Daybreak [CD]

The Good: It's undoubtedly the band's best release since 2003's In Reverie. There's great songwriting and unique instrumentation across the board.

The Bad: The long gap since their previous release and the group's difficulty retaining members leave listeners with a couple of somewhat different, if incompatible, musical styles to sort out.

Anyone familiar with Saves The Day's catalog already knows that every new album from the group inevitably varies from the one prior in two distinct ways. The first difference has to do with an evolving musical style -- something all great bands experience over time. Whether or not a shift in style is perceived to be a move in the right direction is a subjective matter and should thus be left to the personal tastes of listeners.

The second difference, as always with Saves The Day, has to do with lead singer and chief songwriter Chris Conley's voice. Conley has aged 13 years since 1998's Can't Slow Down. In that time, his singing voice has gone through a multitude of changes that are paradoxically absent from his speaking voice which remains mostly unaffected. At first, over the course of the band's first three albums, Conley's vocal transformation was gradual and most fans agreed that his voice was improving. Each album since has featured more unique and risky vocal styles that range from mellow crooning to angst-laden snarls. But with each change in musical style and overall vocal technique, one constant has remained throughout: the timbre of Conley's voice gradually became more and more nasal in tone. What might have been initially described as a tenor voice has slowly evolved into what now could be perceived to fit into an alto range. For some fans, this change was completely inconsequential. For many others, however, Conley's voice became cringe-worthy and proved to be especially off-putting for those new to the band.

Daybreak is no exception to the rule; the music changes and Conley's voice sounds higher. These are the time-tested patterns of change for Saves The Day. Accordingly, anyone who wishes to examine their new music needs to come to terms with these constants in order to focus on what's there and not what used to be.

There are a number of exciting songs on this album that showcase Chris Conley's lifelong passion for songwriting. Songs like "Undress Me", "Let It All Go", and the epic title track really shine through with tight arrangements and well-orchestrated melodic hooks. "Living Without Love" and "Deranged & Desperate" work well, but can sometimes sound like respective throwbacks to In Reverie and Sound The Alarm. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either.

Daybreak took Conley four years and a few lineup changes to complete, and this is unfortunately evident in the final product. Songs like "E", "Z", "U" and "Chameleon" are all decent tunes but end up covering familiar terrain, seeming to mirror some of the weaker tracks off their last release, Under The Boards.

For an album with such varied songs, it's difficult to decide on a consistent rating as a whole. The one bit of praise this new release most certainly deserves is that it's a very bold and promising effort. At its strongest, Daybreak is evidence that the Chris Conley and the Saves The Day moniker have an opportunity to once again prove themselves as a driving influential force in a cluttered and struggling genre to which they were instrumental in defining.

Saves the Day's new album is really, really good. It's rocking, thoughtful, experimental, and it never ceases to be interesting. If you liked any of the last three albums, you'll love this. At the same time, though, it's totally unique and unlike any of its predecessors.

Having been a big fan of Saves the Day since 2000, I've been around for a lot of major changes. While Stay What You Are began to worry some of the original fans about the band's direction, In Reverie led to a mass exodus of those aforementioned early fans. Coupled with major label problems and personal issues, Chris Conley hit a point in his life that inspired an album (Sound the Alarm) that blew my mind. The first time that I heard the track "Shattered," I was floored. This outburst of anger, fear and anxiety was disturbing...and I couldn't stop listening to this album. For the first time, I began taking this band very seriously. Under the Boards followed a year later with another punch of mature emotional carnage that is unheard of in this genre...

Chris was writing albums that really made me think about a lot of big picture stuff that very few other songwriters have inspired in me. Almost every time the band played somewhere around Boston over the past four years, I made sure to be there - to be someone in the crowd that could say, "I believe in what you're doing."

So I've been waiting a long time for this album...

What was started with Sound the Alarm culminates beautifully on Daybreak, and I imagine that this album will soon be considered as a major point upwards in the band's history. Chris Conley has penned arguably three of his finest tracks ("Daybreak," "O", and "Undress Me") amidst a number of other solid entries into their catalogue. I have a hard time believing that anyone who has been enjoying this band's metamorphosis into a very mature act could not be blown away by these tracks. The final portion of track 1 "Daybreak" is the most joyful piece that Conley has ever written while "Undress Me" moves me emotionally in ways that few songs ever have... this has become my favorite track by one of my absolute favorite bands.

"Too many faces that turned away" from this band have missed out on the amazing work they've been doing over the years... so if you're on the fence about these guys for whatever reason, take a chance on this one.

Track Ratings:
1.5
2.4½
3.4
4.3½
5.3½
6.4
7.3½
8.4
9.3½
10. 4½
11.5
Note: In my ratings scale, not many tracks make it into the 4 ½ category, and it is rare for a song to make it to a 5. So, this is a very very good album.

*****___(Perfection) The highest degree of enjoyment / fulfillment I've personally experienced with reading
****½____(Excellent) Only lower than five stars due to falling short on any number of "subjective" categories
****____(Influential) A very satisfying experience and has me looking for more from this writer/genre
***½____(Good) Keeps me engaged but unlikely to look for more by this writer unless highly recommended
***_____(Average) Could take it or leave it and will not be looking for more by the same writer
**______(Poor) Constantly asking myself, "How much worse can this get?" every few minutes
*_______(Terrible) Belongs in the dumpster... I mean, the recycling bin