Straylight Run - Straylight Run
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Straylight RunEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-10-12
Music Label: Victory Records
Soundtracks:
- The Perfect Ending
- The Tension And The Terror
- Existentialism On Prom Night
- Another Word For Desperate
- Mistakes We Knew We Were Making
- Dignity And Money
- Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)
- Tool Sheds And Hot Tubes
- It's For The Best
- Now It's Done
- Sympathy For The Martyr
Free Music Notes for Straylight Run
Free Music Review: A Beautiful Classic
Hit: 5 Stars
Even when constantly being recommended this album by a few friends and reading its great reviews, I still couldn't bring myself to buy it without hearing any songs. Then one day I found it on sale at a local music store and finally broke down and bought it. I will be forever thankful for my "splurge", and will now trust whatever is recommended to me from those certain music buffs who raved over Straylight Run's self titled debut. This is definitely one of the best albums I have heard in a long time, and has quickly grown to become one of my favourite CDs of all time. I generally buy a new CD, listen to it straight for a couple of days, then take it out of my CD player and barely touch it at all. I find it hard to stop playing this album, though. If I don't listen to it for a couple of days, I find myself humming certain songs and I'll feel the need to pop the CD in and listen to it the entire way through.
The album begins with a slight touch of irony with the track 'The Perfect Ending'. The song is extremely slow and mellow, though dramatic. The piano carries the song and allows the soft vocals shine through. Though this is a beautiful track, the lyrics and music just don't grab my attention. It's my least favourite song on the album, and I often find myself skipping it to hear 'The Tension and the Terror', which is among my favourite tracks. The song begins with drums before the guitar breaks in and then the vocals. The lyrics here are simple and perfect. From my understanding, the song speaks about a relationship that, for whatever reason, can't continue any further than friendship. The song is made believable because it's sung with such strong emotion, which builds in time with the music to reach a perfect climax.
'Existentialism on Prom Night' has quickly grown to become a cult classic. It was the song that I first heard off of the album because so many people had raved about it that I skipped straight to it after opening the CD. It's an amazing track, but I felt slightly let down upon hearing it for the first time. It's lyrically perfect and stunning, but not one of the best songs overall on the album. I find that the music doesn't meld with the vocals as well as it does on other tracks, though it is a fabulous track, don't get me wrong. It's most definitely lyrically among my favourites. 'Another Word For Desperate' begins on an extremely dramatic note with pounding drums and a hard guitar. It softens when the vocals begin, but the same beat remains. When the chorus kicks in, the music gets louder again, and the vocals do the same. This track is stunning because you can actually hear desperation and pleading throughout every aspect of it, and the result is beautiful.
The fifth track, 'Mistakes We Knew We Were Making', is another brilliant track. It relaxes the album again after its predecessor. It's stunning lyrically, vocally, and musically, but very easily one of the most forgettable tracks off of the record. Simply speaking, the song refers to past mistakes, regrets, and the refusal to quit. Nearing the end of the song, the vocals become more drawn out before speeding up and then hitting the final chorus. It all comes together perfectly before ending and 'Dignity and Money' opens perfectly. It's another "forgettable" track, though the chorus and bridge are both fabulous and catchy. It slows down quite a bit near the end and features a female vocal before speeding up for the end. I really like the scattered drums on this track, courtesy of Will Noon.
One of my favourite tracks off of this debut is 'Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)'. The vocals are sweet and sincere, which I find pulling on my own emotions. The music and lyrics are exceedingly simple, and it makes for a brilliant and memorable track. Though sung by lead vocalist John Nolan, you can slightly hear Michelle Nolan's voice in the background throughout the chorus, it's even barely noticeable, but it sounds perfect. 'Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs' is the most up-tempo track on the album, and features a change of pace with Michelle Nolan singing lead vocals. I absolutely love this song, possibly only because I can relate it to personal experience, so perhaps I'm slightly biased. The music seems to be very techno-influenced and is something you can clap along to extremely easily. The chorus is very easy to get stuck in your head, so beware. Shawn Cooper shows off his bass skills on this track, it sounds great.
'It's For The Best' is carried well with a strong piano and beautiful lyrics and vocals. It begins slowly before the drums and bass really speed it up. This song contains, quite possibly, my favourite lyrics from the entire album; "I've become content with this life that I lead/Where I drink too much and don't believe in much of anything". It's emotionally driven and sounds amazing. Nearing the end of the album, 'Now It's Done' begins on a dark note before Michelle begins singing her second and final lead vocal. The song deals with reminiscing and finally letting go. It has a frail, delicate sound to it, due in part to Michelle's soft vocals, and in part to the tranquil music featured until the climax. The album closes with the serene 'Sympathy For The Martyr'. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant and brimming with emotion, but at the same time, sadly forgettable. The best part of the song comes when John begins yelling out the lyrics in a passionate rage. All in all, this was a good track to end the album with.
Straylight Run's debut is undoubtedly a must-have for any music fan. I firmly believe that there are certain albums everyone just has to own, and this is one of them. If you haven't already heard any of the tracks, go out and borrow a friend's copy of the album or pick up your own. I'm sure most readers will love 'Existentialism on Prom Night', as that seems to be a listener favourite largely due to the beautiful lyrics.
THE FINAL VERDICT: 100%
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