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Hot Water Music - The New What Next Audio CD

A fair review of the Hot Water Music "The New What Next" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Hot Water Music reviews here, or go back to the Hot Water Music tabs.

Hot Water Music Band: Hot Water Music
Title: The New What Next
Rating:
Release Date: 2004-09-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Keep it Together 2: End of the Line 3: Bottomless Seas 4: All Heads Down 5: Ebb and Flow 6: Monkey Wrench 7: Under Everything 8: Ink and Lead 9: Poison 10: Early Grave 11: Giver 12: Already Roses

6 stars if i could
for me, there isn't a bad song on this the whole cd, and it's the only HWM cd that i can listen to right through. I don't get all of the negative reviews around this album.

maybe it's because im getting old but i've been a fan for YEARS, and this album makes all of their previous work seem dated. i think it's time that all of the die hard fans allowed for change and were open to the possibility that it isn't always a bad thing. it's called progression.

the production on the album is great. it isn't over produced it is just clean and loud. I don't even get the whole over produced thing anyways. the drums still sound like drums and they sound like someone is actually playing them. the guitar crunches, the bass is deep and the vocals are crisp and lacking over filteration and compression.
there are no cheesy sound effects like windchimes or gun shots lol.

maybe some like it when the guitar is drowning out the vocals, and the drums are drowning out the guitar but i've grown tired of the garage band sound and apparently so has HWM.

I can't even listen to their pre 1999 releases and i was a fan when they were released. but if you can still stomach them, this isn't the cd for you. If you look back on most pre-2000 emo/punk as a snap shot of your teenage years and nothing more than this album will be more to your liking.

.


OK, but not the greatest...
It isn't that I am pissed about mass marketing or other crap like that, its just that I find myself skipping songs on this album, which I have never done on any HWM release before. I have to admit I was expecting a lot more out of this album. There are maybe 3 or 4 good songs on the album, but only one standout, "Giver". Not horrible album, but definately not the greatest either.


talk about garbage
thats all rap is, those idiots dont write their songs. its sad when great bands sell out and let other people write their songs for them. its too complex for them. HWM used to have deep lyrics about their lives and experiences, now its muddled garbage. screw you epitaph!.


The First I Got
I honestly despise it when people insult this as its not the same as previous works. I got this HWM album first, so I have a special liking for it. Am I the only one who doesnt care?

I love it when a band evolves, as long as its a good evolution. This is, my version of the album starts with Poison, not at track nine. So anyway, I buy this album, get back in the car and slap it in the CD player. "I could waste away with politics!. . " It was an intense, fantastic start to an album.

"All Heads Down" was however the first HWM song I ever heard. It gets a little repetitive after a while, but that doesnt stop it being a really good song. The riff is awesome.

This album is melodic in comparison to older HWM. It takes some listening to, Ill give you that. But when you listen you discover a new favourite track. For example, "My Little Monkey Wrench" went unnoticed to me for about 5 listens before I went, wow, sick track. "Under Everything" and "There Are Already Roses" I always listen to together, they compliment each other nicely.

"Poison", "The End Of The Line" and "This Early Grave" are the easiest to get into, and probably the best tracks the album offers. Its so easy to breeze over the other tracks, but if you have the patience to listen to the other tracks on this album, you will be pleasantly surprised.


Where have you gone, HWM???
To say that this band is great would be an understatement, as 5 near-perfect full-lengths, as well as numerous live albums, splits, and comps would attest to. I've been a Hot Water Music fan since they released what I think is far and away the album of the 90s, No Division.

I've listened to "The New What Next" at least ten times already, and here is the glaring problem: it's catchy. Harmonized choruses, emotion-laced guitar riffs, and poorly-written lyrics characterize this album. Catchy may be good for some bands, but it is the opposite of what we fans of the boys from Gainseville have come to expect.

To be honest, if Chuck's voice wasn't so distinguishable, I'd question whether this was really even Hot Water Music. That unbelievable grit that characterized songs like 220 Years, Jet-Set Ready, or Paper Thin is absent from every track on this album. Those offbeat harmonies that come at strange times and in strange tones (another GREAT thing about this band) have been replaced with perfectly-sung harmonies that can only be described as Blink 182-esque.

Hot Water Music has never been a radio-friendly band, as their underproduce, vinyl-on-sandpaper sound probably wouldn't appeal to wide audiences. That same sound appealed to me, and legions of rabid fans that frequent their unbelievable live shows. That sound is gone.

Maybe this is just a misstep in an otherwise perfect tenure. I pray that it is, but this album is over-produced, over-simplified ("I will be under everything/ I'm getting closer than you think"--better lyrics, please), and is simply not Hot Water Music.

This is not an album for the HWM purists, but might be enjoyed by a more mass-market-oriented audience.

All I can say is, please come back--I miss the real Hot Water Music.


You can see a complete list of all Hot Water Music discography, or go back to the Hot Water Music tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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