1. Sigh No More. What I first noticed about the album is that there was one harmony verse that I thought appeared in four songs, this one belonging to that group. It's an overall good song with an awesome yelling part near the end (a huge theme in this album).
Favorite part: In the second half of the song, it's easy to see the guitar riff repeated, but my favorite time it happens is from 2:17 to 2:23.
2. The Cave. One of their most popular songs, "The Cave" is another epicly built-up song, with more yelling at the end. (Seriously, the loud endings are a huge theme in the album. It's awesome.) And it's also mega fun to play on the guitar.
Favorite part: The second part of the second verse from 1:31 to 1:44. I just love the clashing of the cymbals and the pounding beat of the drums.
3. Winter Winds. This is another super-catchy tune, and it's definitely due to the mandolin throughout the song. What's interesting is that the music video (not posted here (it wasn't 100% accurate to the version I wanted)) has absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of the song. Either way...still a great tune.
Favorite part: It has to be the pickup at 2:43, when everything goes silent except for the brass, until that crash and coming together of the rest of the instruments.
4. Roll Away Your Stone. I've been calling it for weeks that this song is going to be their next single (after Little Lion Man, The Cave, and Awake My Soul), and I still think I'll be right. This is even more catchier than Winter Winds, AND it has a Macbeth reference! What more could I ask for?!
Favorite part: The part leading up to the bridge, where the song goes into a cross-beat from 2:53 to 3:04. That's just so much fun to play on the drums-slash-steering-wheel while driving.
5. White Blank Page. This is the second song where I thought about the harmony verse, but it isn't this song either. Although this song does have a great harmony verse, from 1:27 to 1:50. The rest of the verse goes on, but I like that part in particular. (And for those paying attention to the lyrics, it's not "sent you to the grave." It should be "brink.")
Favorite part: Nothing beats loud harmony. Nothing. 3:01 to 3:35. And for the record, the hard-to-keep-count-with 6/8 time is also awesome. This whole song is just awesome. This whole band is just awesome.
6. I Gave You All. This song is dreary and haunting, which makes it so powerful and awesome. (You'll see throughout this post that there is literally nothing I find wrong with any song on this album.) The guitar always plays an important role in each song, and in I Gave You All, it keeps time through the verses, and pretty much the whole song, actually. I love hearing the slide of fingers on the steel strings, too.
Favorite part: It's actually not the loudest part this time - instead, it's from 3:11 to 3:46 where the bass drum pounds again. I love how Marcus (the lead singer) sings "now you've won" both times, and how it fades into that quiet chorus again.
7. Little Lion Man. It's good to actually see a music video, so you can see how into it these guys get. Little Lion Man is no exception, because these guys just bash away at their instruments. And let's get real...what's better than harmonizing the word "fucked?" Harmonizing entire bridges, that's what.
Favorite part: Yep, the best part is the bridge from 2:49 to 3:32. The real favorite part is that one measure of pure a capella at 3:30, right before the headbanging chorus that leads to another chorus of a capella.
8. Timshel. This is the actual song that has the harmony verse, and it comes in the first few seconds of this song. If there's ever a song that I record all of the parts to, it will be this one. Unfortunately, that will probably never happen. Yet again, the car will have to suffice. Timshel is also one of the two songs on the album that doesn't have an epic loud part, but I kinda like it more than some others because of that.
Favorite part: It's hard to find a favorite part when there's no loudness, but if there's any in this song, it comes at the guitar crescendo at 2:24.
9. Thistle and Weeds. This is secretly one of my favorite songs on the album - I say secretly because it has the best favorite part out of any song, I think. The lyrics in the chorus are also wonderfully spun into metaphorical advice, and the absolute most favorite thing I love to do in this song is yell "I will hold on" pretending like I'm in some Western movie where guys are chasing each other on horses and everything is in black and white. No, seriously.
Favorite part: While the beginning of the awesomeness starts at 2:17, picks up at 2:29, and keeps going at 2:45, you can probably figure out that the best part is from 3:06 to 3:29.
10. Awake My Soul. This is simply a beautiful song with amazing lyrics and perfect harmonies and an overall great sound. I love the repetition of the guitar in the background. One part I want to highlight is the first chorus from 1:06 to 1:27. Those harmonies happen only once during the song, and it's awesome that it comes in the beginning, so every part of the song has a great part. One of the things I've noticed about the lyrics in this album is that they face death straight up - "In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die." There's no beating around the bush there - it's gonna happen, so you might as well make the most of it, and awake your soul.
Favorite part: When Marcus's voice gets louder in the last chorus from 3:35 to the end of the song. What's strange about this is that it's clearly louder, but you don't hear that break of sound - it slurs perfectly from what he was singing before, which is something that I've almost never heard done, especially not flawlessly.
11. Dust Bowl Dance. This sounds a little like Thistle and Weeds; or at least has the same feeling about it, that Western feeling. Then again, that's where they had the giant Dust Bowl storm or something like that. The beat of the chorus is really awesome, and this is another pretty haunting song.
Favorite part: It's easily the crash of the cymbals from 3:07 to 3:22, the one-two of the drums from 3:22 to 3:30, the pounding percussion from 3:30 to 3:38, and then of course the cymbals again from 3:38 to 4:10. It's a minute of pure amazing.
12. After the Storm. This is quietly one of the most beautiful songs on the album (no pun intended, because this is the other song with no loud parts). The lyrics are simply amazing, and the accordion/organ/i-think-it's-an-accordion fades perfectly into and around the song. It's a great last song of the night to listen to, I think. It leaves a contented feeling left over once the song's done.
Favorite part: There's a crescendo during the transition between choruses at the end, right from 3:20 to 3:23.
So there you have it - all twelve songs on the album. Hopefully a few stuck out to you, and it was enough for you to download a handful, if not the entire album. If you have your own thoughts on any songs, feel free to leave a comment! Expectations are low, so if you feel like pleasantly surprising me, now is your opportunity.
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