I listened to curve last night. It was nice, as I haven't really listened to it in a few months. This album seems to get a lot of grief from fans. I've had a lot of time to soak in this CD at this point, and it does hold sentimental value to me... it came out during a very large change in my life, and very much was a soundtrack to what I was experiencing at the time. I was going through some rough shit, and I told the band about how much the album really spoke to me during their poster contest on facebook, and now have an awesome Clumsy poster, center stage in my living room as a result. I want to try and defend why this is a good album though, outside of my own personal connection with it.
A comment by our favorite now-banned board member really got me thinking about the album, and the band. I agree that Curve doesn't deliver everything I hope for from this band, but I do think it's a solid album, and I do enjoy listening to it and singing a long. I think my real tie to the album is that it's the first album since SM that I've liked MORE than the previous album. That's a big deal, I think. Gravity, HIPT, and then BB, for me, was a slow decent, where I felt that each previous album was the stronger than the next. I now have gotten to that point in my life where I accept those albums and can find enjoyment in them... where as many of the die hard fans view them as abominations and simply cannot find any enjoyment. However, I think Curve did a lot. It one upped BB. It showed that the band was willing to allow true creativity back into their music. Yes, I feel like moments on the album could have been more inspiring and artistic, but the album is for the vast majority a really creative and amazing experience. It lacks some punches, but it definitely delivers it's fair share. If another band had released curve, I would still enjoy it. Where as BB I enjoy possibly only because it's OLP. There's a huge difference there. Curve was the band digging into something new that they haven't really touched in a very long time, and for me, it's an indicator of things to come. When listening to urban grind tour recordings, I also feel like the band is in much better shape than in older recordings. Raine's solo tour also saw some amazing moments, such as raine's amazing performance of Innocent. It seems like he's getting more comfortable with the changes we've all known that his biology has gone through in the last few years, and I think he's finally starting to settle in to where he is... Interviews with the man seem to show this too, a sense of serenity and a new level of confidence. Curve is an extension of that... the bands ability to be comfortable with who they are and what they can create.
So, no, curve is not better than albums 2-4, I may actually connect with it better than Naveed, which is saying a whole lot. It holds value as being a concrete album, period. Its further elevated because I truly believe that it is the foundation of great things to come. I think that the band has broken the trend of being sort of lost and uninspired, and whatever #9 has in store, I honestly believe will be an evolution of all of the good things that curve has to offer, taken to the next level. It's the first time in a long time that I've been looking forward to an OLP album rather than praying that it isn't like the previous one. So, I would say, it's a solid album, but it's true value is that it has put the band on a new track, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think this time next year, we'll be hearing some really good stuff coming our way that rides on the shoulders of this new directions.