After a great summer supporting Green Day in the UK, and a load of success for Taking Back Sunday’s emo-punk skater-boy rock, Louder Now takes the group's classic ethos of intertwining vocals and hardcore meets-rock-meets pop to an even more enticing level. Louder Now is not only the title of Taking Back Sunday’s third album and major label debut (Warner Bros.), issued in April 2006, but that’s exactly what the band is now. Louder Now is an apt title for a super-tight, aggressive album. Literally, Taking Back Sunday’s new songs are louder, intense, fast; they sound epic. Figuratively, this band is making an even bigger mark and louder statement. The band's songwriting has admittedly matured, honing their sound into one fit for arenas. The band's last album hit No. 3 on the Billboard charts; Louder Now is a ton better than that album. There's no fat, no wasted energy. New album benefits from Eric Valentine's (Lostprophets, Queens Of The Stone Age) clean production touch that isn't overly slick, giving the band plenty of breathing room to ponder, crunch, and explode at will with seamless elasticity.
What's It Feel Like to Be a Ghost? opens with terse riffing that soon surges with a composed feeling of frenzy over a thick, dirty bassline. Following suit, Liar (It Takes One to Know One) doesn't miss a beat, rocking out amid trademark, animated wordplay between vocalist Adam Lazzara and guitarist Fred Mascherino. Twenty-Twenty Surgery simply soars with the richest vocals on the album, and My Blue Heaven (whose beginning vaguely resembles Third Eye Blind's Wounded) brings in the strings for added effect. My Blue Heaven is probably one of the most sincere, honest tracks on the album. On Spin Lazzara hits his highest pitch then drops his voice (by the way, the things he does with his voice throughout the whole record is amazing) with Mascherino echoing a few seconds later doing the same combined with riveting guitar and mile-a-minute thunderous drums. The cherry on top for this track would definitely be the solo that glides in out of nowhere. I’ll Let You Live, just like the album opener, was a perfect choice for putting it where it lies. Perfect closer.
Taking Back Sunday is back and has redefined itself. The line-up has settled in and each member has found his place in the band. It’s amazing how much you can tell each individual contributed to the songwriting process and to see how far along the songwriting has come. The band took a much longer period to record the album, and implemented numerous innovative techniques, including those pioneered by other bands, like the splitting up of chords into single notes to record, as previously used by Def Leppard. There is a mix of distortion, acoustic flavoring and crunch with the album, and a wider range of instruments have been used, such as the tambourine and xylophone in the song Divine Intervention. There are some ground sounding parts to the album, such as the intro to Miami and then the very decent solo toward the end, and the fast lead guitar in Spin. The dual-singing approach that the band has used in the past is still present. Everything about this effort is passionate, confident and real. It's a good example of how Taking Back Sunday plans to stay true to its roots but grow in a new, more ambitious rock direction with Louder Now – a move that will broaden its already devoted fanbase. It’s scary to think about what these guys might come up with next; however, in the meantime, they’re back on top.
Already PlatinumWith his debut album Already Platinum Slim Thug refines Houston's signature sound, simultaneously differentiating himself from the ambitious pack of hungry MCs with similar platinum visions. The album effectively introduces a rapper who is sure to at