Album Review: Senses Fail- Renacer

The career of a traveling musician is full of ups and downs. That being said, there are very few bands that can hold a candle to the run Senses Fail have been on over the last decade. The band appeared to be next in line behind The Used and My Chemical Romance when emo broke into the mainstream, thanks to the still heralded Let it Enfold You. The single-driven Still Searching, featuring the band's catchiest songs, got the band even closer to stardom. A grueling label battle, countless band member changes, and two albums that fans readily described as "subpar," and the band found themselves at a crossroads. Finding themselves the lone two remaining members of the band, vocalist Buddy Neilson and drummer Dan Trapp enlisted new bandmates, and decided to take a chance with their future. The result of that risk is Renacer (that's "to be reborn" in Spanish), a pulverizing album that finds Senses Fail taking a sonic shift they showed signs of on their last full-length (2011's hit-or-miss The Fire). It's really easy to make a "reborn" joke here, but rather than a full-blown rebirth, Renacer feels more like a new chapter of a book we've all become familiar with.

The album starts off with its title track, a dizzying, pummeling, two-and-a-half-minute snapshot of just how much the band has changed. Neilson's screamed vocals have continued to improve throughout his career, be it in Senses Fail or his hardcore side project Bayonet. Throughout Renacer, Neilson's screams are the dominant form of expression, which is main reason for the drastic changes from the band's older material. Senses Fail clearly wanted a heavier sound on the album, which is achieved through the welcome contributions of new guitar tandem Zack Roach and Matt Smith, who present a drudging, powerful tone throughout the entire album to perfectly complement Neilson's best vocal effort to date.

Fans of the band's earlier, less scream-oriented work will still find enough to remind them of the band's earlier work, especially those who enjoyed Life is a Waiting Room. "Holy Mountain" and "Closure/Rebirth" all have phenomenal choruses reminscent of "Wolves at the Door" or "Lungs Like Gallows." "Canine" soars from the second it starts, providing a perfect start for the second half of the album. Though each song has it's obligatory clean-singing periods, the screaming of Neilson was clearly emphasized in the recording of Renacer, which continues to be readily seen as the album closes with "Between the Mountains and the Sea," which begins with Neilson's nasally croon before building into a crushing track that not only wraps up the album, but serves as a one-song story of Senses Fail's career.

While it is being billed as the rebirth of Senses Fail, Renacer feels a little forced by album's end. While Neilson and Trapp felt the obvious pressure to recreate the formula of their band to stay in the spotlight a little longer, there are parts of the album that feel stale and reproduced. Taking cues from what's becoming the popular trend in hardcore, with bands like The Ghost Inside and Stick to Your Guns (both bands Senses Fail has toured with recently), there may be a sense of trend-hopping so the band can stay relevant. The accusation has some merit, but is discredited when considering the risks that Neilson takes on Renacer, relying so heavily on his screams and singing in a different language on "Mi Amor." Though the album could have been a little more consistent, it's clear that if Senses Fail are truly reborn, the new version of themselves appears to be ready to reclaim the spotlight.

The Bottom Line: Renacer is not only a new chapter of Senses Fail, it's a dividing line. Those who have been calling for the band to return to the way they sounded on Let it Enfold You may be sorely disappointed, while fans of the bands heavier work will welcome the new sound with open arms. The band took a huge risk on the album, and more often than not, that risk has paid off. Though there a plenty of bands making music like this right now, very few of them have the talent, bravado, and creativity to pull it off the way Senses Fail can.

Recommended if you Rock: The Ghost Inside's Get What You Give, Norma Jean's The Anti-Mother, Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache

Warped Tour 2012, through Donald's eyes

Warped Tour has taken its lumps over the last five years. Hopping on the newest scene hype trains across the country, the tour seemed to have lost its luster in the scene. Nevertheless, it's still the cheapest way to see almost every one of your favorite bands in the summer, and the experience of being around so many people who have (somewhat) similar tastes in music as you is worth the price of admission alone. So here I am, at 21 years old, writing to tell you that for the fourth straight year, and fifth year out of the last six, I made the trek to wherever Warped was being held in the great state of New Jersey (this year, it was at PNC Bank Arts Center).

This year, however, there was a bit of a different experience for me at Warped Tour. Sure, I packed my bag for the day like I always do, but it was what was in that bag that was different. I caught as many sets as I could, but missed a few. But it wasn't due to the schedule of when the bands played, it was the busy schedule I had to keep up with. The schedule that has produced the three videos you'll see below, and one of the most important things to happen to this show. They are interviews with Yellowcard, The Used, and Of Mice and Men, but they carry more weight than that. They carry a certain sense of accomplishment, for me at least. But it isn't the fact that I was able to go to the box office and get a press wristband. The true joy of this was to be able to post these for all of you to listen to.

I can tell you all about every band I saw. I can say things like Bayside continues to be the best-sounding live band out there, or that Transit's emotional blend of pop-punk and emo sounds as good on an acoustic set as it does during their energetic full-band sets. I can tell you that the crowds surrounding the Main Stage for Of Mice & Men, New Found Glory, and Yellowcard need to be seen in order for you to believe it. I can tell you that Fireworks played like a band who's bound to be the next big band with a cult-like following. I can tell you that Buddy Neilson of Senses Fail is reason enough to see the band in concert, or that Matty Arsenault of A Loss for Words is poised to be the scene's next great frontman. Whoops, I guess I just said all of that. So, there you go. Now you know what Warped was like for me outside of the Press Room. Now, let's get to the good stuff. My interviews with Jeph and Dan from The Used,  Ryan Key of Yellowcard, and Austin and Tino from Of Mice & Men can be listened to below.

The Used:

Yellowcard:

Of Mice & Men:

A big thank you to Jeph and Dan of The Used, Ryan of Yellowcard, and Austin and Tino of Of Mice & Men for taking the time out of their schedules for the interviews. And to those who are reading, I hope you enjoyed them. If you have the opportunity to head to Warped Tour this year, do it. There's no better concert experience this summer, or any other time of the year. 

Album Review: Senses Fail- Follow Your Bliss (Greatest Hits/EP)

Some bands start as a means to make money. Others start as a way to cope with tragedy, be it first-world problems or real issues. Others do it because they just want to be on stage. But, for the most part, many of the emo bands that came from New Jersey start their bands because they have something to say. One of the bands who said what they needed to say the loudest has always been Senses Fail. Now into their second decade of existence, the band is down to two remaining original members (under-appreciated drummer Dan Trapp and the always outspoken frontman, Buddy Neilson), but still has the energy and swagger they had on their blistering debut full-length Let it Enfold You. It's been a long, interesting run, and the band have decided to commemorate their now illustrious career in the scene with Follow Your Bliss: The Best of Senses Fail. The album features the band's "greatest hits" from each of their albums and EPs, and also features four new songs meant to be an accompanying EP. Because, let's face it, you probably already have all the other songs.

There's no real reason to dwell on the past, though Follow Your Bliss does give you a nice opportunity to relive the highlights from Senses Fail's career. But because I'd rather focus on moving forward, let's take a look at the 4-song EP at the end of Follow Your Bliss. At the very least, the four songs fit right into Senses Fail's discography. The energy is turned all the way up on songs like "Waves" and "War Paint." Neilson's vocals have been improving with each of the band's last two releases, and the improvement on his clean vocals shows itself in a big way on the impeccable chorus contained in "Vines."

The four new tracks on Follow Your Bliss are a treat that hasn't been seen on many "Best Of" releases, in that the tracks come after the best songs of a prominent band's career, and yet still have enough in them to make you want to skip to the end to hear them. Senses Fail's consistency has been somewhat lacking in recent years, but the new songs on the Follow Your Bliss EP are concise and fluent, and help assure fans that though Senses Fail have been around long enough to compile a Greatest Hits album, their best work may still be yet to come.

The Bottom Line: Follow Your Bliss is great for two reasons: one, because you get to listen to all of Senses Fail's classics in a row, and two, because it's also got four new songs that hold their weight with the band's best work. Long live Senses Fail.
Recommended if you rock: Senses Fail, duh.

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12 Days of Christmas, Day 7: Best Album Art of 2010

The artwork on the front of an album is often overlooked in today's music. With a more focused approach on digital sales than the physical release of an album, we've seen less and less of a focus on the presentation of an album. Regardless, there are still a few artists that have pushed their creative boundaries and created album artwork to add to the overall feeling of the album. So without further ado, I'll shut my mouth and let the best artwork of 2010 do the talking (leave your favorites in the replies!):