle free clients of doom”: being the perfect model of a beautiful human being.
“All you can eat trumpet”: food consumption taking over our lives.
“Corner office tubes”: living as mice.
“Feed me fear”: we are a scared nation..
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Sun of Nothing-The drums blast in and so does this song. There are various parts here that'll have you making a double take with your ears, like "wtf was that??". It's color is
Yellow, and imo is one of their most meaningful songs.
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This song is about a man that gets tired of his life. He decides the only natural way to rid himself of this world is to fly to the sun and burn his body. He builds a rocket ship (he has already been named the “spaceman” in his town) and starts his journey. The song is the thought process during his voyage towards death. He evaluates all the different aspects of his life and towards the end realizes he had it better than most. He has regret but there’s no turning back cause he is already floating towards the sun.
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i see this song as being about regret and appreciating what you have in life
Ants of the Sky-This is my favorite song on the cd and a highly charged 13 minute epic. It's no wonder why it's color is
Red. I see this as their instrumentation and riffology coming into play, with parts that'd make an accomplished musician question his career. The only thing I don't really like that much is the change 1 minute 23 seconds in; seems a bit cheesy to me.
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I wrote this song in an airport. When I listen to music on my headphones, I like to watch the world work and think about what every single person is doing that day. This song is about each one of us creating our own itinerary and flying through our life on one big vacation. Trying to find happiness, perfection, and love.
It’s a “bloody, bumpy” road for most, and others it’s a wonderful journey. We fly away from our problems and towards our solutions (at least what we think are our solutions). We are the ants of the sky...aka the walking dead.
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Prequel to the Sequel-One of the best opening riffs EVER, and I mean EVER!!!!!! But yeah, it's pretty good. It charges in after that, and while it's only 8 minutes, compared to some of the other songs, it sounds like a 10 minute plus oddessey. This song has a guest singer; the vocalist of Fear Before helping out at some parts, and he does a good job, especially near the end. This is the
Turquiose song,
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This song is a story about the beginning of time (prequel) and its life building up till its demise (the sequel… also know as ‘lost perfection” from the “silent circus”). I chose the idea of a lady (mother nature) creating a headless person (the earth) and that person living amongst three lovers (humans). Branches grow from its headless neck and create nutrients for the world to enjoy.
It talks of its life and how everyone soon took all of it qualities for granted. Taking all it nutrients and natural elements and wilting the tree into the ground. Slowly bringing all life to its end.
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Viridian-The calm before the storm. This is Briggs' moment to shine that I alluded to earlier, a 2 minute bass solo with the rest of the band providing a good atmospheric backing. The color is
Viridian (big surprise, huh?), which the band described as
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a blue-green pigment… we felt it really fit the mood of the song.
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Near the end you feel a buildup of distortion and then.....
White Walls-BOOM! The song drives in and hits you in the nuts. For a song called White Walls, you'd never think it was designated
Purple. Go figure.
Quote:
This song is about growing as a band and as individual musicians. I wrote this song after we did Ozzfest (also known as a big metal talent show). The music business really shows how stagnant and boring popular music is. Everyone tries to sound and look the way they are supposed to in order to “get big”. Obviously all bands aren’t like this… but it seems that more and more people are starting bands to become rock stars, not because they love music.
This song is about growing and realizing what you need to do in order to make yourself happy in music… cause when its all said and done, this is what people hear when we die. When I started playing music it was a blank canvas (white walls) and this journey I’ve lived so far are the paintings that will be seen when I die.
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I feel that they wanted to create a magnum opus with this piece. Not only is it the longest song on here(a whopping 14 minutes), but it also harks back to the previous songs not only on this album, but also from other songs they've made. At first listen you may miss some important parts; I know I did, so it may take a few listens to really get entirely what's happening. The solo at the end is (I can't use this word enough) flippin EPIIIIC. Then, after all is said and done, it ends the way it began, with a soft, lonely piano.