Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue

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Free Music Notes for Ocean Avenue

Free Music Review: Ocean Avenue... is this Yellowcard?
Hit: 5 Stars

In short, One For the Kids brought about a harder and more washed up sound. The lyrics were meaningful, the pace of the music was fast, and the violin enraptured all the hearts of those who listened to it.

Ocean Avenue is definitely not the same as One For the Kids. Lyric-wise, they touch on a lot of more emo-related subjects such as 9/11 (Breathing), a Dad (Life of a Salesman), or even relationships (Miles Apart). Some might argue the lyrics seem rather generic, but I disagree. The lyrics backed with the screeching sounds of the electric guitars coupled with the distinct violin makes you forget that this is a song. It tells a story... a story that you just can't stop listening to even when you dont have the CD in!

1. Way Away - you can hear this on the Yellowcard website. It's a fast song and sorta talks about their transition moving from Florida to California. It's a good hard song and it'ts a good song to start the CD. 8/10

2. Breathing - This is another fast song like the above. It's starts off very hard with the violin. The pace and tone is much like One For the Kids. It's a good song to listen to when you need to get psyched up. 9/10

3. Ocean Avenue - The title of the CD. A somewhat more poppier sound. Those who like the sounds of Starting Line may like this song. It's fast and definitely fun to jam to. 8/10

4. Empty Apartment - The pace all of a sudden slows down a lot here in this song. The distortion is off, and it's somewhat similar to the acoustic songs on One For the Kids. However, toward the end it gets rough with distortion.. and it just keeps building up.. and the violin basically finishes it. It's a nice and slow meaningful song to listen to. 9/10

5. Life of a Salesman - This song keeps talking about how they want to be like their Dad. It's very fast with a punk beat coupled with the violin around every corner. I dont like it as much as the other songs because the song's tone doesnt really change that much. But it does have a kickass solo in it that makes up for it. 8/10

6. Only One - This is slower than Life of a Salesman, but a bit faster than Empty Apartment. The lyrics are very meaningful, and it feels the band put a lot of effort in making this one. 9/10

7. Miles Apart - This one has a more poppier sound than all the previous songs. It kind of has that Ataris "Boys of Summer" feel to it. The lyrics are somewhat generic talking about a distant relationship. Those who know Yellowcard may not like that because of the poppy lyrics/sound. 7/10

8. Twenty-Three - This song is also slightly poppier but it shows the violinist's singing ability, and he is pretty good at it too. It's a fast song and very meaningful. 9/10

9. View From Heaven - This song has a country feel to it. Toward the middle to end, a girl's voice starts singing and it creates a very refreshing and emotional atmosphere similar to Jimmy Eat World - My Sundown. This is by far one of my favorite songs on the CD. 10/10

10. Inside Out - This song has a very tightly nit medium pace with a very good structure. It has that instrument conversation characteristic where the guitar seems to be saying(playing) one thing and the violin immediately responds to it by saying(playing) another thing. 9/10

11. Believe - A very emotional song talking about 9/11. You want violin? There's tons of it in here. The lyrics are very meaningful talkin about the people who saved other people's lives in NYC. 10/10

12. One Year Six Months - An acoustic only song. This is similar to Rough Draft. It has a very nice riff in the beginning that I'm hoping will be tabbed soon. It is very calm on the ears and creates a very soothing calm aura inside of you. A must listen. 10/10

13. Back Home - You can think of this song like a Cold/Incubus/slow Creed type song. The pace is slow and it definitely feels like an album closer.

Everything seems to be ordered in the way they are for a reason, and it works.

If you are a new listener getting into the emo-core/pop-punk/punk genre and like artists such as Thursday, Thrice, The Starting Line, Home Grown, etc... then give this album a try. It's a blend of many different genres.

If you were expecting the old classic Yellowcard sound, just give this album 1 try. My first song was October Nights, and I was in love with One For the Kids. I was hesitant at first to hear a band slightly change their sound, but not surprisingly they did it successfully in this album unlike many other bands out there.

You may think because very few songs have a 10/10 rating that the 5 stars for the album seem unjustifiable. This album has everything you can ever want in 1 CD. From the different musical genres to the well placed violin verses in a fast song, you really can't go wrong with this album.

Yellowcard has turned into a more mature sounding band. Some may argue that they are trying to turn mainstream. But if they are trying to become more mature as a band then this is definitely the step in the right direction.

And yes, this is Yellowcard.

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