***DISCLAIMER***
Just as a disclaimer, do not take anything I say as meant to be offensive or "man, stop yo hatin on da boyz"
. I'm just giving my initial opinions, and they are just that: opinions. I'm not the same person I was when Busted Stuff, Stand Up, or BWGGK came up. I won't defend Dave till the ends of the world anymore but I also won't bash him just for the sake of "OMGZ, BTCS FOREVZ!". I've grown up. I've changed. The band has grown up. They've changed.
Now, onto my short and to the point review.
Broken Things
I like the contrast of the verse and chorus. It’s pretty. I can without a doubt see the Blue Water similarities. Dave lyrics seem preachy and sometimes look like they settle on a rhyme before caring about the content of the line.
Belly Belly
Meh. It’s like Cornbread all over again but with a better chorus. But I hate Cornbread. The chorus seems to wear out its welcome halfway through. And Dave rehashes way too many lyrics and ideas. Belly Jelly? Uh, really?
Mercy
Outro is nice. That’s about it. Would have been a nice build up.
Gaucho
Verse was nice. Chorus wasn’t all that bad (I’ve heard worse).
Sweet
Beruit’s next cover. Uke, horns, violin. I called it first.
The Riff
Better studio than live. Go prog rock.
Belly Full
Coldplay’s Till Kingdom Come first came to mind. Stupid lyrics follow.
If Only
Never liked it live. Still meh on it.
Rooftop
Dave is back to riff based patterns. Nice to hear. Still resorts back to same subject matter. I could have bet my life I’ve heard this chorus before. Liked the interlude. Repeat the chorus ad nauseaum.
Snow Outside
Was waiting for something big to happen for the chorus…it never did. Lyrics seem like they try to be poetic in the same way Stay or Leave did but, well, Stay or Leave were. Boyds part is nice. Outro is good, but builds in a way that the tension never really amounts to anything carthetic except footsteps and noodling.
Drunken Soldier
Part 1-OMG! LEGEND OF ZELDA! GERUDO VALLEY!
Part 2-Not going to lie, I got choked up.
Part 1-same
Part 2-same
Part 1-Chorus is nice. I like it. So far this is the only song that has kept my interest.
Part 3-Proggy again.
Part 1-I like Dave’s vocals. Harmony in the right is nice with boyd and jeff.
Part 2-same
Part 1-A little overload on the chorus, but I’m still interested.
Part 3-same
Part 4-Kind of a downer. I’m expecting a giant ending and if I don’t get one I’m going to be cutting this thing off around the 5 minute mark (looks like I’ll be cutting it off)
Overall, it was a nice effort, thereby opposing most of my review. Maybe it's a grower. Maybe I'll pick up things later on. Maybe it will click.
The reason why it clicked so many times before (and the number one reason why I joined this site to begin with) was that there were those moments that made me come back again and again. Those moments that were just so good and so special that you wanted to return over and over, whether through albums, bootlegs, or the concerts themselves. I'm not going to name them; you know them already. I just wish there were more on this record.
Maybe in time, there will be.
Overall: B-