Turn the same thing on (again
Posted November 05, 2008
By Nathan,
Hawk Nelson’s third studio album release is here and it sends a clear message: Hawk Nelson wants to be your friend. The band doesn’t want just fans, but loyal friends who feel that they are esteemed by this band. The special edition doesn’t just want their friends to be entertained by listening, but to watch them on their DVD, and play the board game that goes along.
Even though their second album (Smile it’s the end of the World) had a more diverse sound than their debut (Letters to the President) it was not really better than it. So Hawk Nelson put out a straighter punk rock album, which cuts the verity of music some and in terms music is closer to their first CD. But it does allow the Punk to really become good, which is what happened, at least in the first half. Hawk Nelson always like to start off their CD’s with good fast rock song, “you have what I need” is closer to “the one thing I have left” without the poor ending, and just a better punk/rock sound which is the hardest song on the album.
The first single “friend like that is a fun punk song that moves fast enough to avoid the bits that sound off. The album keeps on moving with “turn it on” which starts off with a intro that sounds like a slightly toned down “Meant to Live” intro (by Swicthfoot). The song itself is a good fast paced punk song that isn’t perfect but it’s really enjoyable. An excellent part in the album musically is “one little miracle” a medium rock song, with an absolutely great refrain, expect it to be a hit soon. The album kicks back into high gear with “let’s dance” which is really good and a really up tempo beat. By the time the snappy punk song, “ancient history” is better, ends its feels as though it’s just getting started. It’s really sad that the average song length is about three minutes long, but “Ancient history” is still awesome.
Then begins the second half of Hawk Nelson CD, which is about as boring as a bad Stellar Kart CD (pick one). The soft rock song “somebody else” is nice but it stops the flow of the upbeat good punk which is not a bad thing except that “arms around me” is even softer. The upbeat punk track “just like me” is almost dreadful, especially the chorus, which sounds like Hawk Nelson at their worst. “Not the same” is a light rock song which really is nothing impressive. “words we speak has a great chorus which is a great punk sound. The soft and touching track “I still miss you” is very basic, but that is not the strength of the song.
Stop the press! Hawk Nelson actually says something in virtually all of their songs! That is a huge step up from every other Hawk Nelson song that was about girls and parties. However don’t get too carried away yet, no one said the lyrics were really deep. “you have what I need” has some good things to say. Right after ‘All I wanted was honesty/and that was something only you give’ is the line “It took forever just to realize that I had to give myself away/ so I could see your face”. Not really amazing but definitely a step up.
A good anthem for the youth is “friend like that”, and “turn it on is about living with purpose. “Let’s dance” conveys the importance of the individual while urging the hearer to be content with one’s own skin. A song about a Grandmother who passed away (“I still miss you”) is the best song writing done on this album and should be up there with total Hawk Nelson hits. Some pretty solid lyrics but don’t try too hard to interpret “words we speak”. Also on the down side is “ancient history”, and it might be hard for many people to appreciate the message in “not the same”.
The features of the special edition are the board game, the DVD, and the three bonus songs. Two of the bonus songs are acoustic versions of “one little miracle”, and “friend like that”. Although Amy Grant’s vocals show up on the former it doesn’t aid the song much and the extra softness of it doesn’t help it either. The acoustic version of “friend like that” is still some good punk and it isn’t toned down much. The party song “bring ‘em out” is a throw on for fun. The DVD has four music videos, the making of two, and a video of the guy’s sky diving (whee). The board game is more cute than anything else.
Hawk Nelson is starting to anger me. Hawk Nelson is my Friend had such a fabulous start musically that is was very disappointing to see it fall so in the second half. The Punk has hit its peak so far for the band and it would be nicer to see some more diversity and keep the good punk rock. But if the last three albums have been any indication, that might be asking a little too much. Over all it will please friends, but the nagging feeling that it could have been better is still there, and not even Amy Grant, and the board game can fix that. View All Music And Book Reviews By Nathan | View Nathan's Profile
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