Till We Have Faces

Thought I was ordering a book Got a music CD was bummed gave it to Sally Army without a llisten was not interested will be more careful in the future.

Alas, the whole "emo" scene (whatever that means now) finally IS blowing up, as critics have long predicted, and a whole crop of bands are in prime position to capitalize. Noise Ratchet's debut full length could easily be written off as yet another pointless emo release, but upon further inspection, the band executes their sound with near perfection and peppers it with rock sensibilities sorely missing from newcomers such as Taking Back Sunday or Finch. The first three tracks are oddly enough the weakest ones, sounding like any other soft hearted punk band on the planet, but from the moment "For You I'll Be Forgetting Me" kicks in, rock and roll excellence ensues. Guitars soar and glide seamlessly, carrying the weight of triumphant emo anthems. It's nothing that hasn't been done before, but for those of us that still have an ear for the sounds of Jimmy Eat World and Further Seems Forever, Noise Ratchet serves up a debut that pushes all the right buttons. Excellent spiritual lyrics further show the amount of depth this band has over their counterparts.

Granted, my opinion seems to go againgst the flow, but this album disappointed me. Personally, I discovered Noise Ratchet for myself on MP3.com about 3 years ago. They had a five-song EP called "Why We Cry" that was available only at MP3.com. I ordered it, and loved it so much that when I lost the first copy I ordered another one. When I found this CD in a Hot Topic a couple years later, I eagerly snatched it up. Till We Have Faces is a huge departure from the simple, heartfelt songwriting that instantly won me over on Why We Cry. Instead, it jumps on the textbook emo bandwagon. They read the book, they took "emo 1101," they aced all the exams, and now they released a textbook emo album. His voice often reminds me of the guy from Incubus on this one. It sounds intentional. To its merit, there are some good "emo" tracks on this CD. If you just LOVE emo, then you should probably check it out, but if you liked the good ol' Noise Ratchet, then this may be a shock for you. Definetely try before you buy on this one, like I didn't do.

This band is absolutely awesome. My taste in music is very broad, ranging from American Idol to maroon five to noise ratchet and finch, so I hope that my opinion is unbiased. Permanent Solution- long intro, great song, although its also really short. While I was listening to it, I was thinking what an awesome song this was, then suddenly it ended. I think its probably less than 3 minutes. Vanity- great lyrics and such an emotional song, has a good message that "beauty if only skin deep" For You I'll Be Forgetting Me- this song makes me think of the first one, but because I like the first song, of course I'm going to like this one. I think this song is more dynamic and longer as well Disappear- I think this is one of the best songs on the album, at least one of my favorites. So much emotion is put into this song. It's a change of pace from the previous songs, where its somewhat slower, but I absolutely love it. Train- I didn't really like the first 30 seconds of this song. When ever I listen to this song I always fast forward cause it just doesn't fit the rest of the song. But for the remaining minutes after that I like a lot, even though again it was similar to the first and third song Wardrobe- again a slow and emotional song, but even slower than Disappear. I think in some ways its better where he voice is a lot more versatile in this song, where he goes from loud to soft, but in other ways I still like Disappear's lyrics and song better. Nevertheless this is a great song. End-I cant say I really love this song, to me its more like an inferior "Wardrobe", its ok, jut there are better songs on this album Away from you- sorta falls in the middle of slow and fast, I don't know how to really describe this track. For me, I simply like this song. My Day-the way this song starts out is great, the main part of this song is somewhat weak, but the beginning and end of this song is perfect. Till We Have Faces-OMG my favorite song on this album and probably in general. What a great song! They made a good choice in choosing this for their title cause its simply fantastic. He has incredibly range and holds this one note for a respectable amount of time. This song is just perfect in all ways, meaning, song, etc... Way to the Heart-the most unique song on this album. The background music is a piano, so it's a very slow song, no loud yelling or drums. I think its an acquired taste, one that I don't have. So for me, I don't like this song although I do have to give it credit for putting me asleep. For most people it's a beautiful song, just not for me. So over all this is probably one of my favorite albums. Noise ratchet is great. I regret to say never saw them in concert and I probably never will since they broke up. If you are debating about buying this CD, but just for Til we have faces, I cannot emphasize how amazing that song is.

Noise Ratchet may not be breaking new ground in this watered down alt/indie/emo genre, but they sure do it well. They have good vocals mostly sung but occasionally the powerful scream, typical layered guitar work, and songs with rock and melody. I can say there are honestly no songs on here that I need to forward through. Each one is solid, no throwaways. Recommended to fans of "Static Prevails" era JimmyEatWorld and that whole style. Again, nothing new, but definitely very good at what they do. If you are craving something new within this style of music, don't pass these guys up.

it's great, john's the dankest in the band, and it's right up there with "why we cry." 'buff said. and i'm not even into emo all that much.