An Excellent (though Depressing) Album
Posted July 31, 2007
By Epilogue,
I'll admit that nostalgia is biasing my judgment here. I remember very fondly the first time I heard 'Stars', and thinking to myself 'my goodness, this band is amazing!' That was what started me on liking Switchfoot. Since then, 'Stars' has remained my favorite song since.
While I gave 'The Beautiful Letdown' five stars because of its continued excellence throughout, I give 'Nothing Is Sound' for its short bursts of even greater excellence. For sure, 'NIS' has some weak spots, but its strong spot are more entertaining, more catchy, and more deep than any of Switchfoot's previous work, and certainly the candy coated Christian contenders around them.
'Nothing Is Sound' opens with a dark, digital guitar effects filled 'Lonely Nation' which is dark, depressing, and maddeningly catchy, setting the tone for the rest of the album. It also contains some of the albums darkest, yet 'oh so true' lyrics, best of which is the line 'we're slaves of what we want.' Switchfoot's laments on our depravity comes full swing on this album.
Following 'Lonely Nation' is, my personal favorite, 'Stars', which comes roaring in with its bombastic riff which runs through out the song. The upbeat verses and catchy choruses make this the surefire single. It also adds to 'Lonely Nations' message. The line 'stars looking at our planet/ watching entropy and pain/ and maybe startin' to wonder how/ the chaos in our lives could pass as sane' echoes the same message of depravity, but the chorus shows forth Switchfoot's hope in Christ, with the intriguing final line 'When I look at the Stars...I see someone' cutting off the 'else' from previous choruses.
'Happy Is a Yuppie Word', 'The Blues', and 'Politicians' are all more masterful songs, with hope injected into their depressiveness. Politicians, though, remains simply depressing, with such lines as 'everything is broken/ every thing is bleeding/ everything is breaking down'. But that will matter little to the people listening for the hyper aggressive guitar the song boasts. 'Easier Than Love' does a great job of decrying our nations lust for sex, and it does so with unshrinking honesty: 'Sex is currency/ she sells cars/ she sells magazines.'
The few songs that don't work our 'The Setting Sun' which is mediocre, 'Golden' which is uplifting, but not very satsifying, and 'Daisy', a song that could have been much more. But fear not, 'The Shadow Proves the Sunshine', decidedly the brightest spot on the album, is strong enough to take away most of the depression, and the song 'We Are One Tonight' (Switchfoot's catchiest song in my humble opinion) adds to the joy, even though the lyrics do seem somewhat depressing. The anthem chorus though, keeps it highly uplifting.
I have only two major complaints with this album. First off, the song 'The Fatal Wound'. Hopelessly dark, dreary, and cryptic, I am disappointed Switchfoot would place this song on here. I'm almost afraid to figure out what it means. The only other quibble is that 'The Shadow Proves the Sunshine' would have made the perfect last song. What better way to end a depressing album on our total depravity without Christ, than by joyfully exclaiming 'all this dark proves one thing; there is light.' Frankly, the song would have been far more powerful in closing than in its original fourth spot, but with iPods, and MP3s, whole album listens are rare these days anyway.
All in all, Switchfoot has moved on with their craft, and I'm happy to say, they've only gotten better.
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