Band: Straylight Run
Album Title: Straylight Run
Release Date: 10.19.04
Released By: Victory
Purchase: merchdirect
Offical Website: click here
Reviewed By: Daniel Alcinii
Track Listing:
- The Perfect Ending
- The Tension And The Terror
- Existentialism on Prom Night
- Another Word For Desperate
- Mistakes We Knew We Were Making
- Dignity and Money
- Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)
- Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs
- It’s For The Best
- Now It’s Done
- Sympathy For The Martyr
After a bold decision to leave Taking Back Sunday in the summer of 2003, John Nolan (guitar/vocals/piano) and Shaun Cooper (bass) set out to find a new band. The break up of Breaking Pangaea found drummer Will Noon, an old friend of Shaun’s, and was quickly asked to join the project. They were then left contemplating on adding a new member, this rapidly changed soon after deciding to add the ranks of Michelle Nolan (guitar/vocals/piano) to the band. Straylight Run was born. After releasing six demos on the bands website, an incredible amount of hype was built up as this band quickly gained a huge following. A year after the band was formed, they were thrown into the recording studio, set to record their much anticipated self-titled full length. The one question that remained on everybody’s mind; will Straylight Run live up to the hype and expectations? In short, yes. Yes they have.
After hearing the demos when they were released to the world on the SR website, (and deleting most of them shortly afterwards) I quickly came to the conclusion that this style of music was simply not for me. I decided to purchase the CD anyway, just to see what all the fuss was about, and after listening to the album the first time, I was blown away to find out how very wrong I was when I first heard the demos a year prior. Soothing, beautiful vocals and piano sounds, pretty drum and bass lines, and outstanding guitars fill the speakers and draw you into every song. Seeing how wonderfully written the songs were on TBS’ debut Tell All Your Friends and seeing how plain they had gotten on Where You Want To Be after John had left, many thought John was the more talented of the two in TBS. This doesn’t really show on SR’s debut, as some of the songs are very beautifully written (ex. “Moving in slow like the smoke/from your cigarette/Every step closer is a step/that we both/will regret”) while others are decent. However, the lack of lyrical talent on some songs does not take away from the performance of the album. The only complaint I have in regards to this album is that Michelle should have sung the lead vocals to more tracks then just two (Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs & Now It’s Done). Also, some of John’s vocals seem to be a bit more polished then raw like they did on the demos.
In conclusion, this album will not disappoint you and lives up to the hype and high expectations set by everyone. Pick up Straylight Run’s self-titled album if you are a fan of The Format, Something Corporate, or any other piano rock band for that matter.
Rating: 8/10
Standout Tracks:
Existentialism on Prom Night
The Tension and The Terror
Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs
Now It’s Done
Another Word For Desperate
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