Media Lion

Rating: 6.5

This felt like a solid album to me, I listened to it once all the way through, and relistened to a couple sequences of songs, the only thing I specifically disliked was the length- 2 hours is a little much for me (especially compared to more recent releases that are more in the realm of an hour or less). A bonus for the length though, was that it felt very fleshed out- I felt like it had plenty of peaks and dips in vibes and energy, which I thought worked well. I really enjoyed the pivots between slow and fast paced songs (specifically from To Forgive into An Ode To No One).

Farewell And Goodnight – This one felt like the perfect closing to an album that was all over the place in terms of energy. The ups and downs felt exhausting throughout the album (exaggeration) and this was such a (melodic? harmonious?) finish, and reminds me of a particular song that I can’t quite put my finger on. This was by far my favorite, and definitely one I would add into my rotation.

Love – This was probably my least favorite song, I didn’t care much for the vocal distortions, and did not really enjoy the track in general, it felt too synth-y for my taste and was a little grating listening with headphones on.

An Ode To No One – I liked this one in the context of the album- it felt like a nice switch up in pace after listening to To Forgive, and I liked that it seemed a bit more metal-y overall, though I would probably not listen to this track outside of the album.

Cupid De Locke – I loved the strings on this (harp? Not really sure, but would certainly fit thematically with the song) beat, but to me the vocals did not fit that well, and I almost think I would have enjoyed it more as an instrumental. Overall this was my favorite instrumental part of the album, but not my favorite overall song.

1979 – One of their more popular songs (I think, I’ve definitely heard it before), for good reason I think- this was definitely a stand out and I enjoyed the song as a whole. It had a good distribution of ramp up into high-energy, and I liked the climax of the song a lot. Probably my #2 on the album.

X.Y.U. – This one I appreciated for a similar reason to An Ode To No One, I loved the ramp up, leaning into the metal-y vibe, and the little Mary had a little lamb piece. Also another one I probably wouldn’t listen to outside of the album as a whole.