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Review Summary: The Illogical Succession to The Flood, but a valiant effort nonetheless. *Here's Some Context*
In the world of breakdowns and catchy clean choruses, the California band of Mice and Men stands above the rest. Their breakdowns are more memorable, and their choruses are catchier. Ex-vocalist and Shane Bourget is one main reason of this; his soaring vocals were a staple on both of their previous albums. However, due to personal problems, he made the decision to leave the band. The Rise Records world was shattered, and no Of Mice and Men fans knew what would happen.
Shayley's departure was an unexpected move, however what was even more unexpected was the impassioned response from the band. The Flood was re-released, and four new songs were included. These were arguably the highest quality songs Of Mice and Men had out out thus far. Abandoning the clean, catchy breakdowns of their two Lps, they embraced a new grimy feeling of chaos. Breakdowns were still a major part of the songs, but they channeled anger instead of fun catchiness.
One would have every reason to believe that this newfound anger would fuel their next release. However, this was not the case. Instead, songs like Public Service Announcement or Glass Hearts reverted to a cleaner approach, similar to what they did on the first release of The Flood. Yes, there is anger, but it's a step back from songs like The Depths or The Flood.
There is progression here, however. Breakdowns are replaced with higher amounts of melody. "Would You Still Be There" borders on radio rock, which some might say is a step in the wrong direction. "Space Enough To Grow" is a poor attempt at giving new singer Aaron Pauley an equivalent of Shayley Bourget's "When You Can't Sleep At Night.
Despite some disappointment, there are some very memorable moments on this album. "Another You" and "Feels Like Forever" balances aggression and melodic principles very efficiently, and Aaron Pauley shows that he is more than willing to step up to the task of replacing Shayley throughout the album. Of Mice and Men have changed their sound and progressed, but definitely not in the way we would have liked.
| other reviews of this album |
Zachery Cotto (3)
You may not see it immediately, and the changes at times may be subtle, but Of Mice & Men ...
metalheadrunner (4)
Strangely refreshing....
lukenagel95 (2.5)
The album lacks passion, it lacks originality, and most importantly it lacks power. All o...
Deuce8311 (3)
Despite losing a key member, Of Mice & Men show they have matured as a band by releasing a...
paradox1216 (3)
Despite lifting much of its sound from last year's Sempiternal, Restoring Force is a compe...
GrimReaper (2.5)
Of Mice & Men does a major genre change that doesn't work out too well, but this album wou...
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First review, sorry about the lack of spacing between some of the paragraphs. That's my bad.
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I'm sorry, but you do not get to have 3 reviews all on the front page one after the other. Post them once a day, otherwise you're simply robbing others of coverage while replacing them with more of your own work
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There's quite a few mistakes here and some of it reads very awkwardly. You even seem to go from calling a guy Shane to Shayley in the next sentence. I'd also avoid writing things like *here's some context*. I'm going to neg, but don't let it discourage you from trying again.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I think Pauley was a great addition to the band, but nothing is ever going to beat 'When you can't sleep at night'. Restoring force was a pleasant surprise to me. This is a great first review though.
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Don't know lol. Sorry I'm brand new to this site, is there a way to edit a review once you post i?
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Not bad for the first review I guess. Just space paragraphs out and type it on word first so you can
spell check and proof read it easier.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
This is sorta ok for a first review, but it's bad by any other standards. You reuse words too much ("catchy" is used in some form four times in the first paragraph alone), pretend to be objective when you're really not and have no obligation to be in a review ("some might say is a step in the wrong direction"), and you don't really explain the opinions you put forth - you say that Space Enough To Grow is a poor version of another song in the bands discog, but you don't give any context as to why that is or what type of songs they are. Since I'm a fan of the band, I already know and I can infer what sort of statement you're making - they're both ballads of a sort and you might think the newer one is uninspired, but I should never have to INFER what you're thinking in a review.
And your last sentence ends on such a negative note contrasted with the overall positivity you're trying to convey (or at least I think you are since you gave it a 3.5). It's definitely your opinion and it should be put in there somewhere, but ending on it the way it's worded just gives me a meh feeling about the music that a 3.5 review shouldn't give me. And you purport to speak for the entire OMAM fanbase by using "we", when you should never do anything of a sort. Also, as others have noted, you should never put in stuff like "*here's some context*". It's insanely obvious that that's the first paragraph's function in this review anyway, and it makes the whole review look unprofessional. Most people around here just disregard the review entirely when they see stuff like that.
Overall though, you do have a lot of potential. You're getting your ideas out, you just are putting them extremely awkwardly. Work on your clarity and writing, and make sure to proofread and reread.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
"When You Can't Sleep At Night.
You forgot the closing quotation mark
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Pretty good for a first review, I'll pos
welcome to the site man
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
This album was average as hell. They totally underused Aaron Pauley.
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Thanks man. And thanks for the constructive criticism, I'll try and improve on my next one.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Sircy41 and DelPaxtonsTheMan?
Are you using alts or something?
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Well I made Sircy41 a while ago and did nothing with it, so I made DelPaxtonsTheMan just to have a new start. My phone defaults to Sircy41; need to get that fixed. Sorry for the confusion.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
lol I was just curious
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my little sister likes this band
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