Tonight might not be the best night of Everyday Sunday's lives
Posted June 22, 2009
By Nathan,
An important quality that all great artists must possess is the ability to look at the flaws of a previous album, learn from them, and then improve on the flaws with their next project. Many Christian artists may never get a chance to take the first step, but Everyday Sunday’s skill to rise above a below average album (Their sophomore album with Flicker records Anthems for the Imperfect) to create their great debut with InPop records Wake Up! Wake Up! should have made them stronger and hopefully prevented them from returning to mediocre. Sadly that is not the case with Everyday Sunday’s latest album Best Night of Our Lives.
The three words which best describe Best Night of Our Lives are, good, underwhelming, and unoriginal. Almost every single song on the album is saturated with standard upbeat pop rock songs with very few twists and a lack of complex beats. In some cases the band simply alters the tone slightly to add a more melodic pop edge similar to that of Ruth (“Where I Ended” is the prime example). The fast paced music, which included a punk edge, that reined in Wake Up! Wake Up! and made it an infectious CD is recycled here and reproduced in a laid-back, unmemorable fashion.
The title track contains a good pop rock chorus which is nice but won’t overwhelm fans, while “Under your thumb” is a little catchier as it throws together more up-tempo music which is only used for some head-shaking to the music. The more intense rock song "Lies and Fear Go Hand in Hand" isn’t terribly diverse or original even though lead singer Trey Pearson tries to give the song a shot in the arm and the pop rock used in “Breathing For Me” is progressive but it lacks a cutting edge element for it to stick out. Get the rhythm yet? The rest of the album follows the same path with almost zero strays even though the instrumental finale “Reprise (Where I Ended)” is a nice interlude for those who are not board and take another listen.
Fortunately the lyrics are at the best they have ever been as Everyday Sunday has shown a desire to progress in their song writing skills rather than falling back on clichés. The backsliding of friends causes the singer to consider ‘I see the evidence/And watch you ride the fence/So convincingly/And it is killing me/What happened through the years/To cause this change of gears’ on "Lies and Fear Go Hand in Hand." The idea of making everyday worthwhile is relatively basic concept for the title track but the lyrics do venture out on issues like our depraved state combined with our need for Christ (“Breathing For Me”), and being a persistent friend when the time comes (“Come Around”). Also, Christian should relate well to the biblically inspired songs “Pity The Man Who Falls And Has No One To Help Him Up”, and “Here With Me.”
As a fan of Everyday Sunday, I found it difficult getting into the generic pop rock tunes that made up Best Night of Our Lives. The music wasn’t bad but rather simply bland. Although Anthems for the Imperfect was a very poorly done CD in most areas that CD is more listenable than The Best Night of Our Lives. This time around Everyday Sunday has re-climb the ground they gained from Wake Up! Wake Up! and while that might seem hard, the band has the tools to give fans something fresh and relevant.
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