Everything Is Beautiful When You Don't Look Down,
GlasseaterGlasseater going soft? What's going on? A band that were once one of the best melodic hardcore bands around have toned themselves down with the release of new record 'Everything Is Beautiful When You Don't Look Down'. The change is obvious when compared to their older material, the reasons behind the change aren't quite so clear. The result is that the Miami crew have come up with a record that is more melodic than hardcore, with hooks flowing rather than crashing and melodies sung rather than screamed. Original it ain't, even if it is carefully crafted.
That's not to say 'Everything...' is a bad album, because it's not - it's just not Glasseater. I feel the band will probably say that this is a more mature effort and that everything came 'naturally', but to me some of the tracks seem a little forced. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that producer James Wisner has previously twiddled the knobs of Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory - hardly the most ferocious of bands. Infact opener 'Greetings...Goodbye' actually lulls you into a false sense of security because the guitars are about as vicious as they get during the entire album.
'Falling Apart' for example is pop-punk with the odd backing vocal thrown in, seemingly like a last minute reminder that once the band had a more hardcore-based sound. The track's actually quite good, I just fear that fans of the band may not take to this new style quite as quickly as the band. The album's title track is even softer again, it lacks a crunch and power of the band's previous material and anyone brought up on the Glasseater of old will be excused thinking this is someone else. However, the simple fact is this song is fucking fantastic - edgy pop-punk with a hook-filled chorus. It's the way the album tends to go throughout, which means if you're a fan of that kind of stuff you'll love it, but if you're sick of the sight of it you may want to bring up your breakfast.
'At Your Own Risk' is a bit more like the band of old, metallic tinged riffs tangle themselves up with a raucous shouty vocal, all layed underneath a melodic singing style. Of course the dual vocal thing has been done a million times before, so Glasseater don't win too many points for originality, even if the execution is pretty good. 'Recurring' has a gem of a chorus but a far-too-familiar riff, while 'Break Away' is a bit emo-by-numbers. Call me old-fashioned but 10 songs and not much over 30-minutes isn't that great value either.
If you liked the old Glasseater you might not like the 2003 version. Something has changed the band and they are now a different proposition to the quintet of old, but on the flip side, Julio, JC, Ariel, Anthony and Nate have come up with an album choc-full of melodic hooks and singalong choruses. I guess it all depends on what you side of the pop-punk fence you sit on.
www.glasseater.com
Paul
