Switchfoot should probably just hire Metalhead as their publicist.—Sparkitors
Merry late Christmas, happy late Hanukkah, and happy late Kwanzaa to all of you! I bet all ya'll got a ton of great stuff for the holidays —I know I did. Actually, that's kind of what this article is about: I got a CD for Christmas, and it's probably (not even probably!) the most awesome, amazing, legendary, hard-hitting rock album of the past 10 years.
Thank God for Switchfoot.
If you've heard Dare You to Move or Meant to Live, you know that Switchfoot is one of the better mainstream-ish rock bands out there. They're known for their huge, sweeping ballads like This Is Your Life and their energetic rock songs like Oh! Gravity and Stars. And their album Hello Hurricane won a Grammy. Good enough for you? And just to top it all off, they released their latest album Vice Verses a couple of months ago, and the reviews have been nothing but positive.
Now, I say all this because I got Vice Verses for Christmas, and dang, is it good. And you're about to understand why.
The album throws you right into the middle of the action with the stomping Afterlife. Jon Foreman sings over a pounding beat and wickedly fuzzy guitars that he no longer wants to be a slave to routine and is ready to get out into the world: "I wonder why would I wait till I die to come alive? I'm ready now, I'm not waiting for the afterlife. Yeah!" The Original brings to mind an oldies song mixed with the classic Switchfoot sound of speedy drums and slick riffs, and War Inside combines a dance anthem and a war cry into a legend-worthy fight song.
The album slows down a bit with the beautiful Restless, describing the singer's search for God: "Even in my dreams, I am restless, looking for you." Blinding Light carries a message of nonconformity and hope: "I keep looking for the blinding light, it's the hope that keeps me alive." Then it gets weird. The band takes on some wacky rhythms and funky guitars behind Jon's talking/rapping vocals on Selling The News, which is about mass media: "Substance oh substance, where have you been? You've been replaced by the masters of spin, who make good looking books to write history in. We're selling the news."
The guys take it slow again on Thrive: "I wanna thrive, not just survive." Then it gets really good: the first single off of the album, Dark Horses, was and is a major hit on mainstream rock radio. It's got a monster riff, a huge stadium-style chorus, a banging beat, and some well-needed "na na na"s. And the lyrics aren't too bad, either: "Hey! You can't count us out, we've been running up against the crowd. We are the dark horses! Yeah!"
The end of Dark Horses segues into the beginning of another slow one, Souvenirs, all about memories and missing one's younger days. Then the grinding, banging Rise Above It hits with another monster riff and another call to arms for the complacent. Things slow down for the final time with Vice Verses, where Jon realizes the existence of both good things and bad things in this world: "You got your babies, I got my hearses, every blessing comes with a set of curses, I got my vices, I got my vice verses."
Things end with a bang (a very slow bang, but a bang) in the anthemic, emotional closer Where I Belong. Behind a sweeping backdrop of guitars and drums, Jon sings that he knows that the afterlife will be better, but we should make our lives beautiful while we're here on Earth. The end of this song brings the album full circle, taking lyrics from the second verse of Afterlife: "I still believe we can live forever, you and me can begin forever now."
Final Verdict: This album is full of both banging, energetic anthems and beautiful, contemplative tunes. And they're all done with that awesome Switchfoot touch. It's amazingly well-written and well-performed as well. You won't find another album this perfect short of Dark Side of the Moon. No matter what kind of music you're into, you need to BUY THIS ALBUM IF IT IS THE LAST THING YOU DO.
My score: 157 stars (out of a possible 5)
And there you have it, folks: Switchfoot is back with a vengeance. And it is a very awesome vengeance. "Dark Horses" is probably playing on a radio near you, and you can stream the album on Spotify or another free music service. Just make sure that, before you die, you listen to this album, front to back, at least once. And then do it again. And again. I've tasted fire, I'm ready to come alive...
Okay, we TOTALLY jam out to Dare You To Move at the gym, so we're super excited to listen to this album! Any other Switchfoot fans out there? Do you agree that this is one of the best rock albums of the last 10 years?
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Image credit: http://images.wikia.com/heavenmusic/images/0/00/Vice_Verses.jpg
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