ARTICLE JUMP
Some albums click instantaneously; you can love something from the very first listen. Other times there are albums that take a little time to register with the listener - it could months, or possibly even years. Here we have five albums from 2007 that finally made sense - or more sense - to us in the year of 2008.
- Thrice - The Alchemy Index Volumes I & II (Vagrant)
- Broadway Calls - Broadway Calls (Adeline/State of Mind)
- Ringworm - The Venomous Grand Design (Victory)
- Tomahawk - Anonymous (Ipecac)
- The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works (Relapse)
The first two volumes of this four-volume concept album from Thrice weren't so much underappreciated, as the parts didn't really quantify for me until I had the whole. With volumes three and four coming in 2008, it finally began to click. I think I've had more fun making my own mixes from the four recordings that I do listening to the albums in the listed order.
I already owned the debut EP from this Oregon punk outfit and had seen them live in the basement of a building in Baltimore when this record came out. Somehow I let the original release of this album slip past me in 2007, but the re-release of the album in 2008 via Adeline Records caused me to take a second look. I glad I did as this became one of my most-played records of 2008.
The Venomous Grand Design was originally written off for being far too thrashy when compared to its predecessors. And then one day a song from this album came on random, so I decided to play it in its entirety. It still is a lot more thrash/crossover-based than Ringworm's other records, but it still rages hard. Sometimes you just have to let expectations go and take an album as it is.
The third full-length from Tomahawk was quite a difficult pill to swallow for most. In fact, I still find it a hard pill to swallow if I'm not in an attentive mood. This concept album is a long stretch from the more straight-forward rock sound of Mit Gas. but when give the time and devotion of attentive ears, it can be as enjoyable a listen as anything the band has offered to date.
Since the release of Calculating Infinity it's been an odd relationship for this New Jersey math-core outfit and me. Their EP with Mike Patton was an instant favorite of mine, while their follow-up full-length, Miss Machine, was initially written off to be mediocre. I eventually warmed up to the album and fell in love with it. I have the same feelings towards Ire Works. I was disappointed initially, but now with a year to absorb it, I have a new appreciation for the album. I don't know why it takes me so long to come around to The Dillinger Escape Plan's albums these days; I guess its just part of the process.
(Michael)
