#AlbumRapidReact

[mattwellsey-blog]

Album Rapid React: "This Is How The Wind Shifts" - Silverstein

Post-hardcore is sometimes hard for me to evaluate.  It isn't my favorite genre and I only have two bands in the genre that I consistently listen to when they are on top of their game (Silverstein and Emery). Silverstein's last full length, Rescue, didn't qualify as a great effort with me.  So, when I heard they were trying the concept album route again, I felt compelled to give them another shot.

Concept albums always get higher marks in my books, but the concept for This Is How The Wind Shifts is pretty amazing.  There are 14 songs assembled in two, seven-track pairings.  Tracks 1-7 tell a story and Tracks 8-14 tell the same story under a different set of circumstances.

So, the layout is such:

1: Stand Amid The Roar; 8: In A Place Of Solace

2: On Brave Mountains We Conquer; 9: In Silent Seas We Drown

3: Massachusetts; 10: California

4: This Is How; 11: The Wind Shifts

5: A Better Place; 12: To Live And To Lose

6: Hide Your Secrets; 13: With Second Chances

7: Arrivals; 14: Departures (also a previous album title)

This creative layout was paired with their best music and vocals to date.  Shane Told's voice (the best in all of post-hardcore) seems to push a higher timbre that echoes a richer production style - very clean and concise with guitar sounds that are sharp and light.  As for the writing, I'm still partial to the lyrics of Shipwreck In The Sand, but that album resonated well with some personal experiences I was going through at the time. 

The band was able to mix in their emo-poppy elements from earlier albums with their deeper, darker trending albums of late.  Probably my favorite mix of this is found in "Massachusetts", as it has the sing-songiest melody of the entire album, but also has the most appropriately placed screamo-infused guitar breakdown.  I think with  their previous album, the band decided to scream for the sake of screaming.  I find that absolutely unnecessary.  Instead, with TIHTWS, they screamed in perfect places that added to the quality of the song at hand. 

Basically, Silverstein remembered that they have emo roots and aren't quite as tough as they wish they were.  I don't need them to be tough; I need them to relate.  I could feel the pain, sorrow, clarity, and vision that this work of art is supposed to relay to the listener.

And man, do they get that point across.  This is their best album ever... and it's not even close.

Album Rapid Rating: 4.5 out of 5 -- with the potential to reach a perfect 5.. and a top 10 rating in my album collection.

[mattwellsey-blog]

As a long time fan of the group and their aggressive indie punk/pop (not the other way around, in their case) sound, I was a little nervous when I first heard this album was going to edge towards the pop side. However, I believe the group delivered their most innocent and lyrically upfront album yet. I would like to couple that statement with the observation that I believe it is their most lacking album in terms of music quality. The give and take of artistry, I suppose. The standout track on the album for me is "I Was A Fool" and it's really not even close. It starts with a killer piano riff and is beautifully produced to showcase all components of the song. It is the only song on the album that unravels emotionally and musically as you listen to it. To me, that is the mark of a strong song. Album Rapid Rating: 3 out of 5, but room to grow after some time.