Music: The Script - #3

It's been a long time since my last post but I finally had some time on my hands to do some writing so here's an album review of the recently released album, #3 by The Script.

Okay, first things first. Let me confess that I'm a dedicated fan of The Script ever since I came across their debut album. The band could not be more aptly named. What caught my attention the most was the beauty of the songwriting and the lyrics of their songs. Their lyrics read off like poetry with no shortage of clever metaphors and witty wordplay. Their second album didn't just live up to my expectations of the band, in many ways I felt it surpassed their first. So you could imagine my excitement when I heard the announcement for their latest album, #3

Now let me get on with it. Truth be told, I'm honesty let down by this album. This album is perhaps their most personal album yet, with songs like If You Could See Me Now, and also their most message-driven, with songs like Hall Of Fame and Give The Love Around, but overall this album seems to lack the lyrical genius and wit that are The Script's claims to fame. A lot of the songs are filled with needless filler of repeated humming and 'ooh'-ing, as if O'Donoghue and Sheehan couldn't figure out what else to put in. The other two bonus tracks found in the Deluxe Edition of the album, Moon Boots and Hurricanes, are equally uninspiring and are perhaps the worst songs off the entire album.

There are some nice songs in this album though. Six Degrees of Separation in my opinion is probably the album's best song by far in terms of both musical polish and lyrical wittiness but still fails to match up with the stronger songs of their previous album (e.g. Nothing, Science & Faith, For The First Time). I would have liked If You Could See Me Now more with it being the most emotionally potent song of the album but the musical delivery of the song caused it to fall flat. Two other songs worth mentioning would be No Words for being one of the nicer sounding songs overall and Millionaires which barely makes it as this album's answer to Science & Faith's For This First Time, sadly lacking the lyrical punch its predecessor had.

I would like to take some time to talk about the live songs that were also included in the Deluxe Edition. The recordings were taken  during a concert performed by them in their hometown of Dublin and just by listening to the crowd's reaction and energy in each of the recordings makes me wish I was there. The sheer volume and synchronicity of the crowd was to say the least awe-inspiring and as a concert-goer myself, I would have given anything to attend a concert with a crowd like that.

Overall, the release of this album is a tarnish on their track more than anything. The message driven songs just feel preachy and unnecessary, and the album the album lacks the lyrical punch that I've come to expect following their sophomore album. I can only hope that their next effort rebuilds my confidence in them.

Music: The Script - Science & Faith

I'll take a detour from my regular musings to stop to talk a bit about one of the things I take a little too seriously, music >.<

To be more precise, I want to talk about an album which I honestly believe should be getting more recognition and airplay that it actually is getting. That album is the second album by The Script, Science & Faith.

The thing I probably like the most about The Script is their lyrics. The feel of this album is a lot more mainstream than their previous album (departing from the previous albums fast-paced raps in favour for more traditional verses) but nevertheless, it still hold true to the lyrical genius that is The Script. The song verses are more akin to poetry verses, packed full of literary goodness to help drive home the album's concept of the darker, more unfortunate depiction of love (and love lost). Every song in this album is well written, filled with smart puns, metaphors and rhymes. The pacing of the songs are also written with purpose, driving home each chorus like a slap to the face or a big fat full stop after long prose. The album as a whole almost feels like a concept album of a single couple more than a string of stories about love, with each track flowing from to another flawlessly through the album's expose of 'could-have-been' stories.

My picks from this album are For The First Time, Nothing, Science & Faith and Exit Wounds, each for their own particular reasons. For The First Time is a nice track mostly because it's one of the 'happier' tracks in the album, letting the listener immerse themselves feel of how love could overwrite all of the troubles in the world. This is immediately juxtaposed by it's succeeding track, Nothing. Nothing is another of my personal favourites more because of the pacing and the writing of the song. Nothing delivers killer verses with the breaks in between aiding to add to the impact of the lyrics. Science & Faith on the hand is probably my favourite song from the entire album because it is the best sounding song. The backing track for this song is the most sonically pleasing from the album and the verses also perfectly embody the conflict between man of science and the woman of faith and emotion with a killer chorus to score the homerun. Exit Wounds is my final album pick for it's impressive use of imagery, drawing analogies between a victim of a gunshot and a victim of love. The sheer cleverness of the lyrics helps the listener to see the music more than hear it, serving as a perfect conclusion to an equally awesome album.

The only downside to this album (and the band in general) is that aside from it's amazing songwriting, the execution of the album is a little more than average. The vocalist is by no means spectacular and the guitarist and drummer are as average as any other bands'. Nevertheless, the true selling point for the band has always been their lyrics. So if you long for an album which you can listen to while nitpicking the nuances of its writing, don't hesitate to give this album a spin or two.