Greyson Chance - 8Track - Single [Review]

"8Track" is one of American pop singer Greyson Chance's best songs released this year if not the best, making it, in my opinion, a real shame that it got such a limited release (being exclusive to Spotify which not all fans even use). It has a soft and steady beat and an infectious rhythm especially in its verses such as the opening verse in which he softly sings at a relatively rapid pace, "Still hurting, and I track my tears on the ceiling, but they never drop down, and I'm dreaming. Why? Still calling, and I blame it all on my temper. Keep that 8 track running 'til it's splintered." Not only is the song so emotional and introspective, it also, as previously touched upon, has a very catchy melody and rhythm, making it that much more tragic, in my opinion, that it is exclusive to Spotify. If, like me, for example, you still live in the caveman days of making mix CDs, you are unable - at least legally (and even illegally, it would be a challenge) - to put this on a mix CD since it is not available to download, only stream. Moving on, however, my personal interpretation of the song is that Chance is addressing personal struggles such as depression and music serving as a remedy. It also seems like he might be addressing casual sex as a coping mechanism: "You don't have to stay forever," he sings in the song's chorus. "Be my passion; be my pleasure 'til I'm lost, until I'm lost." He also asks the addressee of the song to "put that needle on that record; play that 8 track 'til it's splintered...," which I think is meant to be a euphemism with more than one meaning. Most of the song is sung in mid-register, but the chorus is sung in falsetto, Greyson once again showcasing his impressive range and vocal ability. I am not sure precisely when this song was written or recorded, but Greyson did release an album earlier this year titled Trophies, and while I did share my frustrations about that in my review of the album as well as in my review of the soon after released standalone single "Overloved," I am now wondering if, given the title of this song, that was intentional. Maybe Trophies is, in part, his proverbial "8 track," and if so, I would feel a lot better about Trophies being so short because that is absolute genius!

Greyson Chance - Overloved - Single [Review]

Earlier this year (in June), American pop musician Greyson Chance released the follow-up to his 2019 album portraits, this one titled Trophies. As a big fan of Greyson, I was excited about a new album being released but was disappointed when the album only ended up including eight tracks, one of which is a very short track at only one minute in length making the release more of an EP than an album. Especially disappointing, however, was the absence of previously promised inclusions such as "Dancing Next to Me," "Honeysuckle," "Bad to Myself," and "Overloved," with the exclusion of "Overloved" probably disappointing me the most because we had not yet heard a studio version of the song. Several months later, however (in September), Chance finally released the song as yet another standalone single, and although I still wish that it had been included on Trophies (especially since that would have made Trophies a more complete work), I am really happy that we finally have a studio version of the song, especially because it's such a beautiful song. "Overloved" is a piano ballad that eventually brings in a steady but soft beat as well as what sounds like a small choir underneath Chance's voice, which stays in mid-range throughout the entirety of the track. It is lyrically pretty straightforward, a love letter to a lover (it's unclear as to whether or not it's about his current boyfriend Ben, given the age of the song) whose touch makes Greyson feel... you guessed it - overloved. It's interesting because I think that this song is the first time that I have seen the word overloved used. The over part implies that it's excessive in a negative way, but he doesn't seem to mean it in a negative way; the lover addressed in the song seems to make Greyson feel blessed, and like "Holy Feeling," in fact, there is a religious reference used in the song when, at the end of the first verse, he sings, "There's a reason why you left your ex at that church. Keep on praying for forgiveness." Since releasing "Overloved," Greyson has released yet another standalone single titled "8Track," but it is unfortunately exclusive to Spotify, and I use YouTube Music. I can't understand a decision like that which alienates a large portion of your fanbase, but here is to hoping that it eventually gets a wider release.

Lana Del Rey - Arcadia - Single [Review]

 

"Arcadia" is the fourth single released from Lana Del Rey's upcoming ninth studio album Blue Banisters, and it is by far my favorite of the four. Preceded by the title track, "Text Book," and "Wildflower Wildfire" (all three of which I reviewed here), "Arcadia" reminds me a great deal of Born to Die's hit "Video Games" and her pre Born to Die demo "Afraid," especially in its melody. As has been typical of much of Lana's music especially since 2019's masterpiece Norman Fucking Rockwell!, the song is a ballad driven by piano, and it features a lot of the same themes that she has been implementing on recent works such as poetry book and spoken word album Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass and Chemtrails over the Country Club - themes such as her love of California (especially the Los Angeles area) and her personifying of it, such as she does on the Violet poem "LA Who Am I to Love You." "Arcadia, Arcadia," Lana addresses the Los Angeles County city in the song's angelic chorus, "all roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries that get the blood flowing straight to the heart of me." The song, in large part because of its aforementioned melodic resemblance to "Video Games" in its verses, makes me feel nostalgic about Lana's old days, reminding me a lot of Born to Die and Paradise. It's such a light and beautiful song, and I am hopeful that it is representative of what most of Blue Banisters has to offer, especially since, as I said, it's definitely my favorite of the four singles so far.

Within Temptation - Shed My Skin - Single [Review]

Following "Entertain You" (reviewed here) and "The Purge" (reviewed here), "Shed My Skin" is very likely the third single from Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation's upcoming eighth studio album (the title and release date of which have not yet been revealed). The song was released on June 25th on an EP that includes the previous two singles as well as instrumentals of all three songs. "Shed My Skin" features Annisokay as a featured artist and begins with low strings (which sound to me like they're likely being played on a cello) and frontwoman Sharon den Adel's powerful vocals (alongside those of Annisokay's Christophe Wieczorek) belting out the song's pre-chorus: "Carry on your fire and raise your head, and everything comes to an end when hearts asunder." The song is definitely a return to form for the band, sounding a lot to me like something one might hear on The Silent Force (2004) or The Heart of Everything (2007), especially since it's heavy and symphonic - with soaring strings and a sweeping choir. Of the three singles released thus far, I think that "Shed My Skin" might be my favorite, as I love how melodically powerful and sonically big that it is, and I think that Annisokay's vocals make for a great addition alongside den Adel's, although I do wonder if the band plans to release another version with just Sharon considering the fact that Wieczorek's vocals were apparently added in after the song had otherwise already been finished. It is lyrically fairly similar to the theme conveyed on "The Purge" - the fact that pain is part of being human and makes us stronger. It can lead us to grow and rise up anew like a phoenix: "Whoa, forgive me," Sharon and Christophe declare in the booming chorus. "Release me. I shed my skin. This pain's awakening what lies deep within." I am really excited about the new album and am hoping for some more concrete news about it soon, although I predict that there will likely be another single or two released before that happens.

Greyson Chance - Trophies [Review]

Trophies is, in actuality, American pop musician Greyson Chance's third studio album following 2011's Hold on 'til the Night and 2019's portraits, although he would probably say that it's his sophomore album, and I totally understand why as even I, in some ways, consider portraits to be his debut album. He did not have full creative control over Hold on 'til the Night and was just a tween who hadn't yet come out as gay, with many of the album's numbers - such as "Heart Like Stone," "Little London Girl," and "Cheyenne" - featuring girls as their subjects. The album therefore isn't authentically Greyson Chance, so I totally understand why he would want to distance himself from it (even though I absolutely adore "Summertrain" and would love to hear him rerecord and/or perform it live now). Moving to discussing Trophies, however, it opens with "Holy Feeling," the album's lead single. Since I already reviewed that song as a single, I won't say too much about it here, although I don't know how I feel about it being the opening track. It doesn't really introduce the album's mood or set the stage like "shut up" does on portraits, and it sounds more like a song that you would hear in the middle or near the end of an album. "Nobody" is the latest song to have a music video released for it. It's a little bit more upbeat than "Holy Feeling" and reminds me so much of a One Direction song when the tempo slightly changes when the chorus comes in, and while I can't say with 100% confidence, I think that it's "Never Enough" of which I am reminded. It's a catchy and fun pop song with a heavy beat, acoustic guitar, and distorted vocals, and I am fairly certain that it nods toward my favorite portraits song, "black on black" (possibly because both songs are about the same person). In the first verse of "black on black," Chance croons, "I think I've seen you before on a poster that I hung on my door," and here in "Nobody," he sings (also near the beginning of the song), "The posters in my bedroom still remind me of you." The song is lyrically about being hung up on someone who really isn't any good for you (and maybe you no good for them). The speaker (likely Greyson himself since he tends to be a very confessional songwriter) knows that he needs to move on but keeps going back to this guy because of how great that they are together sexually: "Your hands, like the way they feel all over me... Every night, you get it right. Nobody know my body like you."

"Hands" is a little bit slower than "Nobody" and, with Greyson's falsetto verses and the gently strumming instrumental combined with a gentle beat, is a bit sultry and atmospheric. I think that there are a number of ways to interpret its meaning lyrically, but I personally think that it might be from the perspective of a gay man (again, likely Greyson himself) drawn toward and pining for a man who cannot or will not return the feelings because he is straight or at least unsure of his sexuality, a theme that I think might have been similarly explored on the standalone single "Dancing Next to Me." "I wonder if you'll ever understand," Chance reflects in the chorus of this song, "what it's like to be loved by these hands... Take a chance on the holy grail. Make me wonder if you'd ever waste it." I also love the part of the song in which he sings in the pre-chorus, "Then what's the point of chasin' pavements if you end up at home?" It's a very obvious nod toward Adele's song "Chasing Pavements," which is about pursuing someone whom, for one reason or another, you can't have. In fact, when that song was released way back in 2008, some people interpreted it as being from the perspective of a straight woman who has romantic and sexual feelings for a gay man, an interesting parallel with what "Hands" is very likely about in my opinion. We then get "Same People," kind of an interlude as it's only one minute long and lyrically only one verse: "Been meeting the same people, a never-ending sequel. Found myself too jaded seeing the same faces. Nothing is original. Maybe it's a miracle. Baby, you're just everything I needed. Maybe you're a little different." Greyson, in past songs such as "Hit & Run" and "Walk Away," has lyrically expressed a desire to stay romantically and sexually unattached, wanting rather to explore and stick to casual relationships, and he even expresses some regret regarding that in his song "Low" when he sings in the first verse, "I think about us back together someday... I needed space, so I left home, but now I'm desperate for the things I know, like how you made me laugh on a bad day. Where are you now? I need you, babe." I therefore believe that "Same People" - an acoustic, lulling ballad with Chance's vocals a bit distant and echoed in a way that reminds me a lot of Troye Sivan's usual style - is likely about his current boyfriend Ben, expressing gratitude that he has finally found someone with whom he is comfortable and happy staying, and with it being so short, I am thinking that it's likely a poem that Greyson wrote that he then set to music.

The title of "High Waisted" is likely meant to be a play on words. It's spelled to indicate waist as in the part of the body right above your hips, but the words high and wasted are both words used to describe someone who has ingested alcohol and/or drugs - a theme quite familiar to Greyson such as on songs like "Twenty One" and "stand." I just feel like the pun is likely intentional, especially since, when he sings in the first verse, "Light blue, high-waisted," he sings it in such a way that it kind of sounds like he is singing "Labatt Blue." The thematic focus of the song, however, is more so on a relationship or at least an ongoing tryst that is destined to fail: "You'd get too close if I'd let ya. We're too uneven together, so leaving's on my mind 'cause it's high-waisted love, and it's too tight on us." The song starts off with an airy and atmospheric instrumental, and I especially love the summery and feel-good sound of the chorus. "O Violet" is another highlight on the album, as it's definitely one of my favorites. It's a beautiful acoustic track with Greyson's voice layered in different registers for a rather haunting effect. The song is, to me, about finding who you truly believe to be your "better half," someone who encourages you to be the best possible version of yourself, and he has confirmed that it's about Ben. "I'm mad like crimson," Chance's layered vocals sing in the beautiful chorus. "You're sweet like blue. We found the space between us two. Worlds collide when I found you, oh, violet." I love the song not only because of how melodically and sonically beautiful that it is but also because of the several nuanced ways that it is lyrically subversive. For starters, it obviously makes sense for him to refer to the color made between him and his boyfriend to be violet because he refers to his own color as crimson (or red) and his boyfriend's as blue, and red and blue of course make purple (or violet). Even more interesting, however, is the fact that children's establishments such as summer camps color-code gender by saying that girls are red and boys are blue and that purple is a no-no, meaning that it's against the rules for boys and girls to fraternize. Greyson also seems to refer to his partner as Violet, traditionally a female name. He is therefore, on more than one level, turning heteronormativity and gender norms upside down.

The seventh track on Trophies is "Hellboy," but like "Holy Feeling," it was released as a single prior to the album's release on June 25th. I had therefore already reviewed it, so I won't discuss it here other than to say that it's definitely a highlight on Trophies and is amongst my favorites. Trophies then closes with "Clothes," a song that Chance has described as being about "me looking into my own self and thinking, 'Why am I so certain that I'm going to lose it?' And then I started noticing that I've felt that way not only about my relationships but about my career in a long sense, so lyrically... it's tear the house down, burn the clothes. It's just this fear that I have of the end." In the chorus of the song, for example, he sings over a strumming instrumental that persists throughout the entirety of the song, "...So fuck it if we fight. We'll always get it right 'til we don't." I quite honestly don't really know if I like it being the album's closing track. In part because of Trophies being so short but also because of the album's overall direction, I listen to Trophies from start to finish and kind of feel a sense of... longing as a result. It, to me, does not feel like a complete body of work, and it leaves me wanting more. As I said, this is probably in part because of its length; the album is only about twenty-five minutes long, effectively making it more of an EP than an album. (He, in fact, has referred to it as an EP here, but I have also seen it referred to as his new album.) The main reason why its brevity is really disappointing to me is that over the last couple of years, Greyson has released a number of singles that are now standalone singles, most of which were singles that were supposed to have been featured on this album. (If I remember correctly, "Boots" was always billed as a standalone single, but "Dancing Next to Me," "Honeysuckle," and "Bad to Myself" were all advertised as being singles from Trophies even though they ended up not making the cut.) He also teased several other songs such as "Overloved," "Cold Water," and "The Champion" which are not included, so I just wish that this work had more content since fans were teased with so much that wasn't followed up on. The other problem, however, is that I don't come away from Trophies feeling like I was treated to a narrative or even an overall theme; it just kind of feels like a random batch of songs, and I find portraits to be a much stronger body of work. With all of that being said, I definitely enjoy the music and am happy to have new music from Greyson, especially with "Nobody," "O Violet," and "Hellboy" serving as the main highlights in my opinion.

Garbage - No Gods No Masters [Review]

American alternative rock band Garbage recently released its highly anticipated seventh studio album No Gods No Masters after a wait of five years following 2016's Strange Little Birds. The album is definitely timely, as it is, as frontwoman Shirley Manson has stated herself, a commentary on "the rise of capitalist short-sightedness, racism, sexism and misogyny across the world." I say that that's timely because of recent events such as the United States enduring four years under a racist and misogynist president as well as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement, and I really appreciate it when artists turn something like that into art. With No Gods No Masters being the band's seventh studio album, Manson and the rest of the band also said that they tied the number 7 into the album's concepts in various ways, with Manson having said, "This is our seventh record, the significant numerology of which affected the DNA of its content: the seven virtues, the seven sorrows, and the seven deadly sins." This album admittedly took some time to grow on me, but there is one particular song that I instantly loved. (Stay tuned to find out which one.) It opens with the lead single "The Men Who Rule the World," a catchy and relatively heavy alternative rock track that opens the album with what sounds like slot machine sound effects. This makes sense because the song is lyrically about the privilege that comes along with being male and how that sometimes leads to being powerful and financially well off. The sounds of the casino slot machines therefore represent money, and Kesha did something similar on her song "Rich, White, Straight Men" - a song with a similar theme that makes use of the sounds of coins dropping and cash registers opening and closing. This track is definitely a highlight on the album and is, as I said, very catchy. There is, funnily enough, even a recurrent hook in the song that goes, "Stuck inside my head, stuck inside my head all the fucking time," and the song is, indeed, frequently stuck inside my head. I love the 8-bit aspect of the instrumental, probably emphasizing the idea that the titular men who rule the world are playing a long game, and I also love the relatively heavy guitar in the chorus, making it, as I said, one of the album's heavier tracks. It's a memorable track and a great opening to the album!

"The Creeps" is kind of reminiscent of old school Garbage, and I have seen a lot of fans say that a good portion of the album makes them feel nostalgic about Garbage's earlier days. It's one of the album's faster paced songs, with a fast beat and Shirley pretty rapidly spitting out in the chorus, "I cannot let my feelings to keep hijacking my brain... I'm gonna think my way around this wall I cannot change." The song is definitely about conquering anxiety and embarrassment, and as Shirley Manson has stated, it's about her experience having been dropped by Interscope Records back around 2009 and how that made her feel. "Uncomfortably Me" drops the energy down a little bit. While not quite a soft ballad, it's softer than the first two tracks. I especially love the low and bassy electronic humming underneath. The lyrics essentially address Imposter Syndrome, an inability to see one's success for what it is and instead seeing oneself as undeserving. "Too busy hating on myself, a waste of time, a waste of space," Shirley admits in the bridge. It's a great song to follow "The Creeps" because both songs are about being uncomfortable in one's own headspace. "Wolves" brings the energy back up a little bit - an alternative rock song with energy similar (at least in my opinion) to that of MARINA's new song "Purge the Poison." Not necessarily a highlight on the album for me (mainly because I find its melody to be one of the weakest on the album), the song speaks of struggling with two halves. It's a common belief that we have both light and dark in us - a duality. Genius, for example, talks about the Cherokee belief that we have two wolves inside of us - one that is good and one that is evil and that the one that comes out on top is the one that we choose to feed. That's essentially what the song is about, questioning which wolf you will choose to feed. No Gods No Masters then gives us "Waiting for God," one of my favorite tracks on the album. One of the softest songs on the album, it features a low, almost tribal beat with Shirley's soft voice which is distorted at the end of each verse. It's a very beautiful song and is also haunting, not only in its sound but in its lyrics which address some of the injustices that we have seen in the world over the last several years, especially school shootings and racially charged hate crimes. "...Tears won't bring them back," Manson laments in the bridge, bringing to light what many people say about how action needs to be taken because prayers and tears aren't going to change anything.

My absolute favorite song on No Gods No Masters is definitely "Godhead," an industrial electro-rock track infused to the brim with Nine Inch Nails influence. I can't get enough of this song's groove, its bouncing and grinding rhythm that makes me want to dance or even... well, you know, to it. (Let's just say that its beat is very sexy.) It is definitely one of the more lyrically explicit songs on the album and is also pretty sexually charged, although it isn't meant to be literal, as it's making a statement about sexism and misogyny. "If I had a dick, would you blow it?" she sings in a whispered tone several times throughout the song. While this is an obvious reference to fellatio (which is also likely referenced in the song's title as head is another term used for fellatio), it is, as I said, not intended to be literal. Getting on one's knees is sometimes a phrase used in those sexual terms, but it's also used to imply worship or respect, and Shirley is asking if she would be more respected if she were male. She is also, I think, asking if she would be sexually objectified to the same extent if she were a man. She, in the second verse, whispers, "Get off my tits...," and this, again, is likely meant to have more than one meaning. Genius points to the possibility that she is essentially calling toxic men babies, instructing them to stop feeding off her the way that a baby would, and I love that idea. A woman is also often sexually objectified, however, because of her breasts, so she is also likely demanding that that stop. (This once again calls back to the idea of her asking whether or not her dick would be blown if she had one. Would she be objectified the same way if she had a penis rather than breasts?) It's a ridiculously catchy song begging to be danced to, and I absolutely love its industrial production and clever, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. "Anonymous XXX" is pretty straightforward in what it's about - anonymous sex. (In fact, the XXX part of the title is most likely meant to be Sex, similar to how the clean version of Lady Gaga's "Sexxx Dreams" is titled "X Dreams.") The song has a bit of ska flavor to it, bringing in saxophone as well as rapidly strumming acoustic guitar. (It in fact reminds me a great deal of '90s No Doubt.) "Don't tell me your name," Shirley asserts in the second verse (although unlikely from her own perspective). "I don't want to know. Don't come too close. I don't want you to..." As I said, it's very clearly about people who enjoy taking part in sex with strangers and maybe even questioning why.

"A Woman Destroyed" is quiet and sultry in a way that reminds me of the band's last album Strange Little Birds, especially its opening track "Sometimes." The song does eventually bring in a little bit more energy but really only in its chorus. It's mostly a softer and atmospheric trip hop track, but I absolutely adore its marching bells that come in a little more than halfway through. I think that there are two ways to interpret the song. One is that its titular character (the woman destroyed) is seeking revenge on her former lover for having been unfaithful to her ("you swapped your queen out for a pawn"). That is, in fact, likely the sole way that I would personally interpret it if not for a statement made by Shirley Manson in which she explained that the song was written from the perspective of a woman who has been abused and/or sexually assaulted and is on a path toward revenge. It's similar to how I would have interpreted the song except the cause is different, but the revenge aspect of it is pretty obvious: "Lock your door; get a guard dog... Better sleep with all the lights on," she warns. "Flipping the Bird" brings the mood up considerably, at least in its sound. It features an instrumental very reminiscent of The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love," and I have also seen some fans compare it to Garbage's 1998 song "When I Grow Up," which I can definitely hear. The title of the song is obviously in reference to the gesture one might make of sticking their middle finger up at someone, and I think that it's very clear that Manson is doing so toward men who think that she isn't smart enough to have thoughts of her own because she is a woman. The word that is often used to describe this is mansplaining, which is when a man condescendingly explains something to a woman in a degrading way. "I stopped listening to you years ago," Manson opens in the first verse. "You always think that you know best, I know. I hear you explain things from the other room," and she then sings in the chorus that "you tell me who you think I am." As I said, I think that it's very clearly about toxic and womanizing men who treat women as ignorant children who need to be talked down to. It's interesting, however, how there is also a small bit of empathy afforded such men, or at least there seems to be. The bridge features the following words: "You try to love, but you're too far gone inside. Your own self-worth, it died inside." This, to me, implies that maybe such men are projecting their own feelings of worthlessness onto others, especially women.

No Gods No Masters then offers up its title track, an upbeat electro-rock song. I love its catchy chorus and its anthemic quality, and it lyrically dreams of a better future in which we are kind to one another and take control of our own destinies rather than believe that they're in the hands of powerful men and/or (a) god(s). The album then closes (sort of, anyway; I will get to that in a bit) with "This City Will Kill You," a moody and cinematic trip-hop song with trilling piano chords that I adore. The song is ultimately about being miserable and in pain while encouraging us to claw our way out of that: "You got to get out," Manson urges us. "You got to run, got to quit this town." I also love how she says that "everybody's praying that it rains; it's been promised now for a few days..." because it is very likely a reference to what is probably Garbage's most eminent hit, "Only Happy When It Rains." It is definitely a highlight for me, especially because of, as I said, the haunting, fluttering piano that I love so much. That is how the standard album ends, but I purchased the two-disc deluxe edition of the album which features a bonus disc of eight extra tracks - songs that had previously been released as stand-alone singles over the last several years. In fact, you could even argue that "No Horses" is the album's lead single because it was released back in 2017 with the news that it would possibly be featured on the band's seventh album. The tracks featured here are "No Horses," "Starman" (a cover of the David Bowie classic), "Girls Talk" (a heavy alternative rock track featuring Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle), "Because the Night" (a cover of the Patti Smith song that features Screaming Females), "On Fire" (originally released as the b-side to the following song), "The Chemicals" (featuring Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups), "Destroying Angels" (which features John Doe and Exene Cervenka of X), and "Time Will Destroy Everything" (released as the b-side to "Girls Talk"). What's interesting about these songs is that most of them were originally released closer to Strange Little Birds; "Girls Talk," "Time Will Destroy Everything," "Because the Night," "The Chemicals," and "On Fire" were all released before Strange Little Birds was released yet are featured as bonus tracks here rather than on that album. Regardless, however, I am glad that they finally have a shared home, and I am so pleased with No Gods No Masters. It is a memorable album with charged messages that are so very important to hear, especially right now.

MARINA - Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land [Review]

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land is Welsh/Greek pop musician Marina Diamandis' fifth studio album following 2019's LOVE + FEAR. I overall enjoyed LOVE + FEAR, especially with songs like "To Be Human," "End of the Earth," and "Believe in Love" being some of the best of her catalogue so far, but it (as an overall whole with those songs notwithstanding) is my least favorite MARINA album so far, and that's in large part because it's largely absent of the fun and playful attitude usually exhibited in her work. It's definitely back on Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, though, especially front and center on tracks such as "Venus Fly Trap" and "Purge the Poison." Prior to the album's release, four singles were released from the album - "Man's World" (reviewed here), "Purge the Poison" (reviewed here), "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" (reviewed here), and "Venus Fly Trap" (reviewed here), and while I like all four of those songs, she was definitely holding out on us because those singles don't even showcase the best that this album has to offer. Ancient Dreams is absolutely beautiful and so much more emotionally raw and brutally honest than what I expected after having heard the singles. That's primarily because the album ultimately has two themes that are, in fact, split right in half (although I doubt that that was the intention as it was on LOVE + FEAR). One thing that I have more than likely discussed somewhere on this blog before, however, is the fact that albums tend to be promoted much differently nowadays than they used to be, and I am not the hugest fan of it. When I was growing up, an album would usually get one lead single - two at the absolute most - before the album dropped, and I liked that because when you finally got the album, most of it was still a surprise. Nowadays, however, you usually get several singles before the album comes out, oftentimes so many, in fact, that you end up having heard half of the album (or close to it) before it comes out, and Ancient Dreams is no exception to that trend. In fact, if you had heard all of the singles released thus far, then when you first hit play on the album when it came out this past Friday, you wouldn't have heard anything new until track 5, and with the album only consisting of ten tracks, that means that - as I said - fans had heard almost half of it before the release. I am not a fan of this trend and miss the days when most of the album was still a surprise when you got it, but I digress (and yes, I do realize that I could simply choose not to listen to the singles until I get the album).

One of the reasons why I point all that out, however, is that, like I said, nothing new is heard until the fifth track, as the first four tracks had all already been released as singles, so while I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about the first four tracks since I already reviewed them, I do want to mention something about the opening title track that I didn't mention in my review of it. First of all, both it and "Purge the Poison" have really grown on me, and I now consider both of them to be highlights on the album. Secondly, I think that there might be an intentional nod to the FROOT track "Savages" in the title track. "Savages" is an upbeat and playful track that looks at humanity from a critical and cynical perspective, positing the possibility that things like rape and murder happen because it's part of human nature. Near the end of the first verse of "Savages," she argues, "At the end of the day, it's a human trait hidden deep down inside of our DNA." Here on "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land," she sings in the chorus, "I am not my body, not my mind or my brain, not my thoughts or feelings; I am not my DNA." I don't think that mentioning DNA in both tracks is a coincidence; I think that this is Marina acknowledging what she said in "Savages" and amending it, basically saying, "Yes, that ugly stuff can be a part of human nature, but we're more than just human nature. We can choose to be better." Moving on, however, the first new song that Ancient Dreams offers up is the piano ballad "Highly Emotional People." The piano accompaniment is gorgeous, and the song is the first spot on the album that is likely, at least in part, about her ex-boyfriend Jack Patterson of Clean Bandit, although I think that there is more than one way to interpret the song which I don't think are exclusive to one another. The chorus features Marina's signature porcelain vocals singing in a higher and precarious register, "'Cause we're just highly emotional people, and you don't need to hide. Sometimes it's hard to tell me how you feel. I never see you cry... You know it's safe to tell me how you feel." Marina has apparently confirmed that the song was inspired by her relationship, indicating that her ex was a reserved and stoic person, but I think that it can be applied to men in general because of the bridge (my favorite part of the song): "People say men don't cry. It's so much easier to just lie 'til somebody takes their life. Emotions are a part of our design." She is here making the case that emotions are a part of being human and that your sex or gender has nothing to do with it. It's a powerful (not to mention true) outlook.

"New America" is, to me, very reminiscent in style of Electra Heart, although some fans have also compared the melody of the chorus to the chorus of the FROOT title track, and once I saw that comparison, I went back and listened for it and now can't unhear it. (As I said, however, the style of the song is overall very reminiscent of Electra Heart. It, to me, features the big and full sound of songs like "Bubblegum Bitch" and "Radioactive.") Like the singles released thus far, the song (the title of which reminds me of Halsey's "New Americana") takes a critical look at the state of things today, this time specifically regarding the United States (which Diamandis had sort of previously done on "Hollywood" from The Family Jewels). She opens with, "Everything that made you great only made you bad, made the people hate all the good they had," and this is very likely a reference to Donald Trump's horrendous presidency and his campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, which many people combated with the argument that America was already great. Marina stated that she began writing this song the day after news broke of George Floyd's murder, and that makes sense because the song, amongst other things like privilege and wealth, definitely addresses racism: "Who gave you jazz, hip hop, rock and roll, and the blues?" It is of course a rhetorical question because the answer to it is people of color, but the influences and accomplishments of people of color are often overlooked, and people of color are frequently not afforded the respect that they deserve. I love this line at the end of the chorus: "Stars are shining for you, sparkling red and blue." The colors are clever because they're not only two of the colors on the American flag but also likely represent blood and tears. It's a very powerful song, although I do wish that its spot on the album were switched with "Highly Emotional People." Remember how I said that the album essentially has two themes? Half of the album is about society; the other half is about heartbreak, and like I said previously, "Highly Emotional People" is essentially the bridge between the two as it very likely deals with both of those themes. It would therefore make more sense to have "New America" closer to songs similar in theme - songs like "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" and "Purge the Poison." While I do realize that that would result in an ever higher number of slower ballads heard on the back half of the album, it would make more sense thematically; tracks 1-5 would deal with society and culture while tracks 6-10 would deal with love and heartbreak.

Speaking of love and heartbreak, "Pandora's Box" - one of my favorite songs from the album (likely my second favorite, in fact) - is the first spot on the album where it's addressed in full force without much room for alternate interpretation, and I think that the whole remainder of the album likely addresses a failed relationship. There is one line in particular for example that seems to indicate infidelity: "You damaged what we had, but for her, it's just another day." This line implies, again, that infidelity was involved in why the relationship ended and that the woman with whom the speaker's partner cheated might not have even known that she was an accomplice in infidelity. I have seen a lot of fans cite this as one of their lesser favorites on the album, and I just don't understand that at all. The melody - along with the song's strings - is so haunting and beautiful, as are the lyrics. It's also not likely a coincidence that MARINA would make use of an artifact from Greek mythology in the imagery. Being half Greek herself, she has implemented imagery from Greek mythology and history in the past. Electra Heart is in reference to the Greek tragedy of Electra, and that album's song "Hypocrates" refers to the Greek physician Hippocrates. According to the Greek legend, Pandora's box was a box that contained sickness, death, and evil - all unleashed onto the world when the box was opened. In the chorus of the song, Marina sings (in a beautifully catchy melody), "You opened up Pandora's box. You don't know what you just unlocked. I lose all control, let go of my darkest thoughts..." This ties tightly into the opening line of the song: "You almost turned me psycho. I almost lost my mind." Marina is referring to her mind as Pandora's box, saying that her lover's act of betrayal allowed for dark thoughts to escape. It's such a great track that stands out to me not only because of how beautiful its melody is but also because of how much I find myself relating to its haunting lyrics. Ancient Dreams then continues with the theme with "I Love You but I Love Me More," arguably a bit of a sequel to "Pandora's Box." "Do you expect me to believe that you've changed when I can tell that you're exactly the same?" she asks rhetorically in the first verse. She also points out in the first verse that "you'd rather shut your eyes than feel any pain," likely tying the song to "Highly Emotional People." There is also a possible Britney nod (of whom Marina is a fan) in the song when, in the chorus, she warns, "Don't come back knocking at my door." It's an upbeat and very catchy song in the vein of FROOT.

I mentioned that "Pandora's Box" is probably my second favorite song on the album, and "Flowers" is likely my first favorite. I have seen a lot of fans cite it as their favorite as well, so (similar to songs like "Teen Idle" and "Savages") it seems destined to become a fan favorite and a classic in our eyes even if it doesn't get released as a single. Like "Highly Emotional People" and the closing track, "Flowers" is a soft piano ballad and is just absolutely gorgeous. I even sent a link to the song to my best friend shortly after my first time having heard it, and she commented on how beautiful it was. A few days later, after having heard the album in its entirety herself, she cited "Highly Emotional People" and "Flowers" as two of her favorites on the album. (Like I said, it just seems like just about everyone loves this song.) I love the opening verse because I think that it might be an intentional nod to one of my favorite MARINA songs of all time - "Forget" from FROOT. The closing verse of "Forget" says, "'Cause in the end, the road is long but only 'cause it makes you strong. It's filled with peaks and twists and turns." The opening verse here on "Flowers" says, "The road had many bends, but we knew that all along. I think it made me stronger..." She goes on to say that even though difficult times have made her strong, "I would rather not betray myself just to keep your love at any cost." The song is from the perspective of someone hurting from a wrong committed by her lover, and, to me, she knows that she did the right thing by leaving but occasionally wishes that she had stayed: "...It's most tempting to give in when you're almost at the top, when you're steps from winning back all the happiness you lost." I could be misinterpreting this, but what this means to me is that she is tempted to take her lover back because she feels like the heartbreak would then go away, but she also knows that that wouldn't be the right thing to do for herself. (This would tie into the earlier line of not wanting to betray herself just to keep his love.) She argues in the chorus that "if you just bought me flowers, maybe I would've stayed," but it's unlikely that this is literal. Flowers, after all, can't save a doomed relationship. (I would know because I tried that.) Marina's love of flowers, however, is no secret, so she is likely just saying that she might have stayed if he had just paid more attention to her interests. ("With every careless action, you let me slip away.") It's just such a stunningly beautiful song, and I especially love the trilling piano in the chorus after the first line.

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, like the last two albums LOVE + FEAR and FROOT, only has one version - no deluxe version with any extra tracks. All versions therefore end with the raw piano ballad "Goodbye." "Goodbye" is such an emotional closing to the album and likely says goodbye to more than one person - her ex but also past versions of herself. My favorite part of the song is when, at the very beginning of the chorus, a single piano key is struck with force. It adds such emotional depth to the song, making her farewell feel more finalized. The song thematically reminds me a lot of Avril Lavigne's song "Goodbye" from her 2011 album Goodbye Lullaby. Like MARINA's "Goodbye," the song is saying farewell to an ex lover but is doing so with warmth, not coldness or anger, wishing them well. "Maybe we won't meet again," MARINA sings in the second verse, "but you'll always be my closest friend. I hope you'll always be happy." She also addresses their love as having had a positive impact on her and her life and seems to want to remember it that way: "No matter what happens now, nobody can take our love down," she asserts in the bridge. "It's safe in our memories, and I won't forget how you healed me." The LOVE + FEAR track "Superstar" was written about Jack and was essentially about his love healing and saving her, making this all come full circle in a really beautiful and poetic way. It is such a beautiful song that makes me cry especially because of the ways in which I can relate to it emotionally, and it's a perfect closing track to Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land. It is so hard for me to rank MARINA's albums because they are all so good and each have something unique to offer, but what I can say about Ancient Dreams is that, while offering a few echoes of past albums (especially The Family Jewels), it is one of her more ambitious albums especially in how, as stated previously, emotionally vulnerable the back half of it is. Diamandis holds nothing back lyrically and gives us the bare truth, as bitter as it might be at times, and it's a lush album combining indie rock bangers and vulnerable ballads, and I love how tracks like the title track, "Purge the Poison," and "New America" have a very full sound to them. Similar to FROOT tracks like "Can't Pin Me Down" and "Better than That," they sound very big like they're backed by a live band. Bravo, MARINA! You have done it again!

MARINA - Venus Fly Trap - Single [Review]

The fourth single released from Marina Diamandis' upcoming fifth studio album Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, "Venus Fly Trap" is a song about being confident in yourself and proud of everything that you have accomplished so far. I can't say for sure whether or not it's intentional, but it definitely seems to me as if the song references her song "Hollywood" from her first album The Family Jewels. That song takes a critical approach in its discussion of the Hollywood lifestyle, and here in "Venus Fly Trap," Marina, in the first verse, sings, "I never quite fit in to that Hollywood thing. I didn't play that game for the money or the fame." With Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land being, as I said, her fifth studio album with past albums such as Electra Heart and FROOT being moderately successful financially, it would seem as if Marina has since embraced the lifestyle, especially since (as discussed in this interview) she recently bought a house in and moved to Beverly Hills. However, she did it in her own way and on her own terms: "I did it my way, baby. Nothing in this world could change me." In the song's intro and bridge, she asks the rhetorical question, "Why be a wallflower when you can be a Venus fly trap?" This more or less sums up the song's message as it is, like I said, about empowerment and being true to yourself. As have just about all of the singles released thus far from the album, it also addresses sexism and misogyny such as in the bridge when she, in a breathy and whispered tone, sings, "They'll shame you, blame you, pretend to even hate you, take away your rights, pacify you with their lies." Marina addressed the song's lyrics and sound by saying that the song "is really sassy. I'm sure my lyrics are going to be taken out of context and misunderstood, which I love. It's a very sassy, fun, bouncy, big song. It's silly, but I love it so much." In the aforementioned interview to which I linked, Marina stated that Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land is most similar in sound to her first album The Family Jewels, and I so far definitely agree. The lead single "Man's World" (reviewed here) is, in my opinion, most similar to her third album FROOT, but the following singles "Purge the Poison" (reviewed here) and "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" (reviewed here) definitely remind me of The Family Jewels, as does "Venus Fly Trap" which incorporates jaunty piano and a playful indie rock sound very similar to the overall sound of The Family Jewels, and I am so excited to hear the rest of the album (which drops tomorrow!). Although "Venus Fly Trap" is probably my least favorite song of the four singles released thus far, I do still really love it, and its music video is by far by favorite music video released so far this era!

Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters - Single / Text Book - Single / Wildflower Wildfire - Single [Review]

Lana Del Rey will soon be releasing a brand new album following Chemtrails over the Country Club, titled Blue Banisters, and she surprise dropped three singles from the album all on the same day - the title track, "Text Book," and "Wildflower Wildfire." Before I begin discussing the songs themselves, I do want to discuss a couple of other issues regarding Lana Del Rey. Firstly, even though it's probably my least favorite Lana Del Rey album so far, I really hate how little promotion that Chemtrails has received. She barely gave that album any time to marinate at all before moving on to promoting the next project, making Chemtrails a blip in her discography. I overall, as I said, found Chemtrails to be a bit of a disappointment, so I am looking forward to what will hopefully be an improvement, but I just hope that Lana won't be making releasing multiple albums per year a habit because, like I said, I really think that albums need time to marinate and leave impacts. The second point that I want to make (one that I have seen a lot of other fans make as well) is that I am really hoping that the album cover is not the same cover as the single cover for the title track and that it's a lot better. I love Lana so much, but these covers are horrendous, especially the one for the title track. People who have been defending the covers have been saying things like, "People are really upset because Lana gave us a selfie as a cover?" The selfie is not the problem, however. The editing is the problem. The borders and the font on the covers are very cheap and tacky looking. They look like they were done by someone with little to no editing skills on a program like Paint or PicsArt. Defendants have also made the argument that the music is what's important, not the covers, and I agree to an extent, but visuals are definitely part of the experience. That was definitely the case, for example, with Norman Fucking Rockwell!. I adore that album cover, and it represents the story told through the music so well. Moving on to discussing the actual music, however...

 

"Blue Banisters" is the first of the three singles released from the upcoming album of the same title. The song is driven by piano, as has much of Lana's music for several albums now. It is mid-tempo, and Lana quickly fluctuates between a lower register that reminds me a little bit of songs like "Off to the Races" from Born to Die and a higher register which has ultimately been her signature sound vocally for quite some time now. The verses are sung primarily in the lower register, and they sound almost conversational in tone and rhythm, as if she is sharing a story with us. In the first verse, there is what I believe to be an obvious parallel to Lana's hit song "Video Games" from Born to Die. In "Video Games," Lana sings, "Open up a beer and you say, ‘get over here,'" and here in “Blue Banisters,” she sings, “Jenny handed me a beer, said, ‘How the hell did you get there?'" The parallel here - not only visually but in its rhyming scheme - is far too striking to me to be coincidence, and I definitely think that it's meant to be a deliberate juxtaposition. The focus of "Video Games" is love (as in romantic and sexual love), but the focus of "Blue Banisters" is instead on platonic love with female friends. As explained on Genius, Jenny is a close friend of Lana's and is one of the women featured on the standard Chemtrails over the Country Club album cover. The song, as is obvious from the title, references the color blue, as does a great deal of Lana's work. Several tracks even have the color in their titles - "Baby Blue Love," "Gramma (Blue Ribbon Sparkler Trailer Heaven)," "Blue Jeans," "Blue Velvet" (which is a cover, but it still counts), "Quiet Waiter Blue Forever," and now "Blue Banisters." Countless other songs also mention the color in their lyrics. It's definitely a recurring theme, and she sometimes uses it in a positive way ("paint me happy and blue") and sometimes uses it in a negative way ("you make me blue"). I think that the color likely makes a transition from happy to sad in this song. She, in the first chorus, sings, "Said he'd come back every May just to help me if I'd paint my banisters blue." The color here represents a promise, but later in the song, when she, in the second chorus, instead sings, "Now when weather turns to May, all my sisters come to paint my banisters green," we realize that the promise was not kept. It's a simple but beautiful song, and I love its reference to Joan Baez's classic song "Diamonds and Rust": "...the diamonds, the rust, and the rain..."

"Text Book" is so beautiful, and I absolutely love its catchy chorus which reminds me a bit of the chorus of "Change" from Lust for Life. Genius claims that the song is a continuation of the country-influenced sound featured on NFR! and Chemtrails, and I have to disagree with part of that stance because while I do definitely hear some country influence on Chemtrails, there is absolutely no country influence on NFR! at all. Back to the discussion at hand, however, Lana once again refers to the color blue on this track: "...and there you were," she reflects in the pre-chorus, "standin' blue with open arms." The song is very poetic in nature as it's a reflection on Lana's past, where she is today, and how much of her past she still carries with her. She acknowledges her Electra Complex which has permeated much of her music's themes throughout her career, even referring to her lover as "my old man" in "Off to the Races" and admitting that "I gots a taste for men who are older" in "Cola" from Paradise. She acknowledges that perhaps more directly and with more self-awareness than she ever has before in "Text Book" right in the first line: "I guess you could call it textbook. I was lookin' for the father I wanted back..." Although his theory wasn't exactly new as it was based in large part on the aforementioned Electra Complex, Freud posited the theory that some young girls find themselves attracted to their fathers at a young age and, later in life, are drawn toward men who remind them of their fathers. Sylvia Plath made the exact same admission in her classic poem "Daddy": "I made a model of you... And I said I do, I do." (Del Rey has previously alluded to Plath on her NFR! track "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it" as well as on her Violent Bent Backwards over the Grass track "Bare Feet on Linoleum"). As previously mentioned, Lana is reflecting on her struggles ("I didn't even like myself," she admits in the pre-chorus, "or love the life I had...") while also tying that together with where she is today and how she has been involved in important movements ("...There we were, screamin' 'Black Lives Matter' in the crowd..."), and I saw her come under some heavy fire on Twitter for supposedly romanticizing the BLM movement in that line, and I don't see how she is romanticizing it; she is simply reflecting on her journey and the steps along the way, having been involved in that movement being one of them, but something that I have noticed is that she frequently comes under heavy fire for no good reason. I mean, if you're going to critique tacky cover art, that's one thing, but to keep attacking her for everything that she says and does and doesn't say or do as if she can do no right, that's exhausting.

I love the title of "Wildflower Wildfire" not only because of its use of alliteration but also because it is definitely a bit of a tongue-twister. Just like the other two tracks released from Blue Banisters thus far, "Wildflower Wildire" is accompanied primarily by piano, and the piano flutters under Lana's whispery vocals in the verses. It's a pretty song, but I think of the three singles, it's the least unique and least inspired from a melodic standpoint, and it is definitely my least favorite of the three (with "Text Book" undoubtedly being my favorite). The lyrics, however, are pretty powerful and are definitely some of Lana's most abstract and poetic lyrics to date: "Baby, I, I, I, I've been runnin' on stardust alone for so long," she laments in the pre-chorus of the track. "I wouldn't know what hot fire was - hot fire, hot weather, hot coffee." I believe Lana to be presenting heat as something that can be comforting (hot coffee) but also uncomfortable (hot weather) and even destructive (hot fire). In fact, speaking of its destructive nature, I don't think that it's any coincidence that the title and lyrics of this song refer to wildfires because Lana has focused very heavily on the California wildfires throughout much of her art as of late - on tracks from Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass, and Chemtrails over the Country Club. (The Norman Fucking Rockwell! album cover even showcases a landscape on fire in the distant background.) Wildfires are, of course, dangerous and destructive. They are also a result of humanity and how we - as a species - tend to take care of the earth and our environment, and embracing humanity and who we are is definitely one of the themes present on this track. When Lana, as previously cited, refers to running on stardust, it is my belief that she is saying that she was only being who she could be - who she was at the time (as the belief is that life is made up of stardust from a supernova). She also refers to wanting to hold on to being good and for her heat to remain comforting and not destructive: "I'll do my best never to turn into something that burns, burns, burns" (her repetition a possible reference to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"), Lana also refers to some of the hardships in her life that have tempted her fire to become wildfire, such as a tumultuous relationship with her mother and hospital stays. It is a lyrically beautiful song but is, as I said, musically rather restrained, but based on what I have heard so far, I am intrigued and am looking forward to Blue Banisters, which is expected to drop on July 4th, 2021.

MARINA - Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land - Single [Review]

Welsh and Greek pop musician Marina Diamandis (who goes simply by MARINA) is set to release her fifth studio album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, on June 11, 2021, and the title track makes for the third single released from the upcoming album following "Purge the Poison" (reviewed here) and "Man's World" (reviewed here). I really love "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" (which is not only, as I said, the album's title track but is also the album's opening track) because of how it hearkens back to old school MARINA from The Family Jewels. I have seen some fans, in fact, compare it to the track "Mowgli's Road," and I can definitely hear a similarity in its chord progression. The first single released from the album - "Man's World" - reminded me a lot of MARINA's third studio album FROOT, especially with the very beginning sounding so similar to the very beginning of "I'm a Ruin," and "Purge the Poison" - like this song - reminded me of The Family Jewels. Both "Purge the Poison" and "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" are somewhat synthy and arguably lean more toward rock than they do pop. The song is very upbeat and very playful, and it makes me so happy to hear this side of MARINA again because even though I do really like her 2019 album LOVE + FEAR, I strongly feel like that side of her is largely missing from that album. Like the first two singles, "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land" is a critique on the overall path upon which humanity seems to be. In the first verse, for example, she argues, "Our ancestors had to fight to survive just so we could have a chance of a life. We're not here so we can blow it all." Much of the lyrical content on The Family Jewels (on tracks such as "I Am Not a Robot," "Mowgli's Road," and "Oh No!") is about finding yourself and trying to fight the fear of being your true self. In the pre-chorus of this song, MARINA assures us that "you don't have to be like everybody else. You don't have to fit into the norm. You are not here to conform." What's interesting, however, is that she doesn't likely mean it in the same context as she did back on The Family Jewels. I think that she is instead arguing here that you can be the one who starts a revolution and encourages change. I especially think that because she then follows that part of the song up with, "I am here to take a look inside myself, recognize that I could be the eye, the eye of the storm." It's such a fun and, as I said, playful upbeat synth-rock track, and I cannot wait to hear the rest of the album only twelve days from now!

Greyson Chance - Hellboy - Single [Review]

At some point this year (2021), fans of American pop singer and songwriter Greyson Chance can expect a follow-up to his 2019 album portraits, although we don't yet know precisely when. (He did hint at the possibility of that being revealed soon, however, so we might be getting an update soon.) "Hellboy" is very likely yet another single from the album, and over the last year to year-and-a-half, Chance has released a fairly long string of songs and singles, and it's unclear which ones that we can expect to be featured on the new album or if, as was the case with many of the singles released prior to portraits, they will remain homeless as standalone singles. We have so far gotten "Boots," "Dancing Next to Me," "Honeysuckle," "Athlete" (released to promote the television series Love, Victor), "Bad to Myself," "Holy Feeling," and now "Hellboy." Of all of them thus far, I think that "Honeysuckle" remains my favorite, but "Hellboy" definitely delivers. For one thing, the suggestive lyrics are, to put it simply, hot as hell: "If you don't know how to touch it, let me educate ya," he teases, closing the first verse, and he later, in the second verse, confidently asserts, "I can show you things that'll make you think you're dead in heaven. Have me for dessert. I'll have you on your knees. You'll be begging for me, hot and heavy in the morning." The song definitely offers up some of Chance's most risqué lyrics to date, although his portraits track "black on black" makes for a pretty close contender ("...damn, boy, you got me fucking on my knees"). The song is a poppy tune with a little bit of funky Maroon 5-esque flavor, and my favorite part is when Greyson is... rapping, I guess? He, half singing and half speaking, pretty rapidly sings in the post-chorus, "Hands tied, bite your lip. Green light, flip and twist. Dark magic, red boot kick. I'm a hell boy, I'm a hell boy. Your eyes on my hips. Damn right, you want this all night, yeah. I might give you hell, boy. I'm a hell boy." I really don't think that I need to spend any time discussing what this song is about because I think that it's rather obvious. I find that post-chorus to be the catchiest part of the song, and I also love the bridge in which Greyson, in somewhat muffled vocals, sings in French: "Le paradis n'est pas réel sauf si tu es avec moi" (which translates to "Heaven is not real unless you are with me"). (I love it because French is such a beautiful and sexy language.) It's definitely a fun song although, as I said, not my favorite of the singles so far, and I am looking forward to hopefully getting an album announcement soon!

MARINA - Purge the Poison - Single [Review]

Following the release of the lead single "Man's World" (reviewed here) released late last year, "Purge the Poison" is Welsh indie pop musician MARINA (full name Marina Lambrini Diamandis)'s second single from her upcoming fifth studio album Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, set to be released on June 11, 2021. After having heard "Man's World," I was reminded a great deal of MARINA's third studio album FROOT, released in 2015, especially since the very beginning of it sounds almost identical to the very beginning of "I'm a Ruin." I was excited by the prospect of maybe - at least sonically - getting FROOT 2.0 with this album, and "Purge the Poison" continues that trend in my opinion. While there are definitely echoes of her debut album The Family Jewels (as I have seen a lot of fans say), I am especially reminded of the indie rock sound heard on FROOT tracks such as "Can't Pin Me Down" and "Better than That." The song, as I said, definitely has an indie rock vibe to it, and it also has somewhat of a retro '80s sound to its production. (Even some of the camerawork of the music video has a retro vibe to it.) The verses remind me a bit of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" in how they fairly rapidly spit out critique of our current society: "Quarantined all alone, Mother Nature's on the phone. 'What have you been doing? Don't forget, I am your home. Virus come, fires burn, until human beings learn from every disaster, you are not my master.'" That is from the first verse of the song and chronicles epidemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfires of California and Australia. I remember seeing MARINA tease the following lyrics prior to the song's release: "Need to purge the poison, show us our humanity - all the good and bad, racism and misogyny. Nothing's hidden anymore; capitalism's made us poor. God, forgive America for every single war." I remember reading that part and thinking, Damn, she is really going to SERVE on this album, isn't she?

I also love how she name drops Britney Spears in the second verse: "2007, when size zero was the rage. Britney shaved her head, and all we did was call her crazed." This is another one of my favorite lines of the song because it really packs a punch! There is so much truth behind it because I remember that era of Britney's life quite well and remember everyone talking about it. Very few people responded with empathy or with trying to evaluate the reasons behind her breakdown. They just shrugged her off as crazy. Like "Man's World," "Purge the Poison" is definitely calling attention to sexism and misogyny, and this is one such line in which it is doing exactly that. The chorus of the song is also so catchy. I love how the notes of the melody are delivered quickly and how they oscillate. "Need to purge the poison from our system until human beings listen," she asserts in the chorus. "Tell me, who'd you think you are? It's your own decision, but your home is now your prison. You forgot that without me, you won't go far." (I especially love when the chorus is repeated but at a much slower pace and softer tone.) According to Diamandis herself, this part is meant to be from the perspective of the Earth, reminding us that if we continue to treat her unkindly and take destructive actions against her, we will eventually die out because she is our home. Without her, we can't survive. There is also a possibility that MARINA is comparing this to motherhood in general. Misogyny is, of course, the institutionalized and systemic demeaning of, oppression of, and hatred towards women, but without women, we wouldn't be here. We literally emerge from women's bodies, and our lives begin within them. Although I do overall prefer "Man's World" to "Purge the Poison," I love this fun, catchy, indie rock tune as well and can't wait to see what else Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land has to offer. I also love the pop culture references in the aforementioned music video - references that include classic films such as The Wizard of Oz and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Evanescence - The Bitter Truth [Review]

Approximately a year or so following the revelation of its title and cover art, American alternative metal band Evanescence (as anyone who knows me knows, my favorite band of all time) finally returns in full swing with its first album of wholly original material, The Bitter Truth, in a decade. The band's sixth album (yeah, sorry, but I can't not count the beautiful and groundbreaking masterpiece that is Origin), it features some of the band's rawest production and lyrically doesn't hold back any punches, telling things like they are as the title of the album would suggest that it does. The albums kicks off rather quietly with a soft, ambient introduction. (Past albums have begun with numbers like "Going Under," "Sweet Sacrifice," and "What You Want," all louder and more energetic songs, with exceptions being Origin and Synthesis.) "Artifact / The Turn," as the title would suggest, is technically two songs in one. Each part is pretty short, leading me to believe that they might have been poems written by frontwoman Amy Lee that were adapted to music. In "Artifact," Lee, over soft trills that sound a bit like they're being played on a xylophone or something similar, sings, "Underneath golden skies, you will always be there. In the mirror, in my eyes, you will always be there." It's definitely befitting of the title of the song because an artifact is, of course, an item created that is of historical significance, and Lee is capturing someone's presence here in these lyrics (a theme that she, in a sense, returns to later in the album). In a recent interview, Amy revealed that "Artifact" was actually recorded on her laptop in a hotel room which is very impressive (not that I am at all surprised). The melody of "Artifact" also reminds me so much of something else, but, try as I might, I can't put my finger on what. The song then takes a turn (see what I did there?), featuring ambient sounds and electronic warbles. Lee, here, sings, "Where do we go now that I have seen the turn? Where do we go now? Find a way to go back, to go back home, to who we are." The final statement there makes this track not only a perfect intro to the album as a whole but also to the first full length song on the album, "Broken Pieces Shine."

"Broken Pieces Shine" is definitely a highlight on The Bitter Truth for me, and I have seen many other Evanescence fans say the same. "Artifact / The Turn" moves gaplessly into it, and, in fact, at the very beginning of "Broken Pieces Shine," you can still hear the echo of Amy's voice singing the final word of the previous track. The song definitely has the energy that you would expect an opener to have - not only an opener to an album but also to a show, and I fully expect "Artifact / The Turn" and "Broken Pieces Shine" to, together, open shows when the band is able to go on tour for the album, especially since Amy has stated that the song is sort of like our (as in Evanescence fans) anthem, and it definitely has an anthemic quality to its big arena sound. Amy Lee has long been a proponent for fighting off the harmful voices in our heads that weigh us down and hold us back by trying to convince us that we're worthless and not good enough, having, for example, said the following during the live Synthesis show that was released to home video: "You ever have that thing like every day at some point during the day where you're totally criticizing yourself and you feel like you can't do what you're doing or you don't belong where you are or you just can't pull it off? Yeah, that voice is a waste of time. That voice in your head is a liar. I just want to say that we have to keep fighting it. That's not a flaw. Those things that you keep telling yourself are a flaw, those things I keep telling myself are flaws, I think I'm starting to realize and I keep having to hammer it in my brain but I know that it's true, they're not flaws. Those are the things about us that make us who we are, so just embrace who you are. You are good enough. You do belong here. We can't waste our lives being afraid to live them." This definitely ties into "The Turn" referring to finding "who we are" and also the theme of "Broken Pieces Shine," which is lyrically about the capability that our imperfections have of being beautiful (a theme similarly explored on the 2017 Synthesis track "Imperfection").

"Broken Pieces Shine" is a welcome return to the band's hard rock / alternative metal sound after the orchestral and electronic soundscape of 2017's Synthesis, which primarily reimagined previous Evanescence tracks as new stripped down, quieter recordings (while also including two new songs and three new instrumental pieces). This album is really our first time hearing Evanescence in their rock and metal element in a very long time, at least via original music. (While they did release a rock song back in 2019, it was a cover of a classic Fleetwood Mac song, not an original Evanescence song.) "Broken Pieces Shine" begins with electronic warbling and a monotonous and muffled male voice counting down: "3, 2, 1, 0." We then get slamming electric guitar and drums, and the best part of the song is definitely the melodically and thematically powerful chorus in which Lee, in a soaring and infectious melody that instantly hooked me upon first listen, asserts, "I'm not fine. I don't know if I will be all right, but I have to try. I know you're with me, so what if we do fall apart, give into all that we are and let all the broken pieces shine?" The deluxe box set edition of The Bitter Truth includes a bonus disc featuring the virtual concert that they did several months ago as well as a cassette tape, side A of which features short outtakes from the recording sessions and side B of which features seven instrumentals. One of the outtakes on side A is titled "BPS #7.1," and its lyrics would suggest that the song originally had a very different meaning, as Amy sings the chorus in that version much differently: "Can you still hear me or is this in my mind? I need you near me. I can't get you out of my head, still singing songs for the dead, baby, 'cause broken gems still shine." (The Evanescence Reference claims that she is saying "broken champs still shine," but I hear "broken gems still shine" which makes a lot more sense.) As I will discuss again later in this review, Amy Lee tragically lost her younger brother Robby three years ago to epilepsy complications, and, as past Evanescence songs such as "Hello" and "Like You" chronicle, she also lost a sister when she was very young, and it seems to me like "Broken Pieces Shine" might have originally been about one or both of them ("still singing songs for the dead").

The Bitter Truth then gives us two songs that we had already heard since they had already been released as singles - "The Game Is Over" (reviewed here) and "Yeah Right" (reviewed here). I won't discuss either of these songs at length here since I have already reviewed them, but I do want to say that "Yeah Right" has really grown on me, and I like it even more than I did when it first came out. I frequently find it stuck in my head and find it to be such an empowering song, and I wish that it had gotten a music video treatment (seeing as how it is the only single that didn't). Like "Broken Pieces Shine," "Feeding the Dark" is another song that I instantly loved upon first listen, in large part because of the nostalgia that it made me feel. Why did it make me feel nostalgic, you ask? Well, it sounds (at least to me) exactly like it could easily fit on Fallen, the band's first major label commercial album - the album that started it all for most Evanescence fans who have been here since the beginning. The song is sonically identical to the overall sound heard on that album, and Lee even vocally delivers it in a similar way. The song's eerie instrumental and Lee's lower register vocals remind me especially of the Fallen track "Haunted." "Feeding the Dark" employs some industrial and nu metal tactics in keeping not only with Fallen but with classic Linkin Park (namely Hybrid Theory and Meteora). Also featured is a relentlessly heavy guitar groove that persists throughout the majority of the song. I believe that it was the album's producer Nick Raskulinecz who said in the recently released documentary Embracing the Bitter Truth that the song is the heaviest song that Evanescence has ever done, and while I do definitely think that it's up there, I wouldn't agree that it's the heaviest song that they have ever done, as I think that tracks such as "Lies," "Whisper," and the original version of "Never Go Back" are heavier in my opinion. I personally interpret its lyrics as being from the perspective of depression, trauma, or mental illness in general - whatever voices in your head are trying to bring you down: "Well, you know that you can't hide," Lee taunts in the powerful chorus, "and you know that you can't lie 'cause I know all your secrets, and I won't let you forget."

Following "Feeding the Dark" are three previously released singles in a row - the lead single "Wasted on You" (reviewed here), "Better Without You" (reviewed here), and "Use My Voice" (reviewed here) - and I do want to point out that I recently found out (from Embracing the Bitter Truth) that "Use My Voice" was originally intended to be the lead single, and I found that interesting because while I knew that "Wasted on You" was not originally intended to be the first single, I didn't know which song was. I am honestly glad that it didn't end up being "Use My Voice" because while I by no means whatsoever hate it, it's probably the lowest point on the album in my opinion. We then get "Take Cover," and this is technically another one that I had already heard, although obviously not this studio version. With slightly different lyrics in a few spots, the band first debuted the song live in 2016, and it, along with "Yeah Right" and "Feeding the Dark," is an outtake (albeit likely completely re-recorded for The Bitter Truth) from the 2011 self-titled album. I have always loved "Take Cover," one of the angriest, most aggressive, and emotionally rawest songs that Evanescence has ever done, and I remember, after hearing songs like "The Game Is Over" and "Use My Voice" which I felt were somewhat similar in tone and energy, speculating that we were perhaps finally going to get a studio version of the song on The Bitter Truth, and I have to give myself credit for speculating correctly. It definitely fits some of the themes on the album and belongs alongside other songs such as "The Game Is Over," "Yeah Right," "Better Without You," and "Use My Voice." Heavy and aggressive with slamming guitar and drums and Lee employing a more aggressive attitude in her tone than she normally does, the song pulls no punches, warning the target to "take cover 'cause... I'm coming to take your world down." We also hear some of, in my opinion, Amy's most impressive vocal work to date when, near the end of the song, she sings, "...so come on in inside." On the word "inside," she, staying at a relatively high pitch, undulates the word for a relatively sustained period of time, and it blows me away every time.

As mentioned earlier, Amy Lee experienced a devastating loss three years ago - the death of her younger brother Robby Lee. Shortly after that happened, she performed a cover of The Beatles' "Across the Universe" at certain shows during the second leg of the Synthesis Tour to honor him, as he was a huge Beatles fan. (He even provided guest vocals for Amy's cover of "Hello Goodbye" on her Dream Too Much album.) I knew then that there was no question that Robby would have at least one spot on the next Evanescence album, and "Far from Heaven" - the only piano ballad on the album - is his spot. (He technically has two spots and potentially has even more, but I will touch upon that later.) "Far from Heaven" is a beautiful piano ballad somewhat reminiscent of previous ballads such as "My Immortal" and "Lost in Paradise," and it did take a little bit of time to grow on me, as it took me some time to find the melody, if that makes sense. Once I did, I immediately realized how beautiful that it is, not to mention heartbreaking. Lee's brother is one of the primary subjects of this song, but it also has a broader theme - depression and grief in general and Amy questioning her faith. With questioning her faith comes questioning what follows death and whether or not we get to be reunited with loved ones who have passed: "What if I can't see your light anymore," Lee questions in the song's celestial chorus, "'cause I've spent too long in the dark? And I'm on my knees without shame begging to believe, but I feel so far from heaven." You can hear the authentic pain and heartbreak in Amy's vocals, especially in two specific parts: (1) in the second verse: "Wake up to a new day, break my heart again. Dreaming makes for sweet escape, but I can't forget." and (2) in the bridge when she calls out, "Is anyone out there? Did you give up on us?" I am not someone of Christian faith myself, but the beauty of this song is that I don't think that you have to be in order to relate to it and appreciate it. Many of us want to believe in a higher power that protects us and comforts us when we're suffering, and I myself was struggling with wanting to believe in that when I went through my own hardship earlier this year.

A common theme among Amy's lyrics throughout the years is the peace and solace that sleep and dreaming offer. "Imaginary," "Secret Door," and "Dream Too Much" are all examples of this, and The Bitter Truth offers up more of the same. As previously mentioned, "Far from Heaven" refers to waking up to a new day and painfully realizing that you have to be reintroduced to your pain and your grief. In the following song on the album, "Part of Me," there is a lyric that potentially refers to the same theme: "Feed my imaginings; don't let a sweet dream die." I honestly, in a few ways, love that "Part of Me" directly follows "Far from Heaven" because it is kind of like a sequel to it. Genius even points out that the song is about recovering from grief and rediscovering the beauty of life. "Part of Me" is quite possibly my favorite song from The Bitter Truth, as difficult as it is to choose a favorite because of how many gems that the album has to offer. It is such an incredibly powerful track both lyrically and melodically, and it's very emotionally empowering. "I will be more than my survival," Lee asserts powerfully in the song's chorus, "own these scars on my heart. Even in dreams, I hear you calling. Breaking the surface, I won't let go. You're part of me." One of the many reasons why I love this song is how many different ways that there are to interpret its meaning, none of which are, I think, mutually exclusive. Amy revealed, for example, that the song is, in part, about us - the fans - that it is we who will always be a part of her. I also firmly believe, however, that, as mentioned prior, it ties into "Far from Heaven." The theme of survival is one that is present on multiple tracks on the album. In "Broken Pieces Shine," for example, she claims that "survival hurts," and here, she asserts that she "will be more than my survival." Is it possible that part of the process of Amy's grief following the loss of her brother was experiencing survivor's guilt? It is a common response to losing a loved one - wondering why death didn't take you instead and wondering what right you have to go on living and experience happiness when your loved one doesn't get that opportunity.

If that is indeed the case, then it puts the meaning behind "Part of Me" in a new context. As previously stated, the song is said to be about Amy recovering from grief, so I don't think that it is a stretch by any means to suggest that her line about survival is referring to survivor's guilt. Lee stating that she "will be more than my survival" is, in a sense, saying that, "Yes, I am alive, but I am done feeling guilty about it. I am going to live my best life." It is such an incredibly powerful statement. The song also potentially ties into "Artifact / The Turn," especially "Artifact." In "Artifact," she quietly sings in the final line, "You will always be there," and here, she sings that "you're part of me now and always." In both cases, she is essentially capturing someone's presence in a song. Another reason why I love "Part of Me" is because of past Evanescence albums of which it reminds me. It sounds a lot like the 2011 self-titled album (reminding me of songs like "Oceans" and "Never Go Back"), but Amy's haunting chanting at the end reminds me of Origin. I, in addition, love how relentlessly heavy that the song is, featuring, for example, a heavy guitar breakdown approximately two-thirds of the way through the song that reminds me a great deal of HIM's 2007 album Venus Doom. The final song (officially - I will get to that shortly) on The Bitter Truth is "Blind Belief," and although Evanescence has definitely ended albums before on high energy (Fallen's "Whisper" and "Imperfection" on Synthesis serving as examples), they frequently end with ballads (such as The Open Door closing with "Good Enough" and the self-titled album ending with either "Swimming Home" or "Secret Door" depending on if you listen to the standard edition or the deluxe edition). When I first listened to the album, I was somewhat disappointed with how the album ends because I felt like it ended kind of abruptly without closure, and it felt like a song was supposed to follow but was missing. I eventually warmed up to it as the album closer, however, especially because of the words on which the album ends - love over all. What a powerful way to end an album!

The album leaked prior to its official release on March 26th, and although I did not listen to any leaks (wanting to wait for the catharsis of the official release date), I remember a fan on Twitter having listened to it and saying that "Blind Belief" reminded them of Flyleaf's 2005 self-titled album, and I can definitely hear where they were coming from. The song is heavy and also brings in some classic Evanescence by opening with trilling piano (playing a melody that guitar soon joins in playing) and incorporating an orchestra into the mix. The song is very optimistic and hopeful and, like "Use My Voice," is likely thematically sociopolitical, hoping for a brighter future in which we see change for the better. "Are you afraid to see that our fathers were wrong?" we are asked in the chorus. The use of the word fathers strongly suggests to me that Evanescence is addressing injustice stemming from institutionalized systems of power such as patriarchy. The song can also possibly be tied back to "Use My Voice" in that both songs likely refer to firearms in a critical way. In "Use My Voice," Amy sings sarcastically, "Gather your friends and wave your gun in my face, but I will use my voice," and in "Blind Belief," she encourages, "Arms of self-sacrifice, lay them down." It's a little less direct in "Blind Belief" as it's more open to interpretation, but I am reminded of In This Moment's song "Lay Your Gun Down," which frontwoman Maria Brink has, at live shows, sang in response to gun violence, and I think that Evanescence is similarly addressing gun violence here, insisting that it needs to stop. "Blind Belief" also, in a way, brings the album full circle in the way that a line potentially parallels a line from "Broken Pieces Shine," where Lee questions, "How can we ever be us, wondering who we can trust?" Here in "Blind Belief," she declares in the first verse that "love begins with us, but we can't be trusted." I don't believe this to be a coincidence. "Broken Pieces Shine" isn't just questioning whether or not we can trust others; it's also questioning whether or not we can trust ourselves.

As previously stated, however, "Blind Belief" is ultimately hopeful and optimistic. Lee may initially argue that "love begins with us, but we can't be trusted," but as I said before, the final line of the song (and of the album) is love over all, indicating that if we put love before everything else - injustice, oppression, violence, hate, etc. - then maybe we can be trusted. This especially rings true given the line in the chorus about how "we hold the key to redemption," and I also love that there is, as is the case with several of the album's tracks, more than one way to read the lyrics. There is the sociopolitical way that I just suggested, but I think that "Far from Heaven," "Part of Me," and "Blind Belief" can also be read almost as a trilogy about grief - with "Blind Belief" encompassing acceptance and moving forward with hope and renewed resilience. As I said, I came to love and appreciate it as the closing track even if I didn't at first. It, officially speaking, closes the album, but there are different editions of the album that feature differing bonus content. The Target edition CD and the Japanese edition CD, as examples, both feature the cover of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" that Amy Lee and Troy McLawhorn performed last year as well as the band's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" released as a standalone single in 2019 to promote the video game Gears 5. (I especially love the acoustic take on "Cruel Summer.") As I talked about earlier in this review when I discussed "Broken Pieces Shine," there was also a deluxe box set released that featured the album (without, unfortunately, "Cruel Summer" or "The Chain" which meant that diehards like myself who wanted to own all of the tracks had to buy more than one copy of the album), a bonus disc, as I explained, featuring the virtual concert that they streamed from Rock Falcon Studios on December 5th (which includes a cover of Portishead's "Glory Box," making it the second time that Amy has covered a Portishead song) last year as well as a hauntingly gorgeous studio version of "Across the Universe" as a bonus track. (I mentioned earlier that Robby technically has two spots on the album, and this is the other one.)

I also previously mentioned the cassette tape included in the deluxe box set and how side A features snippets of outtakes from the album's recording sessions and side B features seven instrumentals - "The Game Is Over," "Yeah Right," "Use My Voice," "Better Without You," "Wasted on You," "Far from Heaven," and "Blind Belief." (I do wish that "Broken Pieces Shine," "Feeding the Dark," and "Part of Me" instrumentals had been included since they are three of my favorites, but I digress.) Of the outtakes on side A, some of the highlights for me are the intro titled "Wolves," "Avocado Cream" (it's typical of Amy to give songs silly food-related working titles, as "The Only One" was titled "Tuna Afternoon," "Never Go Back" was titled "Orange," and "Part of Me" was titled "Pickle Mustard"), the aforementioned "BPS #7.1," "Teleportation," and "Farther." The Bitter Truth, as I have come to expect from Evanescence over the last two decades, is phenomenal and does not disappoint, although I do have some minor complaints to voice, none of which are serious enough to really make me appreciate this album (which, as is also always the case with Evanescence albums, dropped at a perfect time in my life) any less. Firstly (and I am not the only fan who has voiced this complaint), some of the songs are mixed/produced in such a way that Amy's vocals are drowned out and too quiet, and I believe that I mentioned that in some of my reviews of the singles. This is especially apparent in the verses of "Blind Belief," but it's also a problem in "The Game Is Over" and "Feeding the Dark." With that being said, you can tell that the band was going for a very raw, almost live sound with this album and wanted it to be heavy, so the focus being more centered on the instruments is very likely intentional. Secondly, there are aspects of the tracklisting that I personally would have done a little bit differently. I don't really like the transition between "Feeding the Dark" and "Wasted on You" and think that "Wasted on You" should have been either closer to the beginning of the album or closer to the end. It, to me, doesn't sound right in the middle.

What even is the bitter truth? Well, despite the title of the album and despite Amy's claim in "The Game Is Over" that "there's only one," I think that the title is in reference to more than one truth - the truth that we all die, the truth that life isn't always a fairy-tale, and Amy's own personal truth that she isn't going to let be silenced. One of the overarching themes of The Bitter Truth, for example, is fighting off patriarchal oppression both in the music industry and in the world in general, as can be clearly heard in "Yeah Right," "Better Without You," "Use My Voice," and "Take Cover," and I kind of wish that all of these songs were right next to each other consecutively so that it felt almost like a story arc on the album as you listen from start to finish. Three of them - "Better Without You," "Use My Voice," and "Take Cover" are, but I also feel that "Yeah Right" is part of that saga and that it's interrupted by "Feeding the Dark" and "Wasted on You." I put some thought into how I might structure the tracklisting:

1. Artifact / The Turn
2. Broken Pieces Shine
3. Feeding the Dark
4. The Game Is Over
5. Take Cover
6. Use My Voice
7. Yeah Right
8. Better Without You
9. Wasted on You
10. Far from Heaven
11. Part of Me
12. Blind Belief
    

That, I think, pretty much solves most of the issues that I personally have with the tracklisting, but I once again digress. At the end of the day, the fact remains that my favorite band of all time is back with a vengeance. As I have also seen some other fans comment, I do miss the epic theatrical quality of songs like "Whisper," "Lacrymosa," and "Your Star," but this album definitely offers theatricality in its own way (such as the lulling bells of "Wasted on You" and the music box opening to "Better Without You"). Here is to hoping that it isn't another ten years before we get another original album!