finger eleven - Them VS. You VS. Me
Although I have been waiting for this album for quite a while, before I even heard the first single on the radio, I didn’t have very high expectations of it. I mean — how could I? I bought their last, self-titled album the very minute I could get my hands on it. It was that album that really brought their drastic, albeit gradual, change into the light. I liked the album, but it was just a lot different, and not what I wanted.
At first listen it certainly has the unique finger eleven sound that you’d expect. The catch is, however, that it’s just not as unique as it used to be. That is, not as unique as it could be. To me, they’ve gone from releasing some really musically interesting albums, to just being another radio-hit band. One listen to something like “Talking to the Walls” on this album really proves my point. There is absolutely nothing interesting about that track to me… it simply sounds like any other calculated pop-alt-rock tune you can find anywhere else. This is really disappointing.
That’s not to say the whole album is so bad. There are a few songs I could appreciate that are more to the finger eleven I hope for. “Lost My Way” and “So-So Suicide” were pretty rockin’ all around, but I still feel like they weren’t trying to experiment as much as they used to be or could’ve been. And while I don’t care much for their ocean-of-lighters acoustic-ish tracks, “Change the World” was really great. This is especially true in comparison to “Window Song” which made me want to physically scratch the track right off the CD. “I’m the biggest fan of cliches” indeed, Scott
I didn’t care much for the single, “Paralyzer”, either, but as I listened to it a bit more I’ve learned to like it — at least a little bit.
All in all, as an always-returning finger eleven fan, the album was a bit sporadic for me. Some stuff I liked, some stuff I didn’t, and the rest didn’t really make an impression on me either way. But hey, if nothing else, I really truly like the album art.
And since we’re on finger eleven… as much as I like Sean’s bass lines and his amazingly impressive contribution to the songs, why does he always look so disinterested in playing with the band? I’ve noticed this from the few music videos and the live DVD from the last album. I just thought I’d ask.
March 6th, 2007 at 6:43 am
Whilst I was hoping that the first “Them vs You vs Me” review I found would be a glowing 10/10, I gotta say I agree with your review completely. ‘And while I don’t care much for their ocean-of-lighters acoustic-ish tracks, “Change the World” was really great’ - I feel exactly the same, I love that track even though the other similar tracks are far from my taste, “Talking to the Walls” is really quite horrible, and I don’t like “Window Song” either. “Lost My Way” and “So-So Suicide” are among my favourites here too. I think Paralyzer is pretty good for a single, and I like Falling On too. I haven’t got the CD yet (went into town to buy it this morning but i guess it isn’t out here in the UK yet) but I like what I’ve seen of the album art, the cover looks cool.
March 7th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
[…] it’s been about 4 years since the last finger eleven album. unfortunately it’s not the same finger eleven. i’m still listening to the album but it’s clear why wikipedia added pop rock as one of their genres. andrew freiday posted up a pretty good review of the album, and as i’m listening to some older finger eleven tracks all i have to say about the new album is “WEAKSAUCE!” […]
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:27 am
[…] it’s been about 4 years since the last finger eleven album. unfortunately it’s not the same finger eleven. i’m still listening to the album but it’s clear why wikipedia added pop rock as one of their genres. andrew freiday posted up a pretty good review of the album, and as i’m listening to some older finger eleven tracks all i have to say about the new album is “WEAKSAUCE!” the amazon reviews aren’t so good either. boo. […]