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New Again

Taking Back Sunday - New Again Audio CD

A fair review of the Taking Back Sunday "New Again" 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 Taking Back Sunday reviews here, or go back to the Taking Back Sunday tabs.

Band: Taking Back Sunday
Title: New Again
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-06-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: New Again 2: Sink Into Me 3: Lonely, Lonely 4: Summer, Man 5: Swing 6: Where My Mouth Is 7: Cut Me Up Jenny 8: Catholic Knees 9: Capital M-E 10: Carpathia 11: Everything Must Go

Epic Fail
TBS. . what happened to you? I USED to LOVE your music, now, its just; simply put. . . bad.

Didn't like it much at first, but it grew on me.
5, but since TBS is one of my top 3 favorite bands, I am rounding it up. I would like to point out, I am giving this album a 3. And some lyrics on this album are pretty damn catchy. To me at least.

I was so looking forward to a new Taking Back Sunday album come out earlier this year. I had the date saved.

Then I heard "Sink Into Me. " Honestly, at first, I didn't care for it. But after seeing them perform it live in concert, I started liking it. It had a high energy.

Fastforward to getting the album, when I first heard it, I wasn't that impressed with it. I play TAYF to death, I love WYWTB, and LN is pretty cool. I thought of LN as the weakest of the 3, but not by much. It just didn't match the first 2, but I still enjoyed playing it. I had to force myself to play NA in June. I would fiddle around with the songs, and listen to them one at a time. I will say this, right away I fell in love with "Everything Must Go. " That is such a great track, vocal and lyric wise. It is so powerful, and Adam shows such great emotion. I played that song and "Sink Into Me," which really reminds me of a concert. The others I'd experiment with.

I went maybe a month without playing the album. One day while returning from a trip, I decided to play the album. Then I learned this: the album serves for great driving or traveling music. It tends to play well with the movement and scenery. I then enjoyed it. Now I have some tracks that stand out due to certain lyrics I thought were clever/catchy, like on "Catholic Knees" and "Lonely, Lonely. "

I'm not as disappointed with the album like I was when I first got it 4 months ago, but it really is my least favorite of their 4. I get that bands can't/don't want to do the same album all the time (and frankly am tired of bands saying that), but do they really have to change the sound that much? On album 5 for TBS, and I hope this doesn't take another 3 years, I pray that their sound returns to the old one, or, at the very least, is similar to it.

I don't regret buying this album at all. TBS is one of my favorite bands (second fav actually) and I will continue to support them. I love the music, though don't want it to keep going in the direction it is.

Not really new
In other words, I heard Louder Now before hearing TAYF and WYWTB - and was shocked at how much Louder Now was a change from the previous two albums. Let me preface this review by saying I am a [retroactive] hardcore TBS fan.
But I did learn to appreciate all three for what they were - different forms of the same band. Different energy, different feel, but at the core, the same TBS.

New Again is the same TBS. Only instead of being in a different form, they've been so watered down and diluted they hardly have any of the original spark and drama they used to have.

They've played up the hype without playing up the substance. What used to be clever lines are now stock cliches, and the music doesn't have the same eclectic qualities as before. It's an echo of what they used to be. Simply put, in comparison to the previous albums, New Again has very little "fight" in it, which for me, is a gross disappointment.

Don't get me wrong here - I understand that bands, like the people in them, change and grow as time goes on, as their experiences expand and they inevitably mature. The music soon follows suite.

I'm not asking for the same teen-angst-fueled desperation that powered TAYF and WYWTB; I am well aware that doesn't last forever (though I admit I wish it did :D)

All I'm asking for is the same PASSION in the music. The same CONVICTION. To do it assertively and confidently instead of coasting by on the basics of formula. The kind of ingenuity that made TBS stand out. The kind of 'do-it-with-all-you've-got' attitude that made the previous TBS albums worthwhile.

Nope; to me this feels like the album that was made for the sake of making an album. TBS Lite.

As a standalone album, I do like New Again moderately well. My favorites being "Lonely, Lonely", "Swing", "Cut Me Up Jenny", and "Everything Must Go. " Honestly, "Everything Must Go" is probably the closest this album could get to the original TBS. I savor the last couple minutes of the album just for that song.

But I'm not reviewing this as a debut album from an up-and-coming group; I'm reviewing it as a fan who's been let down after 3 fantastic albums from a group that's had enough line-up changes to make your head spin. I just hope future albums will recreate a little bit of that passion again. When that happens, TBS will really have become new again.

Not really TBS
I'm surprised they still call themselves Taking Back Sunday since technically only one original member remains, guitarist Eddie Reyes. This album is simply horrific just like louder now was. The new album has just given the band a bad name. At least we can still look at the first 3 albums as a success (the first EP, Tell All Your Friends, Where You Want To Be).

Why?
Been listening to them since I was 16 I believe. Let's see, I am a little ashamed to admit it now, but I still like Taking Back Sunday. All I have to say, is that this album is completely garbage. It's not even worth reviewing and numbering each song.

Let's just say, that if bands had mixtapes like rappers did, this would most definitely be a mixtape. Because it sounds like throw away crap not good enough to put on a real cd because you don't want to disappoint fans. This album makes "Louder Now" sound absolutely fantastic. At least there was some feeling on that album. If you want Taking Back Sunday, stick to "Tell All Your Friends" and "Where You Want to Be".

As one more stab at fans who love new TBS. . . at least Brand New changed their sound instead of making the same crap over and over. Look out for their new album, "Daisy" coming out soon. I never thought I would appreciate them more than TBS. But I guess that's what happens when you put out 2 terrible albums back to back.

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