FamilyFans Music

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CITIES

Anberlin / Tooth and Nail Records

Fan Appeal: Teens

Genre: Rock

Cities is an album that totally outdoes the already strong efforts of past Anberlin CDs. In short, I am way impressed.

I've always thought Anberlin was good, but even so their previous album, Never Take Friendship Personal, just didn't capture my attention and force me to listen to it. Maybe that's why Cities completely caught me off guard. Anberlin's sound has gotten so much better that there was never a dry moment for me while listening to this new release.

My favorite song on Cities is “Godspeed,” and it is the first real song after the eclectic intro track entitled “(Debut)”. “Godspeed” starts with powerful, hard-hitting guitars. It then proceeds to rock the entire way through the next several minutes, and doesn’t let up for one second. Awesome.

Another song that I really like here is “The Unwinding Cable Car.” This is a slower song that avoids becoming boring, and that fits in well with the overall sound of the album as well. (One of the weaknesses of Never Take Friendship Personal was that the slow songs didn’t keep up with the CD and so I usually ended up just skipping them.) On Cities, there are several mellower songs that are really good, with heartfelt vocals and sustained emotional intensity.

One more song that caught my attention is the last song “(*Fin).” This song starts off slow with acoustic guitars and some effects, then builds to a beautiful musical section that goes into a chorus of distorted electric guitars and a choir, and finally ends back on a slow note again. All together, the musical creativity in this track makes this song a real work of musical art. It also has a note of finality about it, and is a perfect way to end the CD.

Also, there are some good lyrical qualities throughout Cities. On “Godspeed,” they defy the age-old statement of “The good die young,” and repeatedly dismiss the idea that that could be true. On “(*Fin)” there is a feeling of heartbreak and dealing with personal losses and problems as the repeated mantra is “I am the patron saint of lost causes.” The band also states in this song that, “We’re not questioning God, just those he chose to carry on His cross,” which I think is a question we all have asked at one time or other for any number of reasons, but I think mainly because we see some of the hypocrites that are so abundant in this world. Although most of the songs are not “Christian” songs—meaning they don’t say “Jesus” or “God”—they usually do have an underlying Christian meaning. The lead singer, Stephen Christian, said that the songs are that way for a reason, and that reason is that he felt God was leading him to write this way rather than making the songs in-your-face Christian songs

The only places where Anberlin falls short, in my opinion, are a few songs that feature synthesizer lines too heavily. Some of the parts fit ok, but mostly they weren’t quite right to my ear. Also, the song “Hello Alone” has some parts in it - such as the transitions between verse chorus - that sound incomplete and out of place, as if the band rushed through the writing of the song and thus didn't allow it to sit together correctly in finished form.

Still, those weaknesses are minor at best. In all, Cities is a superb CD, and anyone who is a fan of Anbelin will love it. If you aren’t already a fan, this one might just make a fan out of you. One other cool thing is that you can buy the bonus CD and that comes with three extra tracks and a bonus DVD of the band in the studio. Much fun.

FAMILYFANS RATING: A-

If members of your family like this CD, then you may want to try…

• Never Take Friendship Personal or Blueprints For Blackmail, Anberlin, Rock, good rock and roll that will make you want to jump around and rock out.

--Tony Nappa

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