Adelitas Way

[Geoff]

Well mate, spun this a few times now and sadly what I feared seems to have happened. I always liked the samples but it was always in the back of my head that this was never going to live up to the hype. And sadly, for me it doesn't. Here's my thesis:

 

1. "Invincible" ; This one is a good opener, if not a little average. Doesn't have enough bite, or a good enough hook to open up, imo.

2. "Scream" ; And sadly, this continues on the average path.

3. "Dirty Little Thing" ; and rounding up a very average first three, this is the third in line. Nice sexy lyrics, but just plodding modern rock, imo.

4. "Last Stand" ; this is where the disc starts for me. Good modern rock ballad that reminds me a lot of Hinder.

5. "Hate Love" ; this is a great track - great mid-tempo melodic rocker that again really reminds me of Hinder.

6. "So What If You Go" ; solid hard rock with a killer solo.

7. "Closer to You" ; another good balld - Nice stuff.

8. "Just a Little Bit" ; decent hard rock, but again, this is pretty average stuff.

9. "All Falls Down" ; another nice ballad, but again this is really not much better than average.

10. "My Derailment" ; my favourite of the pre-album clips and the album highlight imo.

11. "Brother" ; didn't like the samples of this and it's no better on CD. Not a good song, imo.

 

So there you go. I did really want to love this but there was always that feeling it wouldn't live up to my hopes, and to be honest it really didn't. Musically, these guys are great and there is some great guitarwork. The songs are solid but I can't help but feel they could have done a lot better, and probably have a lot of much better songs that didn't make the cut.

[Glen]

Well mate, spun this a few times now and sadly what I feared seems to have happened. I always liked the samples but it was always in the back of my head that this was never going to live up to the hype. And sadly, for me it doesn't. Here's my thesis:

 

1. "Invincible" ; This one is a good opener, if not a little average. Doesn't have enough bite, or a good enough hook to open up, imo.

2. "Scream" ; And sadly, this continues on the average path.

3. "Dirty Little Thing" ; and rounding up a very average first three, this is the third in line. Nice sexy lyrics, but just plodding modern rock, imo.

4. "Last Stand" ; this is where the disc starts for me. Good modern rock ballad that reminds me a lot of Hinder.

5. "Hate Love" ; this is a great track - great mid-tempo melodic rocker that again really reminds me of Hinder.

6. "So What If You Go" ; solid hard rock with a killer solo.

7. "Closer to You" ; another good balld - Nice stuff.

8. "Just a Little Bit" ; decent hard rock, but again, this is pretty average stuff.

9. "All Falls Down" ; another nice ballad, but again this is really not much better than average.

10. "My Derailment" ; my favourite of the pre-album clips and the album highlight imo.

11. "Brother" ; didn't like the samples of this and it's no better on CD. Not a good song, imo.

 

So there you go. I did really want to love this but there was always that feeling it wouldn't live up to my hopes, and to be honest it really didn't. Musically, these guys are great and there is some great guitarwork. The songs are solid but I can't help but feel they could have done a lot better, and probably have a lot of much better songs that didn't make the cut.

 

To each their own mate.

 

Sometimes tho I do wonder about your taste.....to me this is a great modern rock album full of great songs / what's not to like.

 

I absolutely love it.

 

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

[Geoff]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

I wouldn't say I love No Love Lost. I still think it's the best modern rock CD of the year but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times. Yes, there are 4 absolutely stunning song on there - 3 are still my overall favourite songs of 2009 and the rest isn't perfect. But I think there are only 2 fillers on it. Adelitas Way has a few fillers and some great tracks too. But nothing on here, imo, is as good as the 4 best on NLL. And overall, I would have to say that NLL is the overall stronger disc. As you say, to each their own though.

 

This will probably rank decently for me, but not too high.

[hardrockhaven]

I picked this up today for $9 at Wal-Mart of all places. I'm only on song three right now so I can't give my final verdict yet. Out of the first three, "Scream" is my favorite so far. I'm out of town right now so it might be a few days before I can really give this a solid listen.

[Glen]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times.

 

you see that where we differ.

 

for me, Adelitas Way, Nural, The Veer Union, Society Red, Daughtry and Halestorm, hey even still Papa Roach all rate very good to excellent for me (and much better than NNL) making it a strong year for modern rock. Add to that the excellent Young Guns EP and some potentially very good upcoming releases like New Device, Madam Adam, Default etc and i'd say it might even end up being a cracking year.

 

More so than say than 2008, when only Hinder, Shinedown and SOTY stood out (...plus say Anberlin and Safety Suit).

 

If anything 2009 has been quiet for MHR!!!

[Geoff]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times.

 

you see that where we differ.

 

for me, Adelitas Way, Nural, The Veer Union, Society Red, Daughtry and Halestorm, hey even still Papa Roach all rate very good to excellent for me (and much better than NNL) making it a strong year for modern rock. Add to that the excellent Young Guns EP and some potentially very good upcoming releases like New Device, Madam Adam, Default etc and i'd say it might even end up being a cracking year.

 

More so than say than 2008, when only Hinder, Shinedown and SOTY stood out (...plus say Anberlin and Safety Suit).

 

If anything 2009 has been quiet for MHR!!!

Yeah, quiet all round. Not just modern. Modern's actually going along better than MHR, imo. I don't know if it really is that slow a year, but it certainly seems it. Overall, Steel Panther is still the only real ball tearer for me... with Place Vendome and Farcry close enough.

 

Just plucked my top 10 from last year... pretty nice looking list to me, imo. Better than most this year's modern rock:

 

HINDER - Take it to the limit

DISCIPLE - Southern Hospitality

STORY OF THE YEAR - The Black Swan

QUIETDRIVE - Deliverance

SIMPLE PLAN - s/t

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS - Underdog Alma mater

FUNERAL FOR FRIEND - Memory and Humanity

ESCAPE THE FATE - This war is ours

HOUSTON CALLS - End of an error

BLIND - s/t

[TIM (2)]

My take is that there have been a shitload of Modern Rock discs this year well worth getting, that are very strong but not killers. Last year I bought a lot fewer Modern Rock discs but there were three absolute monster discs IMO: SOTY/Shinedown/Safety Suit. I probably like the Nural as much as these, but it doesn't have as much longevity due to it's more pop/rock catchy sound, so I'd have to say I'm still waiting for a real killer Modern Rock disc in 2009. Daughtry aint it, and Adelitas Way (good as though it sounds) aint it either.

 

Has also been a poor year for MHR, but am thankful for Place Vendome and Crash the System for rescuing it...

[Glen]

My take is that there have been a shitload of Modern Rock discs this year well worth getting, that are very strong but not killers. Last year I bought a lot fewer Modern Rock discs but there were three absolute monster discs IMO: SOTY/Shinedown/Safety Suit. I probably like the Nural as much as these, but it doesn't have as much longevity due to it's more pop/rock catchy sound, so I'd have to say I'm still waiting for a real killer Modern Rock disc in 2009. Daughtry aint it, and Adelitas Way (good as though it sounds) aint it either.

 

Has also been a poor year for MHR, but am thankful for Place Vendome and Crash the System for rescuing it...

 

Yeah I guess Im with you guys to a certain extent. As good as Adelitas Way and Daughtry (with bonus tracks!) are, they are only on a par with Shinedown and probably not as good as SOTY and Hinder from last year. Nural as well I would put in that league, with some of the others falling in behind.

 

I must add tho that Im stoked about Skillet...that could be a bit special!

 

On the MHR front id also include Farcry and The Poodles as saviours too....love both of those. Best to come tho with Gotthard, D2, Treat, WET etc....second half of the year could be great!

 

Cheers

[Glen]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times.

 

you see that where we differ.

 

for me, Adelitas Way, Nural, The Veer Union, Society Red, Daughtry and Halestorm, hey even still Papa Roach all rate very good to excellent for me (and much better than NNL) making it a strong year for modern rock. Add to that the excellent Young Guns EP and some potentially very good upcoming releases like New Device, Madam Adam, Default etc and i'd say it might even end up being a cracking year.

 

More so than say than 2008, when only Hinder, Shinedown and SOTY stood out (...plus say Anberlin and Safety Suit).

 

If anything 2009 has been quiet for MHR!!!

Yeah, quiet all round. Not just modern. Modern's actually going along better than MHR, imo. I don't know if it really is that slow a year, but it certainly seems it. Overall, Steel Panther is still the only real ball tearer for me... with Place Vendome and Farcry close enough.

 

Just plucked my top 10 from last year... pretty nice looking list to me, imo. Better than most this year's modern rock:

 

HINDER - Take it to the limit

DISCIPLE - Southern Hospitality

STORY OF THE YEAR - The Black Swan

QUIETDRIVE - Deliverance

SIMPLE PLAN - s/t

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS - Underdog Alma mater

FUNERAL FOR FRIEND - Memory and Humanity

ESCAPE THE FATE - This war is ours

HOUSTON CALLS - End of an error

BLIND - s/t

 

the quality falls off a cliff at no 6 mate ;-))

 

Id have Shinedown, Safety Suit, Anberlin and Bulletproof Messenger above all those.

 

(in fact the FOAF is quite hideous and unlistenable to these ears!).

 

I'll give you the top 5 tho. Nice. Happy days.

[TIM (2)]

My take is that there have been a shitload of Modern Rock discs this year well worth getting, that are very strong but not killers. Last year I bought a lot fewer Modern Rock discs but there were three absolute monster discs IMO: SOTY/Shinedown/Safety Suit. I probably like the Nural as much as these, but it doesn't have as much longevity due to it's more pop/rock catchy sound, so I'd have to say I'm still waiting for a real killer Modern Rock disc in 2009. Daughtry aint it, and Adelitas Way (good as though it sounds) aint it either.

 

Has also been a poor year for MHR, but am thankful for Place Vendome and Crash the System for rescuing it...

 

Yeah I guess Im with you guys to a certain extent. As good as Adelitas Way and Daughtry (with bonus tracks!) are, they are only on a par with Shinedown and probably not as good as SOTY and Hinder from last year. Nural as well I would put in that league, with some of the others falling in behind.

 

I must add tho that Im stoked about Skillet...that could be a bit special!

 

On the MHR front id also include Farcry and The Poodles as saviours too....love both of those. Best to come tho with Gotthard, D2, Treat, WET etc....second half of the year could be great!

 

Cheers

 

Not a fan of The Poodles at all, and if Gotthard is as good as D2 then I will be absolutely astonished. I also wonder whether Treat will top the Crash The System disc - would be surprised.

[Glen]

My take is that there have been a shitload of Modern Rock discs this year well worth getting, that are very strong but not killers. Last year I bought a lot fewer Modern Rock discs but there were three absolute monster discs IMO: SOTY/Shinedown/Safety Suit. I probably like the Nural as much as these, but it doesn't have as much longevity due to it's more pop/rock catchy sound, so I'd have to say I'm still waiting for a real killer Modern Rock disc in 2009. Daughtry aint it, and Adelitas Way (good as though it sounds) aint it either.

 

Has also been a poor year for MHR, but am thankful for Place Vendome and Crash the System for rescuing it...

 

Yeah I guess Im with you guys to a certain extent. As good as Adelitas Way and Daughtry (with bonus tracks!) are, they are only on a par with Shinedown and probably not as good as SOTY and Hinder from last year. Nural as well I would put in that league, with some of the others falling in behind.

 

I must add tho that Im stoked about Skillet...that could be a bit special!

 

On the MHR front id also include Farcry and The Poodles as saviours too....love both of those. Best to come tho with Gotthard, D2, Treat, WET etc....second half of the year could be great!

 

Cheers

 

and if Gotthard is as good as D2 then I will be absolutely astonished.

 

from what ive read its supposed to be melodic rock heaven...we will see.

[Glen]

2. "Scream" ; And sadly, this continues on the average path.

3. "Dirty Little Thing" ; and rounding up a very average first three, this is the third in line. Nice sexy lyrics, but just plodding modern rock, imo.

 

Just some more comments on this one after a solid days listening.

 

These 2 are actually much stronger than I first thought. I too thought they were only good when I first listened but they really get in your head and now I find my singing 'Dirty Little Thing' over most of the others.

 

A really infectious groove.

[Geoff]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times.

 

you see that where we differ.

 

for me, Adelitas Way, Nural, The Veer Union, Society Red, Daughtry and Halestorm, hey even still Papa Roach all rate very good to excellent for me (and much better than NNL) making it a strong year for modern rock. Add to that the excellent Young Guns EP and some potentially very good upcoming releases like New Device, Madam Adam, Default etc and i'd say it might even end up being a cracking year.

 

More so than say than 2008, when only Hinder, Shinedown and SOTY stood out (...plus say Anberlin and Safety Suit).

 

If anything 2009 has been quiet for MHR!!!

Yeah, quiet all round. Not just modern. Modern's actually going along better than MHR, imo. I don't know if it really is that slow a year, but it certainly seems it. Overall, Steel Panther is still the only real ball tearer for me... with Place Vendome and Farcry close enough.

 

Just plucked my top 10 from last year... pretty nice looking list to me, imo. Better than most this year's modern rock:

 

HINDER - Take it to the limit

DISCIPLE - Southern Hospitality

STORY OF THE YEAR - The Black Swan

QUIETDRIVE - Deliverance

SIMPLE PLAN - s/t

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS - Underdog Alma mater

FUNERAL FOR FRIEND - Memory and Humanity

ESCAPE THE FATE - This war is ours

HOUSTON CALLS - End of an error

BLIND - s/t

 

the quality falls off a cliff at no 6 mate ;-))

 

Id have Shinedown, Safety Suit, Anberlin and Bulletproof Messenger above all those.

 

(in fact the FOAF is quite hideous and unlistenable to these ears!).

 

I'll give you the top 5 tho. Nice. Happy days.

That Forever The Sickest Kids disc is absolutely awesome, imo. Well, I love all of the last 5 hence them being there. The 4 you mention are all nice, but not top tenners, imo. Anberlin and Safetysuit are great, though.

 

I'm not confident to comment on what might be the best of the rest of the year. You guys know what I'm excited about and I hope they deliver, but who knows? I don't know if there are any modern rock bands left with releases that could tear the year apart, though.

[Glen]

What does puzzle me is that you love 'No Love Lost' with its 3 or 4 excellent tracks and a whole bunch of filler...yet slate this as average.

 

To me this crucifies NLL and then some.

 

In fact this crucifies nearly every album ive heard this year.....up to track 8 its nigh on flawless.

but I still think this has been a very, very quiet year for modern rock and it's taking advantage of quiet times.

 

you see that where we differ.

 

for me, Adelitas Way, Nural, The Veer Union, Society Red, Daughtry and Halestorm, hey even still Papa Roach all rate very good to excellent for me (and much better than NNL) making it a strong year for modern rock. Add to that the excellent Young Guns EP and some potentially very good upcoming releases like New Device, Madam Adam, Default etc and i'd say it might even end up being a cracking year.

 

More so than say than 2008, when only Hinder, Shinedown and SOTY stood out (...plus say Anberlin and Safety Suit).

 

If anything 2009 has been quiet for MHR!!!

Yeah, quiet all round. Not just modern. Modern's actually going along better than MHR, imo. I don't know if it really is that slow a year, but it certainly seems it. Overall, Steel Panther is still the only real ball tearer for me... with Place Vendome and Farcry close enough.

 

Just plucked my top 10 from last year... pretty nice looking list to me, imo. Better than most this year's modern rock:

 

HINDER - Take it to the limit

DISCIPLE - Southern Hospitality

STORY OF THE YEAR - The Black Swan

QUIETDRIVE - Deliverance

SIMPLE PLAN - s/t

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS - Underdog Alma mater

FUNERAL FOR FRIEND - Memory and Humanity

ESCAPE THE FATE - This war is ours

HOUSTON CALLS - End of an error

BLIND - s/t

 

the quality falls off a cliff at no 6 mate ;-))

 

Id have Shinedown, Safety Suit, Anberlin and Bulletproof Messenger above all those.

 

(in fact the FOAF is quite hideous and unlistenable to these ears!).

 

I'll give you the top 5 tho. Nice. Happy days.

That Forever The Sickest Kids disc is absolutely awesome, imo. Well, I love all of the last 5 hence them being there. The 4 you mention are all nice, but not top tenners, imo. Anberlin and Safetysuit are great, though.

 

I'm not confident to comment on what might be the best of the rest of the year. You guys know what I'm excited about and I hope they deliver, but who knows? I don't know if there are any modern rock bands left with releases that could tear the year apart, though.

 

I'll give you that 'Blind'. HTF did I miss that last year?? Havent listened in full yet but what I heard I really liked.

[Geoff]

I heard this after so never added it to the list, but how could I forget about Silly Fools 'The One'?! Spinning it now and it is easily number 2 at absolute minimum. Bordering on the top spot. LOVE this thing so much.

[hardrockhaven]

I gave Adelitas Way a full spin today. Definitely some nice catchy tunes on here. I give Daughtry's new one the better vote, but AW does rock a little harder than Daughtry. A couple of fillers on AW but plenty enough keepers on here. Highlights would have to be "Scream", "Last Stand", "Hate Love" and "My Derailment" (having Wal-Mart's edited version for this song sucks). All in all it was a long wait and could have been a tad better, but there's really not too much to complain about. Good stuff and a nice find from Glen many moons ago.

[Geoff]

Yeah, no doubt it's a good one. I wish it was just 10 tracks (it could do without 'Brother') but it's a good solid listen.

[Glen]

Yeah, no doubt it's a good one. I wish it was just 10 tracks (it could do without 'Brother') but it's a good solid listen.

 

the other day I read someone saying that 'Brother' reminded them of 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'. I can see where they are coming from as the verse has a similar structure....but made me laugh as I thought how much Geoff hates 'Brother' but probably loves the Poison song LOL!!!

 

Personally I dont mind the song....its decent enough and ends with a nice solo which is always a bonus. Even the singer admitted it wasnt the strongest song, but got included as it was one of the first songs he ever wrote.....for nostalgic reasons I guess.

[Geoff]

Yeah, no doubt it's a good one. I wish it was just 10 tracks (it could do without 'Brother') but it's a good solid listen.

 

the other day I read someone saying that 'Brother' reminded them of 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'. I can see where they are coming from as the verse has a similar structure....but made me laugh as I thought how much Geoff hates 'Brother' but probably loves the Poison song LOL!!!

 

Personally I dont mind the song....its decent enough and ends with a nice solo which is always a bonus. Even the singer admitted it wasnt the strongest song, but got included as it was one of the first songs he ever wrote.....for nostalgic reasons I guess.

Wow. WTF? Whoever wrote that is way off. 'Every rose has it's thorn' had a hook that made Poison millionaires. 'Brother' doesn't even have a hook. It's quite strong lyrically, I guess, but a poor song, imo. I can't see ANY comparison between the two.

'

[Rick]

Great CD all the way through. Love the song Brother too. Give it a second listen Geoff. This could be the album of the year for me.

[Glen]

Great CD all the way through. Love the song Brother too. Give it a second listen Geoff. This could be the album of the year for me.

 

certainly topping my modern list so far

[TIM (2)]

Great CD all the way through. Love the song Brother too. Give it a second listen Geoff. This could be the album of the year for me.

 

certainly topping my modern list so far

 

Yep is at the top of my Modern list too. Not a massive fan of the first 3 tracks but through the middle it's awesome. "Hate Love" is brilliant, with a Harem Scarem-vibe, and "Closer To You" is one of my fave ballads of the year. Great disc this.

[Glen]

Great CD all the way through. Love the song Brother too. Give it a second listen Geoff. This could be the album of the year for me.

 

certainly topping my modern list so far

 

Yep is at the top of my Modern list too. Not a massive fan of the first 3 tracks but through the middle it's awesome. "Hate Love" is brilliant, with a Harem Scarem-vibe, and "Closer To You" is one of my fave ballads of the year. Great disc this.

 

'Last Stand' is still my fav song....but yeah great disc for sure. Some killer solos as well which is nice to hear on a modern disc.

[zacharyamelie]

I finally picked this one up and it's OK, nothing special. 2009 really is a weak year for Modern stuff compared to 2008. Let's hope 2010 is the year that has those who released in 2008 comeback with another good one.

[Geoff]

Just thought I'd pop in to say that although in the end this didn't end up too high in my end of 2009 list, still loving this disc. A definite stayer which I look forward to listening to, and once I'm playing it I always thoroughly enjoy it. So many great tunes. Great disc and I hope they drop a second one soon.