Review Summary: If you want honest music, about frustrations that normal people face and are a fan of the emo, screamo, or even hardcore, then you must listen to this.
This is my first review, and I've chosen one of my favorite albums because:
a. i want to share my thoughts with this to everyone
b. nobody has reviewed it yet.
This being the first and only review thus far, an introduction is in order.
The band at the the time of this recording to the day they broke up consisted of:
Jason Rosenthal - Guitar and Vocals
Lou Fontana - Guitar
Tom Orza - Bass
Chris Enriquez
On the Might of Princes hail from Long Island, New York. Most people would probably associate Long Island emo with acts like Taking Back Sunday or Brand New, so if your expecting to hear some catchy pop punk songs, it's probably best you pass on this. This is a raw album, and I mean this in many (good) ways.
To start off with, the song writing is very, very personal. The vocals consist of small quietly sung songs and roars from Jason. If your not a fan of this quiet/loud vocal aesthetic, give it a listen anyway. The instrumentation in my opinion is very tight. It consist of light, melodic parts, with all players contributing to a deep rich harmony. They also get into typical chording and octaves found in this genre, usually just to highlight the vocals in a "chorus" like fashion. I won't call them a light band though. They have hardcore roots, and they fans of bands like
Kill your Idols and various other bands like
Fugazi,
Bad Brians,
Drive Like Jehu and it'll show. Often times they'll change from the light melodic passages to more intense parts.
The other way it's raw is in production. It's hard for me to put into words, but you can tell when you hear it. I find it a charm for this album.
Starting with
The Water vs. The Anchor, you get introduced to just how emotional the band is. It's not like broken heart/cheating girlfriends type of emotionality, it's real regret.
"I wish i can take back every drunken night selfishly keeping myself distant and doubtful, and basically and asshole"
It's not profound, but it's honest. Listening through the album, you'll find they like to be upfront with everything, and not waste time on metaphors.
And The Hat Stays On start a tense yet quiet intro and build itself up. In this song, and throughout most of the album, you'll hear Tom's bass playing clearly, driving the song in front of Chris's drumming. The rhythm section is tight, but how all of the members contribute that make the song.
If I Knew Numbers starts off nice and light, and if your familiar with their past work, sounds like it could be off the A Making of A Conversation. It's a nice song overall, but from you'll need to listen through it all since it changes up.
Caboose came from an acoustic song off their last album and I find it quite deep as it goes along. It sets it's mood quite well.
Old Wives Tale is an unusual song for me. It starts with a bass line before the guitars come in to supplement. It also get's very fast and it sets the pace for the rest of the song. It's got a very heavy feel to it. It also feature some shouting from Tom (or Lou, i really don't know), and get's back into the heavy but melodic feel.
An Allusion to Italy is one of my favorite songs, mostly because it seems out of place on this album. It's a nice acoustic song, complete with banjo playing. Jason's vocals show some strength here. Overall, it's a beautifully written song. From here, i feel the album splits. The next song
As Long as She Doesn't' Smoke i've heard refered as some
Texas is the Reason ripoff (although it may not have been in a bad way). It's a nice song, it doesn't build up like the others, so it stays mellow.
13 Cheers for Beer and Bull*** compliments the last track, and it doesn't build up to such as degree as the first half of the album either.
You can only be so careful brings back the sudden intensity found on the earlier tracks, and goes through the change ups like before, and includes more layered vocals like before. This is a great song in my opinion. It also really shows the heavier influences i mentioned from before. Lou really shows off his skills here.
The last track
For Meg can best be described as epic. It starts off with some dialog from "welcome back roxy carmichael" i guess as a joke or reference to the song itself. The song is light and mellow, soothing even. The vocals are light, but still have that rough edge. It's a very truthful song, and if you've ever seen them live, this song gets the best reaction. When the group vocals come out, it's almost hypnotic, and you can notice the instruments dropping out behind it. Then like a kick in the face, it comes back in full force. Jason roars through the song, and from then on, it doesn't slow down. The lyrics are straightforward and meaningful. It mellows out in the usual fashion, and builds up with more force. It goes for a few measures, then breaks into another part, then goes back even stronger. The song continous to build, and gets louder and louder and louder.
and then it stops.
If you have a copy of the reissue, then you'll be treated to a rare track called
Hell or High Water which came off a compilation from their old record label Traffic Violation. The song drips with intensity (i know i use this word a lot) but it doesn't quiet down like the other songs. The next track would be a different version of
And the Hat Stays on, one i personally like better. And concluded with a live version of
The Water vs. The Anchor
