5 Band: Relient K
Title: Forget and Not Slow Down
Label: Mono vs. Stereo/EMI
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Reviewer: Tyler Mills
Tracklisting:
- Forget and Not Slow Down (feat. Tim Skipper of House of Heroes)
- I Don’t Need A Soul
- Candlelight
- Flare (outro)
- Part of It
- (Outro)
- Therapy (feat. Brian McSweeny formerly of Seven Day Jesus)
- Over It
- Sahara (feat. Tim Skipper of House of Heroes, Aaron Gillespie of Underoath & The Almost, and Matt MacDonald of The Classic Crime)
- Oasis (Intro)
- Savannah
- Baby (Outro)
- If You Believe Me (feat. Matt MacDonald and John Warne)
- This is the End
- (If You Want It)
Introduction: The first album I ever purchased was a Relient K CD. The purchase made me mad because, buying it off eBay, it skipped every time I played it. My friend tried to convince me that Track 13 on “Two Lefts…” wasn’t that important. But he simply didn’t understand; every track on that album was important to me, I loved it that much. I had owned other albums before that, but I had never purchased an album with my hard-earned money (I received them through gifts and family). Ever since then, I have liked everything Relient K has put out with varying degrees. There have been albums that have been worse than others but in general their material has been solid. I have also seen an amazing amount of growth throughout their discography… Since “All Work and No Play” Relient K has changed quite a bit.
Review: I want to get something out of the way. Forget and Not Slow Down is just as good as mmhmm. It is not worse. It is not better. I want to be clear about something else, this album doesn’t sound like mmhmm. Forget and Now Slow Down is the perfect example of Relient K’s ability to mature without losing their core audience, the whole time drawing in new fans. I don’t know how they do it, but they do.
If I had to put Forget and Now Slow Down into a genre, I’d have to say it falls into a folk piano punk genre. As ridiculous as it may sound, it’s the perfect way to describe the music. It’s a difficult concept to explain. Needless to say this album isn’t like any other Relient K album before it.
Forget and Not Slow down serves as a record about relationships, real life, and religion– subjects that Matt Thiessen handles quite well. Without going into a full-blown analysis of each track, each song on this album has its place. The songs dealing with relationships never become cliché and always have significant messages behind them. “I Don’t Need a Soul” is a satirical song discussing the issue of putting romantic relationships before ones spiritual life:
But I don’t need a soul
No I don’t need a soul to hold
Without you I’m still whole
You and life remain beautiful
There are numerous songs on the album that will quickly become fan favorites. Songs like “Part of It”, “If You Believe Me”, “Therapy” and the title track have a distinctive Relient K sound without sounding like any old material. Songs like “Sahara” with Tim Skipper (House of Heroes), Aaron Gillespie (Underoath & The Almost) and Matt MacDonald (The Classic Crime) will give some listeners the chills with a combination of vocal melodies and amazing metaphorical lyrics that have made it one my favorite songs of all time:
A lion on his side was it the lying or his pride
Which brought him down
Once the king of beasts but now they feast on the thoughts beneath his vacant crown
“Candlelight” and “Over It” are some of the more mellow songs on the album yet never become boring with multiple listens. The intros and outros serve as perfect transition pieces. Without the intro to “Savannah” the transition between it and “Sahara” would be quite jarring, yet it is executed perfectly.
By the time the closing tracks are over, you get the feeling that you’ve traveled somewhere allowing the music to carry you. I believe that may be the feeling Relient K wanted to get across with the album artwork and music itself and I have absolutely no problem with that.
Overall: Forget and Not Slow Down has a folk punk feel giving it a very distinctive sound, which coupled with the lyrical genius of Matt Thiessen, make it one of the best albums of the year and Relient K’s career.
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I don’t think I can wait 3 more weeks!! Sigh.
Good review by the way, makes me want it even more.
i don’t think i can disagree with anything you said…and your friend is an idiot, gibberish is very important :)
i was kinda iffy about the single when i heard it but this review has gotten me excited about the album again
1. Matt Theissen is not a lyrical genius. A lot of bands can pull off lyrics like “Sahara.”
2. Folk punk? Does this sound like Frank Turner? You’ve got me interested. The single is really horrible though, but hmm, this album sounds really interesting.
3. Relient K is not the best band in the whole wide world.
4. Good review.
agree to disagree. matt theissen IS a lyrical genius. i believe he’s one of the most prolific song writers of our day to be able to pull off sounding challenging and insightful while maintaining relient k’s pop sound and hooks. the guy can craft a song!
Matt Theissen = lyrical genius = statement made by people who haven’t ventured outside the CCM realm
@John
That’s the exact thought that came to my mind! I’m pretty sure that if asked most people on this site would say Matt Thiessen is a better lyricist than Bob Dylan.
yes John, you’re right. i come to IVM to get all the latest news on my favorite CCM artists like Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith!
just so everyone’s sure of it, i’ll tag this message….
ha, and my tag disapeared, it was something like this…
“/sarcasm”
To be fair, it’s extremely hard to write good lyrics. IVM covers a lot of the stuff going on in the “scene,” which is a nest of terrible lyrics and even more terrible music. Obviously, there are a few good bands who write good music, but RK can’t be compared by any means to some of the stuff written beyond IVM’s scope.
I agree with the statement that MT is a lyrical genius. He’s not the only one in the world (for example I find Weird Al Yankovic’s genius wordplay even better) but he’s definitely up with there with some of the top guys. This album is top notch!
last i checked john warne is in the band..
I cannot wait for this album.
why isnt Matt Thiessen’s dad mentioned in the album? Oh well, I thank indievisionmusic for giving the band i grew up listening to the best review ever.
i’ll agree with brett, matt thiessen is a lyrical genius. it is killing me to wait until this album comes out. oh, and gibberish is a great song!
“alexg says:
September 14, 2009 at 9:51 am
matt thiessen is a lyrical genius. oh, and gibberish is a great song!”
still agree with you, but i love the irony in these parts.
because his dad isn’t given credit on the lyrical notes…matt’s twitter not withstanding.
Good review Tyler. I would have rated it high too, probably not a 10/10 for me, but still an enjoyable listen for sure. I think it’s the perfect continuation to the music found on “Five Score and Seven Years Ago”. What started on that record, is perfected on this one. I hate streams, so I’ll definitely be buying this when it’s available on October 6th!!
I cant wait!!!!! :)
I just think it’s cool that they featured a guy from Seven Day Jesus. The other guests are really cool too, but when’s the last time you heard about SDJ? Seriously :-)
It seriously makes me cry that John Warne is not fronting a band. That said, this is getting a lot of praise from people I trust, so maybe there’s something there.
I’m ridiculously excited. I’d have to agree that Matt is one of the best there is. Also, this has to be the absolute best set of guest vocalists in the history of ever. Just saying.
@The Headless Horseman
“If You Believe Me” is probably the closest to a John Warne band song yet.
So, I havent heard this CD yet, so I am sure that will somebody’s response to this comment. I have been following this band for a long time though, and we are actually saying, based on the system devised by IMV that THIS album is better than Thrice, So Long Forgotten, and Hands?
really?
Well, not really. They’re saying that Tyler likes this CD more than some other reviewer liked Thrice/Hands/etc.
*saves Brandon a response*
Relient K is better than So Long Forgotten and Hands, so yes. If this album is as good as Tyler says, it will be better than Thrice too.
…ok…..everyone has an opinion…..I mean I like Relient K, I do. Im a supporter. I also like Taking back Sunday, but I dont put them in the same waters as, lets say Radiohead.
I am trying my hardest not to respond to the Hands/So Long Forgotten comment….
i like this album better than i like the thrice album…people like different styles of music…big whoop.
did you not hear me say I like Relient K?
Yeah Ian, it all depends on the reviewer. To Tyler this is a candidate for Album of the Year (and likely other staff members but not myself by any means) so he rated it accordingly. Seeing as he is a new reviewer this suggestion may be tough but when you read a review just look to see who is reviewing it and keep in mind the type of music they like or other reviews they’ve done. That will help you gauge where the album will stand with your other favorites. Case in point, I wouldn’t put Relient K anywhere near So Long Forgotten or Thrice as they are no where near as good as those bands. It all depends on who it is.
Also, Andrew isn’t staff so don’t take his comment as IVM Staff canon. :-P
okay, nit picker…how about if i say…some people like different styles of music MORE than other styles. should enjoyability not be a factor in reviewing? i’m sure not everyone likes radiohead. those people deserve a voice just as much the people who need their indie cred.
for the record both albums are probably gonna be in my top 5 of 09
Our reviews are all very diverse in nature. One review does not accurately represent IVM as a whole. It’s just a writer’s opinion and nothing more. We’re an independent music website focusing on Christian artists. We have a very diverse staff with interests that differ from one another. My tastes are not the same as Tyler H’s or Tyler M’s, or Michael’s, or Josh’s, or Eric’s, Scott’s, etc. We are all unique individual people with our own opinions. Just because one album gets a 10/10 doesn’t mean the album that gets an 8/10 from another reviewer is not as good. I like Hands, I like Thrice, but I also like So Long Forgotten, Relient K, Abandon Kansas, and a host of other albums we’ve reviewed. I also enjoy a wide variety of music not found in the little Christian market, that many of our reviewers would definitely not like. I’ll say it again, this is all just personal preference. What I would say you, the readers, should do is read every review from a particular reviewer carefully then take the scores from all their album reviews and write it down. You’ll then get the general idea for where a writer is coming from. There are several writers on staff that hardly listen to any “Non-Christian” music and for them it’s going to be tougher to draw up comparisons when I personally could do it quite easier. I used to write my own reviews for everything on the site back in 2005-2006 before I actually got “Staff”. After that, I stopped writing my own reviews and put my writing on a back shelf. I am very self conscious of the way I write and I hate to be judged. There are quite a few things about bands that I would like to say but fear to do so. There are also many albums I would rate lower than a 5 but I refuse to do reviews for them. Maybe I’ll overcome my writer’s block and find some music that I actually enjoy from Christian artists that will encourage me to type again. For now, my favorite “Christian” album would have to be Switchfoot’s “Hello Hurricane” with Relient K coming in close second (I wont know for sure until I have the album in my car playing on the stereo), for this month at least. To be honest, I would say that better albums have come from the general market (Non-Christian) than the little Christian scene this year. I’m not going to go into details but I have found quite a few that I like. Anyway, that was enough of a rant. I’ll go back to my hole now. bye. P.S. I think Living Sacrifice is going to own all this November……….
Even though Hands and SLF are so much better at their respective genres than RK will ever be in theirs, Tyler’s last comment has a lot of truth.
Agree with Brandon on Switchfoot’s new one. :-D
You review within a genre. It’s impossible to review across all genres of music.
Brandon, do you have the new Living Sacrifice? I think a good idea would be to have a main review for big releases with some extra reviews directly below it, still featuring the main review’s rating at the top. If you guys would send me the new Living Sacrifice early, I would write a nice review for it, send it back and would give you deep dish pizza whenever we are in the same town and I have access to the ingredients.
As far as genre-bending, something I’ve been accused of on here (and if you see a photo of me in a Hawaiian blouse, I was young and thought it would be funny), I think when I bring up anticipated releases, I may compare it to another genre’s artist on the periphery. In other words, if dc Talk were to release a new CD, I would compare how well it delivers but the comparison that could be made with a new Insyderz CD is that they both deliver strong hooks and anthemic choruses and I would compare how well-produced the CDs are, how strong the rocker-to-ballad ratio is, how well each artist delivered on the hype and how true they stayed to their roots.
or you could just keep it the same. i dont see any problem with the way it is now. every reviewer is different, thats why you cant read just one review about an album and take the reviews word for it. “You must exhaust all your resources” (i never thought i would learn anything important from my english prof.)
@ian I’d absolutely put Taking Back Sunday above Radiohead. No contest there.
Im happy for you and your non “indie cred” musical taste. I tend to gravitate towards music that has depth and meaning, but thats just me…obviously
No Chris, I do not have the new Living Sacrifice. Tooth and Nail only sends downloads/streams of their albums now, no more cds. They haven’t sent me Living Sacrifice but maybe i’ll get it sometime next month.
lol, taking back sunday might seem like a shallow emo band, but they really do tell stories if you examine their lyrics. Regardless, I still like a little bit of Radiohead, I just find them overrated. I like bands of just about every genre except country and doom metal. So, yeah, I’ve got an indie kid in me that loves all the bands no one else really likes.
Awesome review!!
I can’t wait to hear the album!!
& I think Matt Thiessen is the best song writer ever!! <33
Relient K gets better with every album! :)
This is giving me the chills. Relient K has been my favorite band since I can remember listening to music. I can not wait to hear the CD. I love the description of the sound. They do such a good job at using their sound all the old fans love and bringing the new fans to love them and every other CD too. I’m so excited to hear what they’ve come up with next.
I listened to the new album on AP.net, and, well well well, turns out there are 2 or 3 decent songs. But overall, congrats RK, you’ve managed to climb out from writing plain horrid music and reach the level of blandness of We Shot the Moon.
Album/band still sucks big time.
@John…Can you explain the horrid music you speak of? Maybe post the lyrics that are so bad? I believe they are at a higher level than We Shot The Moon.
I’ve got an entire list of reasons that’ll take me an hour to type out haha. But I am notorious around here for hating RK, so if you snoop around previous threads you’ll find some of the lists I’ve posted in the past.
They’re worse than WSTM imo. Theissen can try and try to add “edge” to his voice, but in the end, it’s still the same boring old Theissen voice. It’s not necessarily a bad voice, but it doesn’t have that oomph you usually look for in vocals, and is certainly not fit or the type of music they play.
ok, so you’re insane. RK is one of the most talented bands both musically and lyrically out there today. matt thiessen is a lyrical genius, an amazing melody writer, and a great singer. their ability to evolve and mature their music from album to album is unmatched. this album is pretty fantastic and definitely album of the year worthy. you must have horrible taste. i mean lets look at this. RK has been around for ten years. six full length albums. a number of EP’s. Grammy Nominations, Dove Awards. if you dont like them ok, but you have to respect thiessen’s talent. if not, just stop listening to music altogether.
Maybe you don’t like it, but we do. Don’t listen if you don’t like it.
I really enjoy this cd in a different way than I thought I would. I expected something more pop that would be catchy and clever, but this album is much more mature and deep. I really enjoy it. It is unlike the other albums in RK’s history, which is a big reason why I keep buying their stuff. RK has consistently evolved, changed and improved. This is an album of the year cantidate with Emery for me. I was absolutely shocked at how much I liked this one. I’ve lost a lot of sleep listening to this because I can’t go to bed unless I finish it and I always end up starting it around 11. Bad idea.
Last two posts are pretty hardcore, in a non-musical-genre way.
just got this in the mail today(monday) a day before release. it’s really good, prob my favorite of theirs. I feel like i can say that since i been listening to them since the self titled days back in 2000. I grew up on these guys and they never dissapoint. this is actually the first time i ever tried not to listen to any songs online before i bought it. but i did end up listening to like two songs. but hey, i tried.lol.
Brandon I would love to see you writing reviews because you seem like you have excellent taste. I would also love to see you review some albums that you say would get less than 5 stars. Its good to know what to stay away from and it also would lend more credibility to IVM
He was (Arnie Thiessen) as was his brother Jonathan who sang on the album as well
the more i listen to this album the more i’m convinced that there needs to be a slow piano ballad version of ‘Therapy’.
Agreed Brett. I also want to hear some acoustic versions of the songs.
I look forward to hearing some acoustic versions of songs off of this album too.
Overall, I think Mmhmm is still my favorite RK album, but Forget and Not Slow Down is approaching #2 in my mind the more I listen to it. I do like it better than Five Score and Seven Years Ago. In fact, the last RK show I went to (May 2009) they played a LOT more stuff from Mmhmm than from Five Score, which surprised me at the time. But now that I see that other people didn’t like Five Score much, it makes sense.
And I actually really didn’t like The Nashville Tennis EP/Bird and the Bee Sides, the included acoustic versions of previous songs being the only exception to my dislike.
I still love some of what I consider the classic RK songs (like “Chapstick, Chapped Lips…” and “College Kids” – “Sadie Hawkins” and “Mood Rings” are so played out at shows) but RK has definitely matured and I appreciate that. If they were the same band now as they were at Anatomy or Two Lefts, I would have outgrown them, but they’ve grown *with* me through the years (I turn 24 in December if you’re wondering).
I’ll definitely be going to see them again, even if I have to make another road trip to California (from Southern Utah) to do it. RK is coming to Vegas for Winter Wonder Slam in December, but I’m only vaguely considering going. I prefer smaller venues. And TobyMac is headlining Winter Wonder Slam. I really don’t like them. I’ve given them a chance but just can’t get into their stuff. Seeing RK onstage and then seeing TobyMac immediately follow would totally ruin the feeling.
Great Review! I just got this and I can’t stop listening to it. To all the haters: If you’d rather listen to a great vocal, go listen to one. Oh, and try writing a song yourself. I find it challenging personally.