Mid-sized town about an hour north of Chicago. Tis a'ight.
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Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
Borrowed some of the review template from Boeing, cheers man.
First I'll explain my genre classification. With this album it's extremely difficult to classify it. It is an emo band, but not the rubbish emo that comes to mind (Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance...). This is emo that makes you truly feel the music. Songs on the album also remind one of indie rockers and modern punk.
The Devil and God is Brand New's third release, and with each release they have produced superior music. They started as a normal pop/punk band, with angsty teen lyrics because they were, well, angsty teens. Over time though, their music changed to be harder, deeper, and most importantly, better. The Devil and God is what the genre should be. Few albums can be classified as art, but this is one of those few. Its weakest tracks are heads and shoulders better than anything in the genre, and its best tracks are modern classics. They're the sort of tracks that take hundreds of listens to get everything from them. Even as I wrote this review, I noticed something else in my favorite song from the album.
The album succeeds because it flows so well. Vocals and guitars and drums ebb in and out of the listener's attention, never quite fading away, and the experience can be ethereal. There are a few songs that seem out of place, though that doesn't still make them good tracks--they just interrupt the flow. Ultimately though, they are few in number and the album quality is not lessened.
This is a fierce album that's almost more an experience than a listen. You feel the drums in your heartbeat while the guitar rushes through your bloodstream, and the lyrics get engraved into your mind. This album, while bitter, is also _rocking_. It can be listened to when you're in deep depression or in absolute bliss, and its effect is not lessened. It's fantastic album for emo kids needing to find some real music, indie kids looking for something with a bite, or fans of good music in general. This album will not disappoint.
9/10
I'm feeling generous so I'll give a track-by-track breakdown.
Sowing Season (Yeah)
This first song is reminscent of Brand New's earlier work, at least at the beginning. It begins quietly, talking of difficult times ([i]was losing all my friends/was losing them to drinking and to driving/was losing all my friends, but I got them back/ I am on the mend/at least now I can say that I am trying/and I hope you will forget things I still lack). Then suddenly, the quiet, whispered 'yeah's at the end of each line are sceamed, the guitar kicks in, and the album's experience has begin. Fans of their older work have tended to like this song the most after the first listen.
Milsestone
This song is another reminscing of better times. It manages to be catchy and leave a heavy feeling without messing either effects up. (I used to pray a God was listening/I used to make my parents proud/I was the glue that kept my friends together/now they don't talk and we don't go out). This song really highlights Brand New's ability to layer the lyrics with guitars and drums and background vocals. The last portion of this song is instrumental and the listener is almost more focused on this part than in any other moment in the song. The harsher end fades away softly into the next track,
Jesus Christ
This is perhaps the best track of the past few years in the genre. Maybe in other genres. It's background is simple, the same guitar repeated, puntucated with the same drumming. The lyrics affect the listener regardless of religion, and the song isn't even religious. I'm an athiest and this song was deeply meaningful, especially with the lyrics: Jesus Christ I'm alone again/so what did you do those three days you were dead?cause this problem's gonna last more than the weekend/Jesus Christ, I'm not scared to die/I'm a little bit scared of what comes after/do I get the gold chariot?/do I float through the ceiling?
Then later, I know you think that I'm someone you can trust/but I'm scared I'll get scared and I swear I'll try to nail you back up/so do you think that we could work out a sign/so I'll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try.
It's hard to put into words how perfect this song is. Just listen.
Degausser
The album's tone shifts, now, with harsher tones to the lyrics and louder guitar. This song is a perfect example of how drums provide a perfect background to the song--the lyrics rise and fade with the guitar while the drums beat on in the background--it's spot-on. The song itself is about a break up, and it captures the mixed rage and sorrow and confusion that anyone feels. well take me, take me back to your bed/I love you so much that it hurts my head/I don't mind you under my skin/I'll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in/when we were made we were set apart/life is a test and I get bad marks/now some saint got the job of writing down my sins/the storm is coming/the storm is coming in. The song fades again at the end, the drums stop, and the singer sings quietly to guitar.
Limousine
This song is hit or miss with listeners. It's the longest track on the album, at 7:42, and its broken up with long instrumental period. Personally, it's my favorite track on the album. It begins with the same quiet tone, speaking of the worst of human characteristics: hey, you're right get your petals out and lay them in the aisle/pretend your garden grows and that it's your day to wed/we found your man he's drinking up, he's all-american/and he'll drive/he's voluntarily graced to end your life. Suddenly, the guitars pick up, and everything is pushed out of thought--its just the guitars and you. The song fades into you're so free, yeah you were right about me/can I get myself back from underneath this guilt that will crush me/and in the choir i saw a sad messiah/he was bored and tired of my laments/'said I died for you one time but never again.
The song quiets down again and the lines well I love you so much, but do me a favor baby don't reply/because I can dish it out, but I cant take it, growing increasingly hysterical as the song goes on. It culminates in harsh guitar again then fades away into the next song. If it sounds like Brand New repeats the same song format over and over, I apologise, because they don't.
You Won't Know
This is another song that talks about what comes after death. It's a particularly haunting song and I have to skip occasionally, if I'm focusing too much on the lyrics and how the relate to people I know or my own life. It's the lines: so they say, they say in Heaven theres no husbands or wives/on the day that I show up they'll be completely out of their forgiveness supply/and they don't have no telephone/I can't call you and tell you that I'm dead and gone/so you won't know that the song reachest its finest moment.
Welcome to Bangkok
This song is entirely instrumental, but it fits the mood perfectly. This song is what I was referring to earlier where the listener gets an ethereal feeling. There's not much to say except its a fine mid-point of the album, and its rare that a modern band can pull off an instrumental.
Not the Sun
It's a shame that this track was put here in the album, or in the album at all. It quickly kills the mood set by Welcome and it's just of the same sort of song as the earlier tracks. It would fit better on an EP or as a bonus track. The song is repetitive, too. While other tracks would repeat lines in a way that made them more effective, this track is just loud and boring. It ends suddenly too, again halting the immersion.
Luca
This song should have come after Welcome. It fits with the rest of the album and brings back everything Brand New does well on the album - instruments and lyrics that flow in and out of each other. It's hard to describe this song, but it's a fine track. This is the song you lean in to listen to the whispers only to be rewarded by sudden, loud guitar. After the initial recoil at the break in melody, the song again shines. A great track that ends on a harsh note.
Untitled
Another instrumental, this time less in place. It's good, but again it breaks up the way the tracks are ordered. Perhaps this was meant, but it would better fit elsewhere, or even nowhere at all. It's too short and doesn't go anywhere to warrant a place here in the back quarter of the album.
The Archers' Bows Are Broken
What a great track. Brand New at their finest. It's got it all--and a catchy chorus to boot. It begins with the mocking who do you carry the torch for, my young man?/do you believe in anything?do you carry it around just to burn things down? and picks up into excellent guitar with a fast percussion backdrop. The song seems to refer to religious people with no substance to their belief with lyrics like what did you learn tonight/while shouting so loud, you barely joyous, broken thing?/you're a voice that never sings, is what I say/you were freezing over hell/you were bringing on the end you do so well/you can only blame yourself, is what I say. It reminds me of my own feelings with someone that I cared about who was too relgious to see common sense. I was referring to this track when I mentioned I only just understood a part of it today.
Handcuffs
The final track of the album is a bit of a let-down sadly. Again, its faults aren't that it's a bad song, because it's a great track, it just doesn't fit. It almost does, but not quite. The great part in the song are the lines: it's hard be the better man/when you forget you're trying/it's hard to be the better man/when you're still lying. It almost saves the song and its position on the album, but not quite. The track fades away into 'you're still lying...' then departs into nothingness a bit too quickly.
The album also have too bonus tracks, aolC-aloC and a different version of Luca. aolC-aloC is a great track but its very different from the rest of the album, so it fits well as an outside song. The Luca here is louder and tighter, and is again better as an outside song than in with the album proper.
Again, it's a great album, and its faults are not nearly enough to detract from this masterpiece. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy it.
If you like this album, I suggest looking into the leaked demo Fight Off Your Demons. This was an early version of The Devil and God, but because it was leaked, the band removed some songs and changed others. There's enough you'll recognize but some new songs will draw you in. From there check out their second release Deja Entendu, but it won't be as good as The Devil and God in you really enjoyed this album. Some songs on it are superb though, so check it out.
Re: Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
I'm not a huge fan, but some of those songs are alright.
You're absolutely right when you say it's miles better than 'emo' like MCR etc (if this can be classed as 'emo' that is. I'd just call it alternative rock). And it's a lot better than their earlier stuff that I heard before.
Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
