Anberlin - Cities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH8-8h18ATU

Bio
Anberlin consists of Stephen Christian (lead vox), Deon Rexroat (bass), Joesph Milligan (lead guitar and background vox), Christian McAlhaney (guitar) and Nathan Young (drums) formed in 2002 in Florida.

Overall
Their album, Cities, is a "Man vs. World" themed album. Their previous album called "Never take Friendship Personal" was considered to them as a "Man vs. Man" album. This new album takes a new approach than the sophmore album. their first two songs have the same feel as their hit songs on the second album. but the rest of the album is quite experimental and it seems as if it is showing a sadness that enveloped their band.

The album takes a little bit to get used to. at first i thought it was mediocre. there were no songs that stuck out as songs in their previous album did. but slowly, i began to realize the potential of a few songs.

Instrumental
The majority of the instruments are pretty mediocre but i do have to comment on their lead guitarist. he has mucho talent and rip up the guitar like nothing else. bass lines are def fun to listen to.

Recording & Studio Magic
The album uses has more studio magic than their previous album. they seem to use a lot of "techno synthesizer" noises as a part of their songs. but other than that, there is a good amount of compression on the instruments but not too much on the vox.

Live Potential
I have been to a concert about a year ago. they were better than expected live. Vox is pretty hard to attain because of his high notes and the singer did go off key once in a while. instruments were pretty much kick ass and the front man knew what he was doing on stage.

In Retrospect
The album did take some time to grow on me but its an album that i can listen to here and there. I actually preordered this album so i was very much looking forward to it. i honestly a bit disappointed that the album was mediocre.

Album Info
Released – Feb 20, 2007
Number of Songs – 15
Album Length - ~58 Minutes
Singles – Godspeed
Recommended Songs – Alexithymia, Inevitable, Dismantle.Repair.
www.anberlin.com

Ratings
Lyrics – 8.5
Melody – 8.5
Instrumentally – 8
Recording – 8.5
Studio Magic – 4
Originality – 7
Live Potential – 8.5
Overall - 8
WJOD - 8

Explanation of the Ratings
Rating is from 1-10. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest.
Overall is NOT an average of the other ratings.
This is similar to grading system. A 7 is a C. etc.
WJOD = worth dl/jacking off danny.