When i first bought this album i didn't really know what to expect, i had only heard one song off it at the time, and didn't know anything about the band at all, but it came with a bonus cd so i just had to buy it. To be hone3st the first time i listned i thought it was pretty bad, just your average pop rock band trying to be a little experiemntal but failing. But upon a second and third listen i realised this album was much better than i first thought.
SONG REVIEWS
1. We Can Have It - The perfect opening to an album, this song starts with a warm, clean guitar riff accompanied by some nice, touching vocals. It then turns into one of the most touching compositions i have ever heard. The fantastic drum beat kicks in and you're off on a journey into the heart and soul of Murray Lightburn. The vocals in this song are just brilliant, they are so personal... "Somewhere is the one that never will, burn out is out, their looking for a heart, looking for a home, looking for a hand to stroke his head. You're not alone, you're not alone...". Murray Lightburn deserves a medal for these lyrics alone.
5/5
2. Who Are We, Defenders Of The Universe? - Following 'we can have it' this song seems a bit weak, and light hearted at first. But after a couple of listens the chorus lyrics ("I can help you, you can help me") just get planted in your head, and you realise this song is pretty darn good. Based around some nice guitar work, this song flows well, but can get slightly broing at times.
4/5
3. Lost In The Plot - Possibly one of my favourite pop/rock songs ever made, but its hard to say. Once again Lightburn's lyrics in this song are just amazing.. "Leave me in the middle of the ocean, I can walk the rest of the way, and I promise not to cry anymore" and "It's the same old plot to these things". The song can be put into three sections, the first being the cool intro and having a heavier, touching, dramatic feel to it. Then it goes into a more light hearted 'groovy' verse, which then transforms into an almost angry finale. A fantastic song from start to finish.
5/5
4. The Second Part - From here on in the album loses its touch for me. The second part is the beginning of the end for this album, give or take. This acoustic number is hard to listen to, and can get boring. There are some nice bits in it and some cool lyrics like "I then arrived, 10 minutes early with no smokes, and i was broke, without a smoke". The end of this song is cool, but i usually give into the temptation to skip it before it gets there.
3/5
5. Don't Loose The Faith - A happier, brighter song than the first four, this song is catchy but it lacks something. It's a bit too straight forward, and the chorus is a bit weak and indifferent from the verses.
2.5/5
6. Expect The Worst/Cos' she's A Tourist - This song starts with a very dramatic piece of violin playing, followed by some creepy lyrics, and added tension from the drums coming in. Then it all stops for Lightburn to scream "My heart is aching, my back is breaking!" and it then goes into the same thing as before but this time more frantic and some almost opera like singing in the back ground.... quite dramatic actually. It then stops again for Lightburn to announce, "so you decided on old school..". After this announcment this song turns into a slow, dream like, lovable song with a lot of ambient noises in the back ground. There are some excellent bits in this song but its too all over the place, and can drag on.
3.5/5
7. Pinned Together, Falling Apart - this song starts with a minute of noise that would turn the sanest person insane. But after that it turns into a quite nice bass line, then joined by the rest of the band. Once again Lightburns lyrics are the stand out "I had been terrified, by the thought of losing you". The song builds up, and builds up for what seems like ages, then Lightburn explodes into some great 'No, no no!!!"'s, accompanied by a cool sounding guitar solo.
3.5/5
8. Never Destroy Us - Another acoustic number, but this time with a bit more feeling and rhythm to it. This song can be danced to quite easily, and the verses are extremely cool, with some awesome harmonies..."What do you say that we go down together and try to find out all the answers?" Then after the verse a few solo's take place, and then lightburn starts chanting "never destroy us". This song is really cool, fun and serious at the same time. The ending is pretty weird.
4.5/5
9. Warm And Sunny Days - The guitaring at the start of this song catches your attention immediately, and when the drums start you are sure you're in for another good song. And you aren't wrong, this is another really 'groovy' song. Held together by a repetetive guitar riff, and a some good bass playing. The chorus is of particular good quality.
4/5
10. 22: The Death Of All The Romance - This song starts well, with some nice lyrics, and a touching first chorus. But after a while this song drags out and gets rather boring. It does get a bit more exciting in the second chorus, and the instrumental ending is pretty good, with an inspirational trumpet solo, but the song as a whole lacks something.
3.5/5
11. Postcard From Purgatory - the drum line at the start of this song is quite daunting,a nd its made no less scary with the feedback coming from a guitar and an equally as scary bass line. This song builds up for a long time, and does get repetetive and boring, but if you are patient the song reaches an amazing climax. The drumming along with the guitaring in this song are astounding. At the very end of this song the song slows into a really cool heavy rock kind of sound, i like it alot.
3.5/5
12. No Cities Left - Starting with a nice piece of plucky guitaring, followed soon after by a full sounding, technical drum beat this song starts off well, like many of the other songs on this album. And once again lightburns lryics are a stand out feature. But again the song does get repetetive for a while, until everything stops for ligthburn's final prayer "Lets just keep fighting the end of the world. We will hold hands and make plans for life..." the song them turns into a faster, rockier, fuller sound than ever previously experienced in the album. It's a perfect ending to a weird but still nice album.
4/5
Overall this album is very hard to listen to from start to finish. No doubt it has some brilliant songs on it like, 'we can have it', 'lost in the plot' and 'never destroy us' but it lacks originality in every song. They end up all sounding very similar to each other, even to the point where you can't remember what piece of musid goes with what name. Aside from that though, the music and especially the vocals on this album are brilliant. It was worth the money just for thr vocals alone.
