Is it possible to get slated for liking an album? I guess I’m about to find out. After reading a plethora of disparaging reviews I nearly didn’t bother buying ‘In Reverie’, despite the fact that I cherish all of Chris Conley’s previous work. You could see the progression in Saves The Day and to me this record wasn’t really that much of a culture shock. ‘Through Being Cool’ is a great album, as is ‘Stay What You Are’, albeit in a different way. ‘In Reverie’ is every bit as good, it’s just different and refreshing, and that is a good thing.
Poppier, hookier and more melodic, many of the songs take elements of what Chris did on ‘Stay What You Are’ and morph them into a new smoother form. Tracks like ‘Anywhere With You’ flit back to a time when Weezer were obsessed with all things green, such is the familiarity and melodic hum the song hints at. It even has a hook so big it would easily land a Great White – and even though this is a trait STD fans have come to love, ‘In Reverie’ does it differently. For me it’s a brilliant change and I’m not sure why so many ‘fans’ have seemingly turned against Chris. What you have to remember is that he was a teenager when he wrote the early material and times, and people, change. ‘In Reverie’ is a record that documents that change, and documents it in a brilliant way.
‘What Went Wrong’ and ‘Driving In The Dark‘ are perfect pop songs that have a Beatles-esque feel to them in their simplicity, while ‘Rise’ could easily have been written for ‘Pinkerton’; a song that has dark undertones yet remains upbeat. The album’s title track is far more positive with yet another massive chorus and, in my opinion, is probably the best song here. ‘Morning in the Moonlight’ continues the near perfect start, a song which twists and turns and is the closest the album ever gets to ‘old’ Saves The Day (even if it is so damn short), while tracks like ‘Monkey’ and ‘In My Waking Life’ sound like Billy Corgan fronting an emo band, but are still gorgeous pop songs, even though Chris’ lyrics are as strange and graphic as usual. ‘She’ is the only big disappointment, but this is quickly made up with the excellent ‘Where Are You’.
‘In Reverie’, for me, is possibly Saves The Day‘s best work yet. Gone are the juvenile moments that littered the first two albums, and gone is the sheen and obviousness of some of the songs from the last album. Chris Conley clearly isn’t the same person he was five years ago, but if the changes mean he will come up with records as good as this in the future, it must be a very good thing…
www.savestheday.com
Paul