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Artist: Falling Up
Album: Fangs
Label: BEC
Release Date: 3/24/2009
Reviewer: Tyler Hess
Tracklisting:
1. A Colour Eutopian
2. Lotus and the Languorous
3. Streams of Woe at Acheron
4. Magician Reversed
5. Golden Arrows
6. The King’s Garden
7. Panic and Geo-Primaries
8. The Moon and Sixpence
9. Goddes of the Dayspring, Am I
10. The Sidewinder Flux
11. The Chilling Alpine Adventure
12.Swimming Towards Propellers
Art. It can be a complex thing. Things are conceptual. Artists see things differently sometimes. I remember hearing about an artist who painted people, but as the years went on the people he painted were more and more obscure, to the point where his later paintings were hardly discernible as people. He had a philosophy (a poor one, according to the Word of God), but he stuck with it. The shifts in art reflected the overall philosophy. The reason I bring this up is because of what I’ve heard from Falling Up over the years, as I think that following Falling Up’s music is a reflection of front man Jessy Ribordy’s growth as an individual. When they started out, they were young and full of energy. Many of us remember the days of rock anthems and back flips at live shows. When their third real full length, Captiva, came out we were a bit surprised by the slower, more theatrical songs. Well, if you were hoping they’d bounce right back to Crashings or Dawn Escapes (let us all ignore Exit Lights, shall we?), well, you’ve got another thing coming.
Fangs, the fourth full length release (not including that re-mix album that we don’t count and certainly not that “best of” thing that we would all like to imagine does not exist) from Falling Up is truly a continuation of the divergence seen in Captiva, full of keys and synths that seek to relate life experiences through sights and sounds of nature. I remember listening to Jesse say one time that he thought making an album was similar to plotting out a score to a movie, with these grand thoughts of imagery and picturesque panoramas (major paraphrase, not a quote). That was before Captiva, so to see the music go into this phase shouldn’t really be that big of a surprise. Still, it is a bit of a struggle for me to listen to them now. Part of me really wishes they’d write some more radio hits to sing along to, but another part of me just likes to chill out and listen to music that feels like its illustrated. This could pretty much be made into an epic movie soundtrack, something along the lines of a Lord of the Rings montage.
Summary: In reality, this is going to be background music for most people, perhaps something to listen to while trying to fall asleep. If you liked the direction taken with Captiva, you should dig this synth rock stuff.
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| 03/19/2010 08:24 am | Reviews
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eh, doesn’t sound all that thrilling. I think I’ll always be disappointed that they’ve deviated so far from the Crashings and Dawn Escapes albums. I really enjoyed those and the energy behind them. It was also cool to hear other artists on crashings that kinda added something to the songs, like Benjamin (who I’m not a huge fan of on his own, but thought he added something to the song he was on) and Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter. Oh well, guess those days are gone…
Jessy has always been a deep and complex guy. Even after several tours with them, I still can’t say I have him figured out, but this record as close to the “real Jessy Ribordy” and Falling Up that you will ever get. The guys have always played music that never fully met their artistic abilities they had tucked away.
By the way, if you want to check out music thats this “new Falling up” times 100, check out Jessy Ribordy and Josh Shroy’s (drums-falling up), side project called the River Empires. It left me saying “huh?”, but yet, still listening.!
Tours, J? who are thou that thou hast toured with the Jessy Ribordy?
lol at J’s “huh?”
The River Empires is just typical bluegrass, but very intriguing and enjoyable. good review tyler
thanks. i feel left out here for not having the letter J in my name. we’ve got RJ, J and John while talking about Jessy. I am now Tyler.J
Jk.
don’t care what anyone says, i love this album.
This cd doesn’t live up to all the hype.
Ha Jun, I don’t think there is/was any hype surrounding the release. I haven’t seen very much promotion for it on the internet.
@Brandon: Jesus Freak Hideout, but I guess They really don’t know about true music.
there wasn’t a single song i didn’t like…yet it kinda bored me…
I haven’t purchased the record yet. I’ve heard a few songs on their purevolume page though. I’ve loved Falling Up from the start. They are amazing artist. You can talk trash about them, but until you create a record like them, or any good music for that matter, I will not listen to your negativity.
i hate that argument. i can’t say something i dont like about something just because im not as good as them. i think that the clippers are a terrible, terrible, terrible basketball team, but obviously every single player and the waterboy could beat me a million to negative zero in a one on one game.
@ tyler h
I didn’t say you couldn’t talk about how much you didn’t care for the band or record. You are entitled to your own opinion. What I said is I won’t listen to the negative comments.
I feel kind of the same way as TylerS. I liked most of the songs but it was kind of “Boring” to me. Are they really a three piece now?
the more i listen to it the more it grows on me.
it’s very memorable.
@HayngMan3000#, ME TOO! At first I was extremely disappointed about it, but now every time I listen to it, the more I love each song!!!! Falling Up fangirl :) !
it’s really a good album.
I might actually purchase this someday. First, I want to get the A Love Like Pi album.
I’ll probably get it because I love Captiva! Sounds awesome!
This album is amazing. I haven’t heard any of their other work but I can’t see how anybody could call this release “boring”. I kept thinking to myself that this is the album you would get if House of Heroes and The Myriad slept around with Jonezetta and they had a baby.
Yeah it’s that good.
As someone who didn’t care for their first two albums (Crashings and Dawn Escapes), I’m going to say that this is definitely the band’s best album to date. This is the new Falling Up. Like Jesse said, the Greatest Hits album ended the old Falling Up as we once knew them, and this album is starting the new Falling Up which has taken a more experimental, almost neo-prog approach to their music. It’s very comparible to bands like Coheed & Cambria, Muse, and Minus the Bear. I can see that those who like more straight-foward rock won’t like this, but those who want their music to be a little different and not sound like every other band out there should enjoy this album. I know I did. In fact, it will probably be one of the few “Christian rock” albums that I’ll enjoy this year.
Wow. I got this album last week and it has grown on me considerably. EVERYONE go get this. You too, Brandon. Definitely the best of the year so far.
Bands get older, just like you and I age. I certainly don’t listen to the same music I listened to in the early 90’s (static x anyone?!) So bands shouldn’t be expected to make the same music they made when they were 4-6 years younger(ie crashings, dawn escapes). Each album is worth more than we give credit for and certainly worth more than what most of us pay for it(nothing). Each album should be taken for what it is. Not for what it should’ve been. You’ll enjoy the records much more. Trust me. I know that a LOT of thought, heart, and soul was put into Fangs. Credit to the Falling Up boys for that. You’ve created an amazing group of songs.
i said it bored me previously…but it grew on me. now it’s one of my favorites of the year so far!
I deffinatly miss the days when they did back flips and songs like Broken heart, bittersweet, and moonlit… i dont like this new ambionic type sound
If I had an account I’d give this a user rating of a 10. This album is one of the best of 09 without a doubt. Their next album will be beyond words epic.
agreed!