kswizzle
09/03/09, 01:54 PM
Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground
Record Label: Capitol
Release Date: September 8, 2009
I have always loved Saosin. When I was in high school, Translating the Name came out. I was blown away. I said, "How can this band be among my top ten favorite bands with only five songs?" Then, when the self titled album dropped, it cemented them as pretty much my favorite band. Their style just clicked so well and encompassed some many different types of music I liked. Saosin does have a habit of making their fans wait for new material, and I have been eagerly awaiting this album. Which brings me to the review. I have to look at In Search of Solid Ground from two perspectives: First, as a diehard Saosin fan and second, as someone with a new album coming across his desk.
Up first: the die hard fan. Needless to say, I'm dissapointed. I've read a few reviews and one of the biggest complaints is that they are not producing the riffs and edge of past efforts (the verse riff for "Collapse" is still one of my favorites) and have gone soft. Now, I can't complain too much, because I have seen so many bands fluctuate their sound over the years (e.g. Avenged Sevenfold, Thrice, etc.), and it's not necessarily a bad thing. However, I do feel that the songs here aren't the strongest in Saosin's catalog, regardless of style. There wasn't any wow factor to these songs. On the self titled album, I seemed to have a new favorite track every few weeks. I must have listened to the vocal harmony and drum fill on "Follow and Feel" about fifteen times in a row because I was just so blown away. Instead I feel that half the songs have a radio airplay gloss over them, a rhythm based on straight up chord strumming and less creative riffs.
It seems like production and vocals were given too much time compared to the real song writing. I hear a lot of these songs and think they have some nugget of hope in them, but they just seem to be produced to match up with just standard radio rock. Take "Fireflies"; I keep hearing the chorus and I can imagine live it can turn out to be pretty cool and a crowd pleaser, but for some reason the track just seems weak, just passing through my ears. I really did like the three demos that were released on the Grey EP and felt they were pretty solid but when it came to making the actual album, the same songs (Why Can't You See, I Keep My Secrets Safe, and The Worst of Me) sound over-produced and the change in vocal arrangement just seems to take away from the songs. I feel that the production of the album is it's greatest downfall, followed by half an album of generic filler tracks, and the distortion on the rhythm guitar just doesn't cut it for me. It just stays the same between many tracks and seems too "dirty" compared to the over production on most tracks. I remember an interview with Saosin where they said on Translating the Name, there was one distortion, and that was Saosin's sound. And on Saosin, they really experimented with the sound to make the distortion that was the best for each song. In Search of Solid Ground seems to just pick one irritating, crunchy sound and roll with it.There are a few good and strong songs on here, don't get me wrong. But the album as a whole is a letdown, especially if you want to hear something awesome out of Mr. Rodriguez.
If I were a newcomer to Saosin, I would probably think it was a decent debut effort. Not something that I would keep coming back to, but if songs came up on my shuffle, I would probably take notice. The songs do feel like some good old-fashioned rock radio tracks with their booming choruses like on "Nothing Is What It Seems" and "Deep Down." However the sound of this album brings too many other bands to mind and doesn't separate Saosin from the pack. I feel a lot of these songs could have been from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and their Lonely Road sessions (except slightly better). The single "Changing" feels like it was written by The Used. The beginning of "Deep Down" could be at home on an Incubus album. While Saosin can be lumped in with a lot of these bands, they need to have something to set them apart and that is missing on this album. Especially after hearing the song "You Never Noticed Me," meant for the Japanese release, you start to think that the sound of what made the album was dictated by suits. Some fresh ears might take the album better but only to a certain point.
Saosin unfortunately may have fallen victim to the music industry game. Having the recording process on display at Hurley studios and all the tie-ins with Hurley and Pacific Sunwear surrounding this album only conjures up memories of Cartel and their "Band in a Bubble" experience with Dr. Pepper and their dismal sophomore LP. I have hope that some of these songs may have some legs in a live set and can only hope that this is the case, or that the band breaks tradition and heads back to the studio sometime before 2012.
"On My Own"; "Is This Real"; "The Worst of Me"
The Used, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 30 Seconds to Mars
http://myspace.com/saosin
Record Label: Capitol
Release Date: September 8, 2009
I have always loved Saosin. When I was in high school, Translating the Name came out. I was blown away. I said, "How can this band be among my top ten favorite bands with only five songs?" Then, when the self titled album dropped, it cemented them as pretty much my favorite band. Their style just clicked so well and encompassed some many different types of music I liked. Saosin does have a habit of making their fans wait for new material, and I have been eagerly awaiting this album. Which brings me to the review. I have to look at In Search of Solid Ground from two perspectives: First, as a diehard Saosin fan and second, as someone with a new album coming across his desk.
Up first: the die hard fan. Needless to say, I'm dissapointed. I've read a few reviews and one of the biggest complaints is that they are not producing the riffs and edge of past efforts (the verse riff for "Collapse" is still one of my favorites) and have gone soft. Now, I can't complain too much, because I have seen so many bands fluctuate their sound over the years (e.g. Avenged Sevenfold, Thrice, etc.), and it's not necessarily a bad thing. However, I do feel that the songs here aren't the strongest in Saosin's catalog, regardless of style. There wasn't any wow factor to these songs. On the self titled album, I seemed to have a new favorite track every few weeks. I must have listened to the vocal harmony and drum fill on "Follow and Feel" about fifteen times in a row because I was just so blown away. Instead I feel that half the songs have a radio airplay gloss over them, a rhythm based on straight up chord strumming and less creative riffs.
It seems like production and vocals were given too much time compared to the real song writing. I hear a lot of these songs and think they have some nugget of hope in them, but they just seem to be produced to match up with just standard radio rock. Take "Fireflies"; I keep hearing the chorus and I can imagine live it can turn out to be pretty cool and a crowd pleaser, but for some reason the track just seems weak, just passing through my ears. I really did like the three demos that were released on the Grey EP and felt they were pretty solid but when it came to making the actual album, the same songs (Why Can't You See, I Keep My Secrets Safe, and The Worst of Me) sound over-produced and the change in vocal arrangement just seems to take away from the songs. I feel that the production of the album is it's greatest downfall, followed by half an album of generic filler tracks, and the distortion on the rhythm guitar just doesn't cut it for me. It just stays the same between many tracks and seems too "dirty" compared to the over production on most tracks. I remember an interview with Saosin where they said on Translating the Name, there was one distortion, and that was Saosin's sound. And on Saosin, they really experimented with the sound to make the distortion that was the best for each song. In Search of Solid Ground seems to just pick one irritating, crunchy sound and roll with it.There are a few good and strong songs on here, don't get me wrong. But the album as a whole is a letdown, especially if you want to hear something awesome out of Mr. Rodriguez.
If I were a newcomer to Saosin, I would probably think it was a decent debut effort. Not something that I would keep coming back to, but if songs came up on my shuffle, I would probably take notice. The songs do feel like some good old-fashioned rock radio tracks with their booming choruses like on "Nothing Is What It Seems" and "Deep Down." However the sound of this album brings too many other bands to mind and doesn't separate Saosin from the pack. I feel a lot of these songs could have been from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and their Lonely Road sessions (except slightly better). The single "Changing" feels like it was written by The Used. The beginning of "Deep Down" could be at home on an Incubus album. While Saosin can be lumped in with a lot of these bands, they need to have something to set them apart and that is missing on this album. Especially after hearing the song "You Never Noticed Me," meant for the Japanese release, you start to think that the sound of what made the album was dictated by suits. Some fresh ears might take the album better but only to a certain point.
Saosin unfortunately may have fallen victim to the music industry game. Having the recording process on display at Hurley studios and all the tie-ins with Hurley and Pacific Sunwear surrounding this album only conjures up memories of Cartel and their "Band in a Bubble" experience with Dr. Pepper and their dismal sophomore LP. I have hope that some of these songs may have some legs in a live set and can only hope that this is the case, or that the band breaks tradition and heads back to the studio sometime before 2012.
"On My Own"; "Is This Real"; "The Worst of Me"
The Used, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 30 Seconds to Mars
http://myspace.com/saosin