Anberlin – Cities
Tooth & Nail Records (released 2/20/07)
Emo/Pop Rock
Anberlin streamed their latest album, Cities, for their fans on their official MySpace page, giving the world a chance to listen to the album before they buy it. Artists take this innovative chance because the pay off is greater when they believe in their record and the purchasing power of those who enjoy it.
They have the ability to be breakthrough artists; Anberlin has plenty of talent with their lead vocalist, Stephen Christian, who has a favorable range. However, it is as much of a deterrent as it is a plus—to sound like Papa Roach, the All-American Rejects and a strain of Bon Jovi, with many bands currently trying that sound.
“Godspeed” reminded me of Papa Roach’s “To Be Loved” but is the appropriate way to kick off the album. It was enjoyable, however, the biggest hangup is the over-produced, too-polished feeling of Cities. The sound isn’t unique throughout the album because of those factors, and not that much different than what is already commercially played. The song-writing and sound is strong in “Unwinding Cable Car”, “Alexithymia” and “Inevitable” particularly, but the rest of the album blends too much for me to leave a strong impression.
I would like to see Anberlin cut a future live bonus rock-acoustic record—”Inevitable” would be the perfect choice, because their voices are tailored to stand out on their own without being over-produced, like in “There’s No Mathematics”. “Unwinding Cable Car” should be the direction they go in and I would strongly advice this to be the first single.
Rating:
