Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 9.0
Production: 9.0
Originality: 9.0
Tracklisting
2. Hold On For Your Dearest Life
3. A Year Spent Cold
4. Panic
5. This Was Never
6. Cover Up
7. It Sounds Prettier In Spanish - Download MP3
8. We Give Up Sometimes
9. I Quit My Scene
10. Drive Drive Drive
11. Clear And Conscious
I'll mention this not to say that I'm biased, but to say that I have loved Name Taken for a long time: EmotionalPunk.com was debatably the first site to mention these dudes. These kids started rocking out when they were still in high school, released an EP with a song that found its way to a scattered mass of compilations, and finally got signed to a big label (Fiddler) to release what I'd call the best album of the year so far in the pop rock genre.
"Won't face this day and I won't care now, the sunrise promises nothing new.." might be the former punchline for this band, but now I'm having trouble finding a specific moment this disc is at it's highest. Truly, "Hold On" rocks from start to finish, shattering the eardrums with a sort of poppy, loud infectious sound, that is as much post hardcore as it is pop. Reminiscent of a sort of more upbeat, faster Thursday, "Hold On" literally shocked me. What had this band become? Suddenly, instead of being inside the crowd, they were in front or on top of the crowd, with a compelling, huge sound. I love every single second on "Hold On." I can't lie. It's hard to say what it is, specifically; but I love his voice. I think that, vocally, this disc is unbeatable, when compared to groups similar. Instrumentally, the songs are the perfect length, not a second too long: very to the point. Loud, and dark is where I knew this band was going, but I surely didn't expect a record that changed the way I felt about pop rock altogether. The songs don't have to plead for you to sing along, but don't get to the point of repetitive by any means.
Thursday meets Starting Line? Not even. Name Taken's melodic rock nature is hard, loud, upbeat, and all while revealing the inner nature of relationships. Don't even try to call this one emo.
If you don't buy this record, I'm ashamed you are visiting this website. This is a record you need to own, Name Taken fan or not.