Album Rating: 4.0

Everything you all are describing is how I felt at first, and to some extent, still do. Michael Keaton and St. Jupiter have terrible lyrical choices for their choruses. The album doesn't become exceptional in any way until Mending Song, and I agree with Boney that the best songs are definitely that one, Better Now, and Let Only Love Remain. I would have been happy if he made his own C&L, just a full album in the style of Mending Song. That said, as time wore on, I still became a whole lot more forgiving of some of the bad lyrical moments and the overall pop-rock feel. Ruston Kelly just has this emotional gravity to everything he creates.

man i really wish he didn't peak so early in his career

halloween and dying star are so much better

Album Rating: 4.0

He may never make something as good as Halloween again



I thought S&D > Dying Star however

Album Rating: 2.5

yeah, Halloween was miles better than anything else I've heard from him. may return to that one at some point

Album Rating: 2.0

I actually sort of like the opening track but the album just congeals into a blob of fatty earnestness. Halloween was a fairly good album so it's kinda sad, dude has talent

Album Rating: 3.0

Can't get the chorus of "Michael Keaton" out of my head lol

Album Rating: 4.0

I know that terrible feeling



So catchy but such dumb lyrics lol

Album Rating: 3.0

really makes you think though

Album Rating: 2.0

this is just a black mile to the surface reformatted for a day to remember fans

Album Rating: 4.0

huh?

ya lost me at the adtr part snake

Album Rating: 3.0

I just revisited this album - my takeaways:



1) The butt rock is indeed strong in this one



2) Michael Keaton is a really stupid song, but it might be the catchiest thing I've heard this year

Just saw him live over the weekend, and I was impressed. "The Weakness" went off, as did a lot of the songs from earlier records. I hadn't heard anything from him before so I'm excited to dig into the discog.

The weakness is by far is weakest release.

Album Rating: 2.0

“ya lost me at the adtr part snake”



just sounds like a really wimpy attempt at mid-2000s emo through the lens of a country singer which honestly feels like all of adtr’s non-ez material

Seeing stuff live always helps with weaker albums, I think. He sounded great.

"just sounds like a really wimpy attempt at mid-2000s emo through the lens of a country singer which honestly feels like all of adtr’s non-ez material"

I get what you are saying now, would have chosen a different band than adtr for it, but I get the comparison here.