Album: Days of the New II
Artist: Days of the New
Genre: Post-Grunge
Suggested by: aux-in
Familiarity: I've definitely seen the album cover before, but I don't believe I've heard any of it. I'm actually getting pretty hyped for this one.
1. Flight Response - Horses, definitely. Got some super weird acoustic guitars coming in. The bass and drums close off the rhythm section. The vocalist sounds very southern. This is super atmospheric. Wow, the way they layer the various instruments is awesome. I'm absolutely loving this album so far.
2. The Real - The acoustic intro is great. Yeah, the textures are still here. The harmonies in the chorus vocals are awesome, and so are the various instrumental solos towards the end. This album is a very strange combination of folk, alternative and soft rock. It's absolutely awesome. The ending is also cool.
3. Enemy - This one sounds almost industrial at the start. The acoustic guitars epicly contrast with the dancy beat. This is really cool. It's at once very human and innocent, as well as mechanic and dark. Like the last song, it has a small acoustic outro, that isn't really related to the song, but still fits in nicely.
4. Weapon & the Wound - This one feels like a Tool song except with acoustic guitars, but once it gets to the chorus, it starts to feel a bit like butt rock. However, it feels like the better butt rock. The violins are awesome towards the end of this one. I still really like it.
5. Skeleton Key - The intro is pretty experimental, which is alright. It's better once the other instruments come in. This one is more like some sort of tribal music than rock. Very synthy. It's still really good.
6. Take Me Back Then - Yeah, this really feels like butt-rock. Like, in the vain of Nickelback and all that. Definitely got that "grunge, but more radio-friendly" feel that popularized these bands. Of course, the acoustic rock influences help to diversify Days of the New. Imagine a Foo Fighters song, except replace the electric guitar parts with acoustic guitar parts. Add a fiddle, and you've rpetty much got this song. It's still good, but not as good as some of the others.
7. Bring Yourself - I love the female vocals that hail the beginning of this song. However, most of this one feels basically like a butt rock song. Trademark violin parts and all. It does mellow out on the butt-rock by the end, and ends up as some good old post-grunge. It ends with some folky nonsense vocals.
8. I Think - Woah, this one is pretty heavy. A bit of alternative metal influences are definitely blended in here somewhere. I think (hehe) that it's all acoustic guitars, but it gets really heavy in this one. It's another one sort of in the vein of Tool. This song is like a summary of the late 90s in rock, and it's awesome.
9. Longfellow - Weird synthy stuff going on here. More tribal music, except combine it with The Ape of Naples first track. So, just imagine you're sailing along on the sea, and you encounter a jungle island, and you explore it, except you're actually acting in an 80s documentary. This is the music that's playing. No vocals on this one, I should mention.
10. (Untitled) - This is really frickin' weird. Sounds like a guy screaming in reverse. All we need is some helicopter noises constantly running in the background. and you could convince me it's Merzbow. This is some scary sh*t. It's like, what the **** is even happening.
11. Phobics of Tragedy - It starts by playing the first few measures backwards, presumably to transtition from the last song to this one. This one feels a bit more acoustic, and it's definitely a lot less butt rock. Which, of course, is awesome. It's really just cool stuff all the way through. At the end it gets reversed again. Awesome.
12. Not the Same - No, you are the same! Yeah, pretty much more of what's described above. A bit more butt rock in this one, but it's still really good.
13. Provider - Another awesome acoustic intro. This one is a lot folkier and more atmospheric. Wow, it's really good. The acoustic bass takes center stage here. With all the layering, it's easy to forget that all of this is purely acoustic. Lyrics are a bit repetitive, to alk about them at least once here. However, I have to say that the lyrics are really not what you should be focusing on anyways. There's an awesome brass section at the end that layers over the rest of the instruments. It's just an overall excellent and textured song. Sends chills down my spine.
14. Last One - Another tribal intro, perhaps a bit creepier. Then it transitions into the main song. This one smells suspiciously of butt rock, but it doesn't go full throttle, so I'll give it a pass. Setting that aside, it's pretty much just a stand-up ending track, no strings attached. Cool.
I have to say that there's not really anything inherently wrong with this one. If you like bands like Nickelback or Creed, you're pretty much guaranteed to love this album. But if you hate butt rock, check it out anyways. It's not all bad, and if you're into 90s rock in general, you'll probably like it anyways. This album is like a musical crossroads, so there's probably something for every taste. If you like folk, you may also enjoy it. If you're into jazz, you could even get into the complicated acoustic bass lines. There's even some tribal parts mixed in. The whole album treads the line between cheese and genuine goodness. It does a pretty good job, but some of the cheese definitely leaks through, so it'll have a slightly dimished rating. However, beyond that, it's a creative and awesome album.
OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10