Review Summary: The album is a masterpiece, but not as a whole.
Upon the very first listen, I fell in love with
Cities. The 2007 masterpiece from Anberlin mixed powerful lyrics with an original set of atmospheric sounds that pushed it into becoming a modern-sensation. Truthfully, the album is quite the kicker; in that it relies on immersing it's audience fully on an emotional-level, which it does (for the most part). However,
Cities is only a masterpiece because of the bursts of brilliance it has in certain songs, and not in it's entirety.
"Godspeed" was a great choice to start out with because it builds up a fun and rebellious atmosphere right off the bat through it's energetic guitar work and joyfully-empowering vocals. With its lyrics, the song works as very strong motivation for young people (especially during its awesome chorus):
"They lied / When they said the good die young / Stay with me / Stay with me tonight". Unfortunately, certain songs on this record fail to grasp such inspiring lyrics directly. "Reclusion" is quite possibly the weakest song in Anberlin's library. Featuring a shmaltzy opening involving the lyrics
"Don't try to wake me up / Even if the sun really does come out tomorrow / Don't believe anything you say anymore / In the morn- / In the morning" and the absolute inability to move to any sort of exciting conclusion, "Reclusion" sits like a stone in an otherwise enjoyable album.
With that said, and that's the lowest to be said, there's not too much to complain about with this album. As I previously stated, it succeeds in being original with its atmospheric sounds, and yet the band goes one step beyond with its storytelling, tragic lyrics. "(*Fin)" is something of a modern-masterpiece in that emotional-depth of this kind has rarely been tapped by anyone inside the industry. Anberlin succeeds in a subtle, but rising, score during its movement towards the end over lead vocalist Stephen Christian's haunting delivery of such powerful lyrics during it's opening 3 minute acoustic-session with the story of a Patron Saint who makes ones faith disappear
"more like a magician and less like a man of the cloth".... The song is truthfully heartbreaking.
It's strangely odd what Anberlin can do so amazingly well on a much focused track like "(*Fin)" and yet feel completely uninspired on tracks that act as aggressive filler-material. "A Whisper & A Clamor", "There Is No Mathematics To Love", "Hello Alone", "Alexithymia" are all songs that are only somewhat good, yet lack the power of a track like "(*Fin)" or even a much smaller track like "Godspeed". "Hello Alone" sounds like it should have been an acoustic track right off the bat because it opens with simple lines that are some of the easiest to picture on the record:
"Is this where the interstate ends?
In coastal towns like this.
Waiting for my world to cave under.
We seem to invent ourselves (we seem to invent ourselves).
In the places left unknown.
If hope could only find me out."
...But it instead decides to be a catchy/energetic/upbeat/generic song with awfully-piercing vocals, that don't work in conjunction with the lyrics at all, as well as obnoxiously upbeat drum kicks and guitar strums right before the mediocre chorus ("Is anybody out there? / Hello! Alone!"), where it's difficult to differ between the words "Hello!" and "Alone!". The song could have been a lot more tolerable if it had been in a far-less upbeat arrangement, as I find the band works best with its quieter tracks, "The Unwinding Cable Car" is a perfect example of this. Relying solely on its creative writing, the track shows what could have been with "Hello Alone" and what could have helped in making a more entertaining mid-section with one less generic track.
Yes, the record does suffer from the tedious mid-section, but it does have its own fair share of outstanding tracks that more than make-up for it. "The Unwinding Cable Car", as well as the final three tracks, put amazing display on the band's wonderful ability to write memorable and beautiful lyrics. Every single time I listen to "Inevitable", I want to punch Hollywood in the face for not making more epic love-stories with real originality and clarity (like 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind').
"Do you remember when we were just kids,
And cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss?
Schoolyard conversations taken to heart,
And laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not."
Without such inspiring tracks as "Inevitable", this would have easily been a forgettable album... but a well-intended one at that.
