and i just actually thought their cd was one of the better ones i had received for review… cars suck.
Bayside drummer John “Beatz” Holohan was killed in a tragic accident this morning while the band drove to the next stop on the ongoing Never Sleep Again tour.
The van the band was travelling in flipped when it hit a patch of ice outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Bassist Nick Ghanbarian was also seriously injured and remains under observation at the hospital along with member’s of the band’s crew.
As a result, the next stop on the tour in Salt Lake City, Utah has been cancelled and a decision will soon be made as to the future of the tour.
A memorial fund has been established in John’s name, and donations can be made here.
Our deepest condolences go out to John’s family, bandmates and friends.
source: punknews.org
also, i just saw this on tv. how sad is that…
ooooh… how nifty is that:
…this stuff on my playlist. i fixed and improved the playlist feature which now works with just a 5sec delay. wohoo. things the world doesn’t need…
…i put a list of my albums online - incl. playlists. its w/o vinyl at the moment and not 100% finished. if you are interested in one of the albums, just drop me a line.
this must be a mistake! a hardcore release from victory? oh - my bad - should have checked the band info: it’s “metal core” these days. socal dudes on a Midwestern label reflecting “their love of east coast hardcore”. what a mix. the east coast hardcore influence is obvious and as far as i am concerned never wrong. unfortunately they also can’t abstain from slow dream-theater-like parts. guitars need to drive the beat and vocals need to be angry. don’t tell me any different. but I’ve come to terms with this as a widespread core-disease in the new millennium. scars of tomorrow make up for the shortcomings with some nice mosh parts and a bunch of ass kicking jugga-jugga rhythms that could be straight from the killswitch engage boys. speaking of co-ops: to whom it may concern, Alex atreyu does some additional vocals on one of the tracks.
lyrics: nothing i would want to elaborate on a whole lot in this case. abstract and sometimes borderline critical - i would not suggest to get this release if you are looking for poetic enlightenment. should you look for some new tunes to practice dance-moves to and rid aggressions with, count on my subscription for this anytime.
4.0 out of 5
skulls: always good. a bonus point goes out to the band for something i have not been able to figure out if it’s a gimmick or a mistake (i assume the first is true): each page of the booklet lists the section-id and the fonts used - i like silly stuff like that. all around it is a rather simple artwork, dark and abstract but not annoying.
3.0 out of 5
total: 3.5 out of 5
NY reprezent. bayside have been around for a while now and made a little mark on releases like the jawbreaker tribute a couple of years ago. the vocals are still reminiscent of Chris Conley and some of the musical influence comes from bands across the emo and punk genre such as old jimmy eat world or . concerning how many “emo” et al. releases have been flooding my mail box in the last months, bayside somehow manage to stand out and sound somewhat more interesting than most others. it might just be a matter of maturity on the bands side. my personal favorite on the album is “we’ll be OK” - i even enjoy the lyrics on that one “we both got what we want - i got sex, you got fame”. that’s almost brilliant, especially considering that the lyrics all over are my biggest gripe with bayside’s whole act in general. so very dramaesque. give the emo wusses what they want i suppose.
i say, the album has potential. much better than a lot that has been thrown out on the street lately - and maybe a hint to the label, to pre-select a bit more before flooding the market with so much generic crap it hurts.
4.0 out of 5
the artwork is really nothing special. very light, very simple - OK in my opinion but anything but outstanding. but then again - I’d rather take good sound over a pretty packaging.
3.0 out of 5
total: 3.5 out of 5
what is that? i think it has been about 9 years since i bought the last release that sounded like it was somewhere from the vicinity of this on the family tree of music. i suppose that either the European postal service really screwed up this time - in terms of delivery speed - or someone cloned pearl jam and added a shot of Gavin rossdale in the mix - voilà, now you got sunburn (no pun intended). the band presents itself a bit more serious than they should be taken. image-wise sunburn wants to present themselves as an alternative alternative to creed & co - “anti categorization”. that doesn’t really work all to well. “PostModernNuNeoGrungeRock” the promo info says. disagreed. there is nothing new, special or innovative about sunburn that hasn’t been done in the 1990s yet. still, i would actually not be all to surprised to see the 5 Germans (easy to guess - lyrically anyways) as a support act for a post-grunge band we see in the charts here and there. also there is a (i suspect unintentional) faux pas in the album title. in case i missed the artistic point of that i apologize in advance.
bottom line: not my thing at all - acceptable for kiddies who missed the early to mid 90s.
1.0 out of 5
i am a sucker for digi packs. also for monochromatic and round designs. before i popped in the CD i really expected more from the music. on the one hand, the artwork is neat, on the other hand the content won’t hold the candle to it. 2 minus points: hardly any pictures (and no good ones period) and the missing lyrics drag the artwork performance down.
2.5 out of 5
total: 1.5 out of 5
I’ve hated this the first time i heard it. i like it a bit better now. it’s emo - what can i say. it’s sappy - that’s a given. it’s somewhat catchy. ditto. but these days it just takes more for a band to shine beyond the rest of the emo stars on the emo-night-sky. (notice how i got into the vibe for this review?) lack of originality makes it almost impossible to come up with an original review for such albums these days. to me anyways. so i will cut this pretty short… if MTV recently introduced you to “emo” and you want to make sure you have one of the newest genre releases, or if really think taking back Sunday should crank out new music more frequently: go for it and get this one. otherwise: you aren’t missing out on much.
2.0 out of 5
basically a boring artwork. good ol’ 70s disco font, very spartan. no real booklet - just a little folder. also the info is scaled down to lyrics and a band shot. i do like the cover though. i have no clue what it is supposed to mean, but it’s pretty.
2.5 out of 5
total: 2.0 out of 5
good thing (for aiden) i did not start writing this review right after having listened to their new album “Nightmare Anatomy” immediately after having listened to it for the first time. in short, the first impression was horrible: yet another sappy album, as i had received so many in the past years. i simply left the record aside for a couple of weeks, until it just caught my eye again (so a decent artwork CAN make a difference).
the really annoying thing about this release is, that it just doesn’t seem to have any real depth to it. yes, there are some catchy riffs and singalongs - styles ranging from hardcore to emo (yet again) - still it really doesn’t appeal to me. all over i can’t help but getting the feeling that aiden is the product of something like an “American Idol, the indie edition”-show. don’t get me wrong - they are not the only band that i feel like this about - but in the end i still don’t like it.
all in all i recommend the first track for a nice preview of what the album holds. it’s a bit harder than the average atmosphere of the long player (if possible: the album at times seems more like a compilation of various bands than the release and work of one combo), but also better.
2.0 out of 5
concerning the artwork: i mentioned i liked it. and i didn’t change my opinion while writing the last 2 paragraphs. that is, i like anything that is not occupied by band shots. too bad that two thirds of the booklet (and the back) ARE indeed photos of the culprits. imagine robert smiths first mascara accidents merged with hot topic fashion and you got the look of the band. not like this says much about the artistic quality - in 2005 i think this look is about as innovative and groundbreaking as color tv.
3.0 out of 5
total: 2.0 out of 5