by RileyLewis » 11/26/2012, 5:40 pm
I think the album could have been quite memorable if a few cut songs had been included, such as Warnings and Grocery List. They definitely had a creepier vibe to them that I think the final album was lacking. OLP the last few records seems to be playing it safe, where they record some really different stuff but then cut it for release and go with safer, more regular-sounding tracks. Or in the case of The Wolf, they take a song that worked well and change it. Not to say I don't enjoy Fire in the Henhouse, but hopefully it wasn't changed because they were afraid it was too similar a song to Heavyweight (heavier rock track). Because the album was pretty short (last few have been in general) and rather than change songs they should be adding a few in. Not sure why they are aiming for fewer and fewer songs.
My other favourite artist has been doing the same (Matthew Good), with his last album being only 9 tracks. Now in his case you could argue you get a lot more for your money because the songs themselves are usually 5-6 minutes in length. But one thing I like that Matthew is doing on his current upcoming album is making a straight uptempo rock record. He's going back to his roots after a few albums of more experimental and different stuff. From the studio clips it sounds like it's paying off big time. I hope OLP does something similar in the next album and kind of unchain themselves a bit. Lately they've been thinking too much about it and from the studio clips it seems like they take a committee approach to songs, which tends to mellow and mainstream them out.
Curve had some great guitar solos, but the songs themselves were fairly predictable, especially the drumming, which was disappointing compared to what Jeremy used to put in. Curve was a decent record compared to the previous few, but I hope for more from the next.