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Burning the Days

Vertical Horizon - Burning the Days Audio CD

A fair review of the Vertical Horizon "Burning the Days" 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 Vertical Horizon reviews here, or go back to the Vertical Horizon tabs.

Band: Vertical Horizon
Title: Burning the Days
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-09-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: All Is Said and Done 2: The Lucky One 3: The Middle Ground 4: I Believe in You 5: Save Me from Myself 6: Carrying On 7: Back to You 8: Can You Help Me 9: Afterglow 10: Here 11: Welcome to the Bottom 12: Even Now

Get's better with each listen...
Each time I listen, it gets better. I can't take this disc out of my player. Awesome production, thought provoking lyrics. . . not a bad track on the disc. Great driving music!
My personal faves include "All Is Said and Done", "The Middle Ground", "Save Me From Myself", "Welcome to The Bottom" and "Even Now" is a great way to close out the album.
Overall, one of (if not my) favorite VH releases. Highly recommend. . . listen loudly!!!.

BEEN WAY TOO LONG!
I love vertical horizon,

ever since i heard everything you want in summer 2000 on the radio, i bought that album and loved it, it was such a perfect pop/rock album. . , you could imagine so many songs from it as hit singles. . .

then, go was another fine album in autumn 2003, that too had so many catchy radio- friendly songs. . . i never understood how it was not more of a hit. . . i guess RCA just didn;t back the guys well enough. . . that record had lots of potential hits

I still listen to those albums tons. . .

Now, six years (!) on, we get the much delayed and eagerly awaited new album. . . what can i say, i love it, it's everything i expected it to be. . .
Thye havent really progressed or changed their sound much, but their songs are still very catchy and well crafted. . . if you loved the last two albums, this is for you. . .

I guess the main changes are the songs are more polished up- i guess the guys did this in the hope of getting more radio play and being more commercially successful. . . me, it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the songs, i know some think the songs sound less rocky or raw but i'm fine with it. . .
The album is not as rocky as the previous albums as a result. . . but these are still very strong songs that are catchy and its great to have some new material at last. . . .

My faves:
I love I believe in you, it starts slowly but builds to a strong finish. .

Carrying on is a great track too, it's another one that starts low but builds to the rocky finish we know and love the guys for. . .

save me from myself, is probably the rockiest track on the album. . . i love the middle of the song and the great guitar riffs. . . they certainly haven't lost it. . .

The lucky one and a few other tracks introduce piano to the vertical horizon sound and these tracks are well executed too, a little middle of the road in ways cause they start softly but always build to a strong chorus and finish. .

I also love welcome to the bottom, the soft piano/ organ opening is so catchy and again the track builds to a rocking finish. . .

I think if you liked Go, then you will like this too.

It's a fine collection of songs, a welcome return from a great band and i wish them all the best with this one, i hope they can get more radio play and are more successful. . . they deserve it. . . and let's hope the next album won't be quite as long a wait! .

Overproduced Snoozer
I've you've listened to and loved Vertical Horizon for years, there are other reviews written more for your perspective. This is my first real foray into Vertical Horizon's music, and I am targeting the first time listener rather than the longtime fan.

If you are still reading, here are my thoughts on Burning the Days. I bought the CD after listening to the online samples (including the full length of "All Is Said And Done") which I thought sounded pretty good. I was disappointed when this didn't translate for me when listening to the entire songs/CD. This is probably because I get more immersed in the music when I am listening to in on my mp3 player or in the car.

I have three main issues with Burning the Days. First, the songs are way over produced. While each song has some layer on top of the base instrumentation and vocals, this stood out to me the most on "Welcome To The Bottom". If you listen to the beginning of the song without knowing who it is, you might guess that it is a Dido (who I love BTW) song. The reason this doesn't work on Burning the Days is that Vertical Horizon is supposed to be a rock band not a pop/dance music artist.

Next, the vocal delivery/rhythm ranges from dull to bad. Matt Scannell doesn't have a hook or emotionally inflected delivery, and the rhythm on the chorus of "Back To You" and "Can You Help" me make me reach for the skip button to begin the next song. I prefer someone who mixes up their vocal style more. Thinking about bands that would be considered peers to Vertical Horizon, Ed Rolland of Collective Soul is a contrasting example that fits more of what I'm talking about.

Finally, I don't think that Scannell writes very good lyrics. Even though "All Is Said And Done" is the song that I like the best on the CD, the chorus is way to choppy - "Are you tired/Of holding up the sky/Teaching birds to fly/You've done it all your life/Oh baby are you sad/When you see the sun/`Cause then you're not the brightest one/When all is said and done/And honey all is said and done". Perhaps you aren't supposed to care about the lyrics with Vertical Horizon, but this just doesn't work for me. Other things I found odd were that the title phrase 'Burning the Days' is found both "I Believe In You" and "Carrying On". Yet it does not provide a real unifying theme for the CD such that it bears repeating across songs. Lastly, I thought that the dual meaning on "Even Now" (both temporal and in terms of balance/justice) was a failed attempt at being clever.

Overall, I couldn't find a lot to like in Burning the Days. If you are a longtime fan, this might be exactly what you are looking for. However, for the new listener I would suggest trying to listen to a good sample of full length tracks before jumping in. If you are looking for something in the rock genre that you might find a little more satisfying, check out something from Collective Soul.

Download this: All Is Said And Done.

Burning The Days is "on fire"
But, in the interim I have gone back and sampled some of their older cuts from There and Back Again and Running on Ice, and have seen Matt and Keith perform a downplayed acoustic duo performance one Christmas a few years ago (yes, they did pay "The Man Who Would Be Santa"). I will admit, I've only been a fan since the late '90s, when "Everything You Want" started getting airplay. And now, after so long, I have a chance to talk about them as if they're relevant to the radio waves again.

Everything on Burning The Days feels so AWESOME - in the old school sense of the word, when it meant "inspiring wonder". The instant that insane synthesizer started playing on "All Is Said And Done" right after I first threw the disc in my car stereo, I said, "Ohhh. . . " And of course, it was a little different and off the beaten path for them, but once the acoustic/electric duo punched in after the opening (almost terrifying) line of vocals, I said, "THERE'S Vertical Horizon. "

And that feeling continues throughout the album: the frequent inclusion of a piano is a breath of fresh air, given that they've mostly shied away from the instrument in the past. But the acoustic roots and feel the band has held since they were formed a decade and a half ago never disappears. Songs like "The Lucky One" and "I Believe In You" make me smile the way "You're A God", "Forever" and "Finding Me" did in the past - and not because they're carbon copies, but because they capture that same uplifting sense of "Anything's possible" that Scannell has always been able to pull off. "Save Me From Myself" slays without mercy, as you probably know by now; "The Middleground" and "Welcome To The Bottom" also go a long way toward making your hair stand on end. "Can You Help Me" and "Carrying On" are the descendants of those heartbreaking ballads you've craved since "Best I Ever Had" and "It's Over".

Of special note is "Even Now", for which Rush's Neil Peart wrote the lyrics and drummed on (in addition to his other drumming assists). It drifts endlessly between ballad and rock epic, which turns it into such an interesting hybrid that you'll find yourself listening to it over and over to figure out which it is. . . or if you even care to dissect it.

Unfortunately, there is a weak track: "Back To You". It sounds really polished, and it's not a bad song by any means. But something about it makes me feel that it has the word "filler" printed descreetly on the back. The rest of the songs are so much better in comparison that I usually find myself skipping it.

I feel this one deserves special attention: "Here". It's a beautiful, sweeping opus of a ballad, but what sets it apart is the harmonizing over the bridge. Since Keith Kane lent nothing more than harmony vocals to this album, I believe this must be what keeps him in the band. Sure, the album is amazing all over, this was the first moment after the opening song that I felt my jaw drop. Pure love.

And about the whole Keith Kane thing. . . I don't believe it for a minute. Sure, the disc says Matt Scannell wrote, produced and performed the entire thing himself Nine Inch Nails-style "with a little help from his friends", but I know Keith at least contributed some small amount of creative input. I also wouldn't be surprised if at least a few of the recordings of guitars were really Keith, as well. But if my theory is wrong, what does that mean? It means Matt Scannell is freaking amazing, since he wrote ten mind-blowing songs (and one fairly good filler track) without any outside assistance.

Either way, Burning The Days is worth any price. A lot of people are saying "great followup for VH fans" and "Those who are new to VH should investigate their older stuff first so they can truly appreciate this", but that's selling it short - I believe anyone who likes and/or misses what Alternative Rock once was before it turned into a breeding ground for whiny punk acts would love this album to death, whether or not they've heard their older material. It stands on its own two feet and delivers what music should be in heaping platefulls. Do yourself and your ears a favor and pick this up.

Pop it into your CD player and enjoy
My review will not satisfy all. . . . . . . I do not like to compare this new CD to other VH CD's of the past.
I love the CD and just recommend you to "Pop it into your CD player and enjoy".

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