Review Summary: Chiodos goes a tad dark, but never fails to impress on this release. Craig Owens & Company deliver solidly with this one.
Bone Palace Ballet
as performed by Chiodos.
Chiodos is: (at the release of the album)
Craig Owens: Vocals
Jason Hale: Lead Guitar
Pat McManaman: Rhythm Guitar
Matt Goddard: Bass
Bradley Bell: Keyboards and Backup Vocals
Derrick Frost: Drums
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Chiodos' first album entitled "All's Well That Ends Well" is one of the great post-hardcore stables of my generation, at least. The catchy chugging guitar rhythms mixed with the impressive vocals of Craig Owens tend to leave many stunned, to see the very least. But, after a first album like "All's Well That Ends Well", Chiodos definately couldn't head in the same direction with their music. Take a look around. Certain bands are losing their spunk and continuously release the same music in different packaging and call it new (Hello, A Day to Remember, anyone?). And in the music business, that won't get you far. It just won't. Change is a must for bands, and the fact that Chiodos makes the move decisive on their second release Bone Palace Ballet really makes this one interesting to listen to.
The album kicks off with a powerful and catchy "Is It Progression If a Cannibal Uses a Fork?". The track instantly starts with Owens' deep panting and powerful, borderline whiny vocal techniques. The screams cut in and the guitar harmonies begin as the chorus comes into play. Out of this album, this might have the catchiest chorus, right next to "A Letter from Janelle", perhaps. But, I'm sidetracking. The first track heavily delivers in my book and the production quality of the album is extremely apparent on the opening track, itself. Throughout the album you hear many different techniques and sometimes instruments you wouldn't imagine hearing on a Chiodos record. The swelling of the strings and the makeshift orchestra on "Is It Progression..." are presented in such an interesting, actually, creepy manner.
Another highlight of this album is "A Letter from Janelle" which is a puzzler in some cases. The song might seem out of place on the album, having followed very minor tunes, but it delivers just the same. The song is an obvious love ballad and seems to be a concert stable at this point. Also, after hearing this song, I might even go so far as to say Craig Owens' vocal range might have even increased.
Other notable tracks include the catchy "Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered" and the slowly moving, and serenading, "Lexington". The opening four tracks of this album make this record truely one to beat. But the other half worries me a bit.
The album takes a littler break in my opinion after "Teeth the Size of Piano Keys". The songs lose their spunk, it seems. It's either that or maybe it's possible that a Chiodos record might lose it's touch after a listen through. It's up to the listener at this point. In my eyes, I think the album became repetative, and very slowly moving, and completely predictable. I'm not slamming the songwriting, or the musicianship, but looking at the record as a whole, I think the second half is quite inferior to the first half.
The thing that saved this album for me was the closing track, "The Undertaker's Thirst for Revenge Is Unquenchable". The song starts off with a slam, then followed by bone-shattering screams by Craig Owens, the song becomes an instant favorite and one for the live show. The piano kicks in and I don't mean to backtrack, but I forgot to briefly explain: The use of keys and pianos are quintessential in a Chiodos song. Classics such as "The Words Best Friend Become Redefined" and "There's No Penguins in Alaska" demonstrate this strongly on the first record. But in this song particularly, the keys take they're spot in center-stage for the familiar post-intro keyboard line. The song then chugs along into another powerful chorus and an ending to be remembered. This song can obviously be compared to "The Words Best Friend..."
All in all, Chiodos did it interestingly. Many bands' sophomore releases seem to have a lacking of something, and that's why many sophomore releases seem to be shunned (see Weezer's "Pinkerton"). This is referred as a "Sophomore Slump". My worry about a band at Chiodos' caliber was that they would fall victim to this, as I see bands like A Day to Remember and Dance Gavin Dance are slowly falling into that category. But Chiodos pulled it off on this one. Craig's vocals and the amazing production quality are obvious pluses on this record. But, it falls a bit short on a couple things. Replay value for one. This album is great, but I can't repetatively listen to it. Also, a noteworthy "minus" would be the somewhat generic use of guitar octaves and simple drum beats. This is only apparent to me on the second half of the album, as I previously stated.
Bone Palace Ballet is one for the iPod, but in my opinion, probably not one for the CD shelf. I give it a solid 3.5/5
