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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Story of the Year - In The Wake Of Determination, 16 Nov 2005
Following their 2003 debut, Page Avenue, Story of the Year's new album hopes to keep their now-very healthy fan base.
The first thing that you'll notice is that this is different to Page Avenue. Gone are the melodic slow songs such as "Anthem Of Our Dying Day" and "Sidewalks". Forget the pop-like sing-a-long songs like "Razorblades". Welcome the heavier, more upbeat songs. Don't get me wrong, Page Avenue was amazing, but just because you loved that - don't think you're automatically going to like this.The album kicks off with the loud "We Don't Care Anymore", and almost immediately Dan is screaming '...no second chance tonight', and it's at this point that you know you're in for one hell of a ride. Throughout the album are loads of catchy, kick-ass riffs and fantastic vocal work (such as in the last minute or so of "Take Me Back"), ranging from screams to chants to a softer, more harmonic style. Lyrics such as 'Stereo, stereo, tired bullsh*t dressed in gold' reveal how Story of the Year feel. The lyrics are fairly personal, with this particular example refering to the trash that most people churn out (i.e. hip-hop all sounds the same etc) and how the band feel about it. The only slow song on the album (excluding the 'hidden' acoustic track) is Sleep, which has an eerie feel before reaching a climax in which the chorus is sung a bit louder and in a slightly higher-pitched voice. The rest focus more on the type of music that gets you jumping around pretending to play your imaginary electric guitar in front of a thousand people... Well, maybe just me then :p
Either way - don't be fooled into thinking this is some sort of cheesy American 80's trash that's all 'rock and hardcore'. This is the real stuff and is damn good. It certainly takes a few listens before you'll get used to it, but one thing that I noticed was that if you read the booklet that comes with the CD, and read what each individual band member has to say about each song, you get used to the album much quicker, and you'll soon learn to love it. Highlights of the album include the excellent "Take Me Back", "Taste The Poison", "Stereo" and pumping "Wake Up The Voiceless". The album ends with the heaviest song of the lot that will really get the blood going - "'Is This My Fate?' He Asks Them mixes rapid riffs with screaming vocals and excellent drumming to finely wrap off a great album. Overall, the album is certainly not a classic, but is well worth a look, SotY fan or not.
On another note, I recently had the pleasure of going to Taste of Chaos at Brixton, and Story of the Year were the best performers there and are absolutely incredible live - so if you're a SotY fan - I reccomend you buy tickets to their next show as soon as they come on sale.
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~ Story of the Year
~ Story of the Year
~ Disturbed
~ 30 Seconds to Mars
~ Three Days Grace
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