Thursday, June 11, 2009

"A Shipwreck in the Sand" is More of a Salvage

Let me be the first to say, I love all Silverstein albums. However as the band has progressed, they have experimented a little more and more each album, and get a more and more definitive sound with each album produced. This band is definitely one of the best at producing what music they feel like producing, and Shane does an amazing job of writing about what he feels.

When I first heard When Broken Is Easily Fixed, it was easy to say I was in love. I believe that album did not leave my car cd player for over 2 months. Within the first week I knew every song and sang along loudly. That album seemed to fuse all aspects of music that I liked, and still do. The correct timing of screams with vocals, heavy and light riffs, etc, beautiful.

So when their next album "Discovering the Waterfont" came out, I was excited, and learned that whole album within a week as well. I can't say that the album didn't leave my cd player, but most of my favorite songs come from that album, including "Call It Karma" and "My Heroine" and for the longest time "Smile in Your Sleep" was my favorite song, until "My Heroine" grew even more on me.

Needless to say, when I found out that Arrivals and Departures was in the making, I was pumped. "If You Could See Into My Soul" was an excellent song. However, I felt like I didn't connect with a lot of songs on the album, and it made me less interested. The instrumentals on a lot of songs didn't appeal to me either. I am not saying I don't like this album, but it definitely got the least play time out of all of them.

Now, when "A Shipwreck In The Sand" was announced, again, I found myself salivating at hearing Shane boast his amazing vocals. The single "Broken Stars" was an amazing single in my opinion with some classic Silverstein signature in which the screaming is powerful and kicks in at the end, when, in my opinion, the passion of the song is strongest.

So when I first gave the album a listen, the first three songs were signature Silverstein, and I loved the guest vocals on "Vices". I was a big fan of on "18 Candles" album how Shane had WiL from Aiden guest sing in "Bleeds No More" and thought that they should definitely have more guest vocals.

Over the next couple of tracks, the album takes a little bit of a lighter turn. Still as passionate, and still sending a great message as do the other songs. Shane did a great job writing so that the emotional connection to the songs could be felt. Then, the album takes a heavy turn once again for a couple songs.

Those few songs in the middle of the album come out of no where with a powerful punch. I give a lot of credit to a band who has never really had a breakdown per-se in a song, into having two in an album. I am not saying they were very moving breakdowns, but they were good. When I first heard them, my heart lept out of my chest. I would love to see Silverstein produce a couple more heavier songs like this...maybe even a bit heavier.

The final songs in the album end the album nicely. I don't feel like there should have been more songs added, or that some songs should have been taken out. The album was the perfect length and no song made the album awkward. The album flows nicely together, and its not too heavy, its not too light, the vocals don't have "whiney" parts, nor do they have too deep of vocal parts.

This album for me, reasserted why Silverstein is my favorite band. They again showed their progression and ability to write and produce amazing music.





















Album: 9 out of 10 zings.

Message to Band: Keep on doing what you're doing. I love Shane's ability to write, I respect everyone else's ability to play amazingly (Billy, Josh, Paul, Neil). Stay true to yourselves, and I will always love you guys, and so will your fans.

No comments:

Post a Comment