Settle the Score: The '59 Sound vs. Cities

When tracing the career paths of The Gaslight Anthem and Anberlin, the two bands have very little in common. But even though there is a very distinct difference between Anberlin's emo-tinged rock and The Gaslight Anthem's blend of blues-punk, there is one key ingredient to both: the bands are two of the most talented rock bands out there today. Of course, musicianship and songwriting have a great deal to do with both bands' successes, but where The Gaslight Anthem and Anberlin set themselves apart is that they are consistent. No matter what direction they take on a particular album, there is a core set of ideals and visions that drive the bands' music, and that has rightfully earned them a loyal and devoted fanbase, ready to defend their favorite band at the drop of a hat. With so much going well for each band, it still begs the question: which band is better. To try and answer this question, we took a look at each band's consensus selection for "best album,: and tried to Settle the Score.

Which album from one of today's best rock bands is better: The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound or Anberlin's Cities?

Anberlin- Cities

Godspeed (5 stars out of 5)- Anberlin has a way with the bookend tracks of their album. They understand exactly what the role of the opening track is, and they execute that role to perfection. Godspeed is a roaring, high intensity anthem that kicks off Cities with a bang. Exactly the emotional charge that the album needs to get kick-started.

Adelaide (3/5)- In an interview with absolutepunk,net, Stephen Christian once said "if i could go back in time i would take 'adelaide' off cities and put (Lost Songs B-Side) the haunting (on), because it WOULD have rounded out the record better lyrically and sonically." Adelaide just doesn't stack up to the lightning bolt that is Godspeed, and it stands out like a sore thumb here.

A Whisper, A Clamor (4/5)- Aaron Sprinkle's production is apparent on this track, as the fuzzy guitar line and massive chorus crash give way to an elegant sounding acoustic guitar as the song enters its bridge. However, the two opposites meet each other in the middle for the song's final chorus, providing perfect contrast to each other.

Unwinding Cable Car (3.5/5)- A staple of the band's live set and a sure-fire fan favorite, Unwinding Cable Car at first seems like a simple mid-tempo acoustic number. But it morphs into a brilliant refrain, as Christian continuously croons "you're so brilliant don't soon forget, you're so brilliant, grace marks your heart."

There Is No Mathematics Between Love and Loss (2.5/5)- Cities is considered Anberlin's definitive album because it contains almost no filler. If i had to pick one song to consider cutting though, it would probably be There is no Mathematics. Outside of the synth, there's not really a standout element to this song. It's not a bad song by any means, it's just not very remarkable.

Hello Alone (3.5/5)- The crunch of Nate Young's drumming is pretty remarkable on this particular track. Quick, unique rolls and fills pepper the chorus, and through fast paced crunch of the bridge he gives the song a powerful backbone. Very impressive work.

Alexithymia (3.5/5)- Deon Rexroat is the true star of this song. Right from the start, the bassists' fuzzy bassline comes straight to the forefront. The most "epic" moment of this song however comes from the guitar solo, as Christian's ethereal vocals float just above the guitar wails.

Reclusion (3.5/5)- Kicking off with an synthesizer line that Motion City Soundtrack would be jealous of, this song morphs into one of the darkest songs in Anberlin's songs. The lyrics deal with facing inner demons and mental trauma. "There's an art in seclusion. Production in depression / If a stranger turns up missing, this song is my confession," sings Christian.

Inevitable (3.5/5)- This song, a beautiful love song, stands in stark contrast to the song that came right before it in the tracklisting. A (mostly) acoustic number which features a stellar chorus and, in the bridge a rhythmic floor tom beat provided by Nate Young. Stellar background vocals in the song are also provided by Copeland vocalist Aaron Marsh, in one of his many collaborations with Christian.

Dismantle.Repair (5/5)- If Anberlin had stopped after Cities and never released New Surrender and Dark Is The Way, Dismantle. Repair would have been the distinctive Anberlin song. The song features everything that makes Anberlin great. Nate Young's drum beat is relentless, Christain's songwriting and vocal performance reach perfection, and it even features a beautiful bridge with backing vals that emphasize the emotion of the song. If fin didn't exist, this would be the best song on Cities.

fin. (5/5)- The song gives a listener a false sense of security, existing only as an acoustic track for the first 3 minutes, before exploding into a crescendo of Christian's improvised vocals over a full band musical crash. The biggest surprise comes a minute into the full band section however, as a children's choir begins singing the refrain "Patron saint, are we all lost like you?" This is the best all-around song in Anberlin's entire discography. Stephen Christians' vocal performance must be heard to be believed. If i could give this song more than a 5, I would.

Key Lyrics: "Go your own way, even seasons have changed, just burn those new leaves over"; "We're not questioning God, just those he chose to carry on his cause."; "Hands like secrets are the hardest thing to keep from you, lines and phrases like knives, your words can cut me through."

Final Score: 3.5

The Gaslight Anthem- The 59 Sound

Great Expectations (5 stars out of 5)- Starting an album with a song that captures the entire mood of the album in just its brief 3 minute run time is quite a feat. This is the feat that The Gaslight anthem accomplished with “Great Expectations.” 

The ‘59 Sound (5/5)- Some title tracks fall victim to the fact that they cannot speak for the whole album. Others are so good that when you hear them for the first time, you know the album that is named after them cannot possibly be bad. "The '59 Sound” falls into that latter category. The incredible thing: "The '59 Sound" isn’t even the best title track in The Gaslight Anthem’s discography. “Handwritten” now holds that claim.

Old White Lincoln (3/5)-  Opening up with car starting sound effects and a stellar bassline supplied by bassist Alex Levine, the music sounds almost as if a car is plodding along on a busy city road. The song also features one of the most memorable choruses on the album. The rest of the song just can’t live up to the exhilarating chorus, and the song stalls (sorry, awful car pun) as a result.

High Lonesome (4/5)- High energy and chock full of vocal intensity, "High Lonesome" captures that feeling that "Old White Lincoln" just misses. The song features a stellar reference to one of my personal favorite songs, Counting Crows’ “Round Here,” in the line “Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand, I always kind of sort of wished I looked like Elvis.”

Film Noir (2.5/5)- This is the "Diamond Church Street Choir" of The 59 Sound. A mid-tempo track that is stuck in the middle of the tracklisting to give contrast to the upbeat numbers that came before it. However, it stalls in the fact that it takes till the outro of the song with Fallon repeating “Time time ticking away” for the listener to care about this song in the slightest.

Miles Davis & The Cool (2.5/5)- Miles Davis is one of those songs where The Gaslight Anthem had such lofty expectations for the scope of it that they weren’t able to completely realize them. The song features some great moments, including the climactic rise in the music that occurs after Fallon shouts “Jackson.” This rise sounds like a parallel to a similar rise in Bruce Springsteen’s signature song, Born To Run, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a coincidence. Unfortunately, this song is just in no way as strong as Springsteen’s opus.

The Patient Ferris Wheel (4/5)- We were originally going to give this song a lower score than the 4 it received ( I think we originally had it at a 3.5) but I fought to give it a 4 because I feel this song was something so special that, while maybe objectively it isn’t as good a song as "The 59 Sound" or "Great Expectations," it deserves to be recognized. The song perfectly displays the desperation of the scene the narrator is viewing, which is something that is particularly hard to capture in music.

Casanova, Baby (4/5)- This song does what "Film Noir" failed to do, in creating a mid-tempo song that is still as exhilarating and worthwhile to listen to as the album’s main rockers. “Forget this dead man’s town I’ll take you home,”  Fallon sings, channeling his best Springsteen in this song of escape.

Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (2/5)- As I mentioned in the Cities section, I believe that even great albums can have a dud song and still be considered great. "Cowgirls", although being a pretty strongly emotional blues song, doesn’t sound like a Gaslight Anthem song and the lack of realism is what drags the track down.

Meet Me By the River’s Edge (3.5/5)- This entire song is basically a 3 minute, 19 second long, love song to the work of Bruce Springsteen. The title itself is a reference to the Bruce album The River. The line “no surrender, my Bobby Jean” references not one but two songs from Born in the USA. The opening line “See I’ve been here for 28 years” references the 28 year gap from the release of The River and the release of The 59 Sound. This doesn’t make the song good or bad, but it’s fun to point out.

  

Here’s Looking at You Kid (4.5/5)- This song is a tearjerker if there ever was one. The refrain in the song “Boys will be boys and girls have those eyes, that’ll cut you to ribbons some times,” is beautiful in the simplicity with which it can display an entire relationship. The track, which features bare-minimum instrumentation largely relies on Fallon bearing his sold to the world, and it completely works.

The Backseat (5/5)- While most band’s would’ve been content with ending their album with the somber, retrospective sounding “Here’s Looking at You Kid”, The Gaslight Anthem is not most bands. “The Backseat” ends The 59 Sound with the loudest of bangs.

Key Lyrics: "And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room for our knees. And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room to breathe."; "I saw tail lights last night in a dream about my first wife, everybody leaves and I'd expect as much from you."; "Ain't supposed to die on a Saturday night"

Final Score: 3.75

The Verdict:This is why, to me, Settle The Score is so much fun. You can take two albums that are so fundamentally different in style, two albums that seemingly have nothing in common other than the fact that many consider them the band's best work, and decide which one is better. In this case, I think the math was dead on. The 59 Sound should edge out Cities, because although Cities does have some massive highs (among them two of my favorite songs: "fin." and "Dismantle. Repair") the consistency is just not quite there in comparison to The 59 Sound. Just one non-5 song ("A Whisper, A Clamor") got a 4 or higher on Cities. Four songs that weren't 5s got a 4 or higher on The 59 Sound. Because of this, The 59 Sound gets the statistical edge. Still, both albums are great touchstones in the remarkable careers of two of the brightest stars of rock music's current resurgence.