#11: Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent PlacesThis is the kind of music that makes me nerd out about music. It's energetic, it's evocative, it's certainly unique, and it's plenty diverse. The band is halfway between Coheed and The Mars Volta and takes the elements of both that work, refines them, and uses them to create something original and amazing. The band's lineup includes a trumpet, a violin, and a saxophone, alongside other traditional rock instruments like guitar, bass, drums. And every single one of them is great at their instrument.
Prelude is a short a cappella track that starts the album off on a relaxed note, which is perfect for A Salesman's Guide To Nonexistence to kick up the energy right away. While mostly a straightforward rocker, the bridge has some fun time signature stuff going on. And it helps that the chorus is really strong and really catchy.
Feed The Horses starts off with a bit of somewhat dissonant, very offbeat instrumentation, before kicking in to a cool horn line. And the chorus of this one... probably the best on the album, really. Utterly fantastic. Can't neglect to mention the quiet part that builds up into the final chorus, and the entire ride of the buildup is glorious too.
Blood on the Radio is the "epic" of the album, with a distinct Spanish (or Mexican I really never can tell the difference) sound to its opening, lots of horns and sax action here. The chorus has a catchy rhythm to it and the verses have a cool riff going on that makes me happy on a technical level. The instrumental section is also tons of fun, with a unison between all the instruments playing another Spanish-y riff, then a groovy guitar riff under a sax solo. The highlight of this one for me has to be the verse right after the sax solo though, I just love that one. The buildup to the guitar solo is also great, and the transition from the solo back into the final chorus is basically perfect.
After that monster of a song we get Absentee to cool off, it's a power ballad that doesn't really kick in too hard until the last third of the song. There's a great sax solo and a good chorus before it really kicks in, though. The shift from light to heavy that happens is definitely my favorite part, the way the whole band kicks in, the melodies the guitar plays after it does, basically everything from that moment until the end of the song is fantastic.
Suspicious Waveforms follows, and it's a jazzy instrumental used as a platform for all the band members to get their turn to show off. As in, all six. All of them get a solo. Though this one's probably my "least favorite" on the album I still like it a lot and the solos are all pretty impressive in their own right, plus the song they're part of is structured well with a lot of cool stuff happening.
Carnival follows, probably my favorite on the album, I just love everything about this song. The intro/B-chorus riff, the way the first verse starts, the verse riff and vocals accompanying it, the buildup into the chorus, the high energy of the A-chorus, the heaviness of the bridge, the cool bass and drum groove leading into the violin solo, that absolutely fantastic solo itself, with the band under it really accentuating it, and the trumpet/sax unison that follows being great and accentuated in the same way, the riff that follows the solo and later closes out the song, I could gush about this song forever honestly it's sooooo good.
Concrete Swan Dive is a bit of an off-kilter track, hopping between a lot of different moods; the first few bits are quiet and pleasant, and then the angry, heavy chorus kicks in, with tons of cool guitar action going on under the soaring vocals. The aggression carries over into the next verse, though it's a bit held back in the first half of the verse. There's a cool riff in the bridge that I can't help but get into the rhythm of, basic as it is. Though this one's not one of my favorites either I still get a ton of enjoyment out of it, as weird as it is.
In the Company of Worms starts out with a shamisen of all things, as if there weren't already enough instruments on the album, and then the heaviest riff of the entire album kicks in; yeah, the last two tracks are a lot heavier than everything up to now. I think my favorite part of this one is the prechorus, though, and the bridge's drum groove. The solo is also very different and wah-heavy, and there's a pretty crazy technical guitar lead immediately after it that builds into the last chorus perfect.
The album closer, My Famed Disappearing Act, starts off making you think you're listening to Protest the Hero with a blistering guitar lead, before kicking into a frantic heavy riff that keeps the energy going, and the first doesn't lessen the energy either; it's not until the chorus that things slow down, but instead the energy is replaces by heaviness and epicness, another really good chorus for sure. The bridge here is great, every single part of it, we'd be here all day if I listed out all the cool things about it. The guitar solo's also the best on the album, and by far the longest, reprising the chorus vocals at one point and showing just how skilled the guitarist is without being pointessly shreddy. The final chorus is more relaxed, which is perfect for the intro lead to come back in for a reprisal and end the album on a frantic note.
This is probably the newest addition to the "unofficial top 10" and I see this one only rising in time, 'cause I love this album and I love this band and can't wait to hear more from them. The song-by-song writeup this time is way too long and I'm not apologizing because it's what this album deserves.
Topic: Parama's Accidental Top 50 Albums List! (Current: #1) (Read 27036 times)
