What is the Classic Crime? History is filled with heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice and martyrs who died for their cause. Whether their actions were viewed as "criminal" in their day was irrelevant. From those fighting against injustice to those who stood up for the folks who don't fit in, dying for one's beliefs or one's art is the Classic Crime. "Music has a profound effect on the listener. It even has the power to lift spirits and change lives," reasons Classic Crime singer Matt MacDonald. "If we can see our music change a life for the better, than we've been paid in the kind of way we hope to be."
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MATURE ALTERNATIVE ROCK EFFORT| Posted September 29, 2008
The expectations might be unfair. After all, The Classic Crime’s original Tooth & Nail offering, Albatross, broke all first-week debut sales records for the label—quite a feat for the alt-rock five-piece. Seattle Sessions came next, a simple acoustic filler disc to hold fans over until the long-awaited follow-up. So the question begs to be asked: does TCC live up to the billing with The Silver Cord?
That will depend upon your rock flavors of choice; The Classic Crime seems to want to sample as many as possible. Still, no matter which direction the band heads—screamo to ballad to rock radio—it’s clear Silver Cord is the older brother, more mature, more steady and surefooted.
“Abracadavers” serves as the best example for the band’s maturity and for lead vocalist Matt MacDonald’s as well. The vocals immediately display a diversity and ownership not present on anything Albatross had to offer. MacDonald’s growl and scream stand out here, yet on “Just A Man” it’s his falsetto which takes center stage. By album’s end, you wonder if Tooth & Nail has a stronger vocalist than MacDonald.
Elvis Baskette’s production work rivals his output with Chevelle, and many songs include similarly explosive moments, such as “Salt in the Snow” and “Medisin.” Other songs linger in between, the many-sided “God and Drugs” and the laboring opener “The End.” By the time you hit album highlight “The Beginning,” which comes at the close of Silver Cord, you realize you’ve tuned in to most rock formats within one album. Yet, the production and realized maturity holds it together, revealing a band able to spin many sonic plates. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
Great| Posted January 20, 2009
This album has a sort of dark quality to it. From the lyrics, though dark at some points but uplifting in other parts, through to the rockin' guitars, this album is a great effort from a band that will certainly have a great future down the road.
This was really awesome| Posted December 21, 2008
Lets start out by saying I think The Classic Crime is just really awesome. I've been a fan ever since Albatross and I really enjoyed their acoustic EP. This album was really well done. It was not as heavy driven as Albatross, but I think that it was better. I think lyricly they have really grown and musicly they have also really grown. The album kicks of with The End. The voice effects on Matt McDonald's voice makes a really cool haunting sound to the song. The song is about how a person will always let you down. It really sets up the next track which is "I'm Just A Man" It has some great lyricly content about reducing God to tv and things like that. I really thought the chorus on it was very good. Next is "Grave Diggers". The song itself is kind of depressing because it is about giving in and no longer fighting for life, but the guitar on the song is really good. "The Way That You Are" adresses not letting other people say who you are as a person and trying to find who you are rather then giving in to what people say about you. 5805 is just kind of a good song about remembering times with friends and such. My favorite on the album is "Salt In The Snow". I really love how in the song he is talking to God and asking him for peace. I think this is really a great track. "Abracadavers" is a great track as well. Talks about how we can't go on serving ourselves. "R and R" is good as well. It starts off slow and builds. "God and Drugs" is another one of my favorites on this album. It talks of looking for God in the wrong places such as addiction to drugs, but it also talks of how God never leaves your side even through all of it. "Medisin" is another very good track. This one adresses drinking. "Sing" is one of those songs that gives you hope. It's just a very hopeful song. "Everything" is very catchy and really kind of that rock alternative style that I really believe is their best sound. "Closer Then We Think" is another one of those songs full of hope. It speaks of how there is hope for us and how we are closer then we think to home. The final track "The Beginning" is really nice and very well done. It was about a girl, but I really liked it. I thought that they tackled some real important topics on this album and they did really well. This is one of my favorite albums of the year tied with Anorexia and Nervosa from Showbread. Great stuff.
No Sophmore Slump Here| Posted September 29, 2008
This record is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!! Once I heard Abracadavers,I knew it was gonna be awesome!! This is definitely my favorite stuff by T.C.C. so far!
Simply Superb| Posted August 30, 2008
The Classic Crime is simply one of the best groups in music today. The songs are all great. There isnt that one song that out does the others as most albums are. I have listened to this cd 100s of times already and no matter how much i try to get away, it ends up back in my cd player. Also, this isnt their only great CD. Albatros was superb as well. Though the songs can get old after a while(a very long while). If you dont get this cd, you are truly missing out. Forget the common groups such as Skillet, Pillar, and Red(which are all good as well) and get this cd. You wont be disappointed.
The Silver Chord| Posted August 04, 2008
The Classic Crime's sophomore cd is brillant...it is quite amazing almost all of the songs give me chill bumps when i listen to them because the music, lyrics, and vocals are so wonderful! Like other people have said it has dark and light songs: songs that express sadness, loss, regret, love, hope, and happy times. Most of the songs are pretty intense and deep. TCC did a great job with their lyrics. The first song "The End" is a sad song that reflects the title of the song-then it goes straight into the next song "Just A Man" which the lyrics say 'I once held the key, but now i have nothing. You are so naive, i'm sorry for leading you along.I'm Just a man!'. Then the fast-paced rock song "Grave Digging" talks about suicide and ,hahaha, about how we are digging our own grave.
"The Way That You Are" is next...says dont let people tell you who you are, there is hope so dont give into what the people say. It is up-lifting and encouraging."5805" has a piano and bells in it which adds to the song, this song talks about his youth days and how they wish they could go back and view the world now like they use to.
"Salt in the Snow" is slower paced but has a happy feel to it, in the song he is talking to God asking if He is there and listening to him, cause he is needs God to be there. "Abracadavers" goes back to the more edgy-rock feel, it talks about how we all spend too much time on ourselves and how really we are all the same made of hair and bones and blood cells(he says all of this in the song).It is kind of a funny song if you think about it. "R & R" is a sad song in which the chorus sings 'How long, how long will we be desperately alone? How long, how long? How long, how long will we have to pay for what we've done? How long, how long?' "God And Drugs" a true rock song that talks about addiction and how he keeps looking for God in places he can not be found like in drugs, but God won't go away.
"Medisin" talks about how he is a slave to drinking and tired of it and knows there is more to life than drinking away his pain.It has sweet guitar parts in it diffently an awesome song! "The Ascent" is an instrumental song. "Sing" is an inspirational song that talks about how when they sing to God it may be flawed but it helps them free their troubles, it is a happy song, has of course a guitar solo! "Everything" is a more faster-paced love song in which Matt iis talking about his wife and how she is everything to him, it is very sweet.
"Closer than We Think" is kind of on the slower side but it is my favorite song...i think because i can relate to the song very well. It is about how we aren't alone 'cause of God and how we are closer than we think to home (Heaven!). This song gives me extreme chill bumps!
The final song is "The Begining" is a happy song in which Matt sings about how he misses his wife and his home in Seattle while he is on the road touring and how he cant wait to go back to them...It so sweet and nice, I love it, it is an awesome way to end a cd...it leaves you feeling happy and cheerful.
So all in all, this cd is awesome and it represents life through pain, hope, desperation, and love! This cd will NOT let you down!!!!!
Classic| Posted August 02, 2008
by the way, i really do hate puns... i just cant help myself sometimes.
ive got hooked on the classic crime since albatross and this album just feeds my addiction more, its musically solid and moving, lyrically its brutally honest and transparent... even raw at some points, i love the way the vocalist yells ( not screams ) to get that edge of rock on some of the more intese songs. and one of the songs has cowbell in it, i mean can it get any better?
the only reason i took half a star off is because i sense in this album that the crimes sound is adopting some pop elements, its not to the point where this album could be labeled pop, i just hear that overall the songs are alot lighter then albatross and i honestly wish they would remain rock.
so overall, a great mix of albatross rock and seattle sessions slower emotional music, all of it is lyrically intelligent honest and brutally acurate to life in general. i cant wait for the next release!
a brilliant sophomore effort| Posted July 22, 2008
when i heard about the classic crime's second album releasing, i have to say i was indifferent to the idea of it. don't get me wrong, they are a great band and this album prooves that. it's just i wasn't too impressed by their first cd. sure the coldest heart is great to sing along to on air1, but the rest of the album was lukewarm at best. this album, though, the buys really kicked it up a notch. a lot of bands are made or broken by the second release and this album shows that got what it takes. i feel like this album is so different from the first, but yet completely within the classic crime's capabilities.
i'd like to change the focus of this review slightly, if that's ok. if not, it's my review so tough. lol. all the songs on the album are top draw, however there is one song in particular that kind of hits home in my life right now. i've only listened to it once, but from what i gather, the song confronts an issue that teens and even adults face in life: alcohol. i've recently turned 21, so it's completely legal for me to have a drink every now and then... but still it's an issue i've dealt with since the beginning of high school. i've never drank underage, which i'm proud of. i was in the anti drug use groups in school and it was fun. i knew that drinking could turn me into someone fake... that i wouldn't be true to myself or the person God wanted me to be. now, by no means do i wish to promote drinking, but now that i'm old enough to drink legally, is it wrong for me to drink? i don't drink to get drunk or to make a fool of myself. my reasons from high school still hold true. it's just that now i'm 21, it feels different. honestly, i don't even do it that often, probably not even often enough to consider it "drinking"...whatever that means. like i said, the classic crime talks about it in their song, called "Medisin". no, that's not a typo. i think they intentionally spelled it with "sin" in there to sort of imply there is something wrong with alcohol and how some people use/abuse it as maybe a cure for depression or other hardships that they may be experiencing. given all that, it's still something that seems to plague society and maybe TCC is trying to do something about it, even in a small way. maybe it, and maybe even this review will help open someone's eyes?
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