Believe all the negative stuff you have heard about Senses Fail, they can't sing, they can't play their instruments, and there live performances are disappointing. But this is the case for most bands in the mainstream today, but this are the one people seem to pick out and pick on. But the album itself is insanely catchy but has a lack of staying power.
What is Senses Fail [genre wise]? I describe them as I said above as Pop-Punk, it's kind of the 2004-2005 popular mix of singing and background screams every once in a while. This usually annoys me but since Senses Fail lean towards the Pop-Punk side more than the Post-Hardcore side on this album it makes it an enjoyable album for me. The band has really improved since that dreadful EP which seemed like it was made in two days with trash vocals and even worst instrumental work. The instrumental work and vocals haven't got any better but at least this time they fit the beat and aren't forced as much. Overall, you can see that this pop-punk band is making steps towards improvement from album to album, which could lead to an amazingly good new album from this band.
So what makes Senses Fail keep from making another horrible album? Well as I pointed out above the band has improved there instruments and vocals just enough to make a great album. Also the song writing is incredibly original for a pop-punk band that is mainstream and it doesn't seem to relationship based. And when it is such as "Rum Is For Drinking, Not For Burning", it isn't in a soft form, which most relationship songs are it comes at you with intensity and a bit of catchiness mixed in. And I like this bands screaming a lot better than other groups such as under OATH. "Let It Enfold You", is an unbelievable song, since it has more than 1 beat and a nice breakdown. This shows you the progression this band is making were they can change the sound and the mood of there songs, there is no way they would have been able to do this on the first EP. So overall the band has improved in a lot of places, which makes this a more listener-friendly and fun album.
But sometimes Senses Fail old habits come back to bite them in the backside. "Buried A Lie and Slow Dance" seemed to be forced [like many songs on the old EP] and feature some of the worst instrumental work on the album. On "Buried A Lie" the chorus is repeated a lot and the repetitiveness makes it only good for an occasional listen. I love when the band rocks out but "Slow Dance", seems to go on a limb kind of like "Stephen" on the EP and has a slow and a beat that seems like it is building to something and it never does just a high note that is dreadfully done by the lead singer. So, we can tell by this to be successful the band has to do hard songs and not force anything.
The band made a lot of key improvements on this album, the vocals are a lot less annoying, the instruments seem to fit the vocals, and even the live performance should be a little bit more well rounded. With a lot of good songs and some not as good one's this surprise of 2005 for me for a band that I previously hated. What an impressive album and lets hope the next effort is even better.
Key Songs:
NJ Falls Into The Atlantic- the songwriting hear is impressive and there is even a distorted sort of guitar solo towards the end. And Senses Fail is also catchy and this one is one of the catchiest of the album.
Let It Enfold You- This is one of the best pop-punk songs of 2005; it has tons of different parts a great breakdown that brings self-pity into acceptable form. My favorite song from the album.
Rum Is For Drinking, Not Burning- This song is very fast paced and features a great amount of catchiness to go along with that aggressive beat I mentioned before. Another highlight from the album and a good choice for a single.
Pros:
Improvement is everywhere
Very catchy
Mature song writing
Cons:
Some times go back to the habit of "The Depths Of Dreams EP"
Staying Power
