Tracks
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What I realized about Bullet for My Valentine is, their musical style is a sign of burgeoning social progress. Though a lot of people criticize their "psychotic bipolar schizoid" theme, and some of the songs remind one of really screwed-up horror movies, the fact that there are people now who are interested in openly exploring the really horrifying things in their minds is good for society. Whereas repression only exacerbates mental illness, this is actually the far-healthier alternative. Broadcasting it as one does in music also serves to ease symptoms in others. It's too easy today to think that if you're this screwed up inside, there's no one like you and no one will understand you, except maybe the men with the white coats and syringes. By realizing how common dysfunction is, people begin to stop feeling so isolated. Ultimately, admitting that there *is* a problem is the first step to solving it. So, with this particular album in mind...
"Intro" - this sets the tone for the album very nicely. It's dark, brooding and ominous, and even better, it's nice and instrumental. I might expect to hear music like this in the intro to a modern film adaption of the "Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde" story. It builds up well but isn't the album's climax by any means. The last note rings for only an instant before the recording ends altogether, and it's not continued in the next track either. I wish they'd have finished the audio in that track properly. Still a neat intro, though. Worth noting is that according to Wikipedia, Apocalyptica was featured on this track.
"Tears Don't Fall" - I often criticize Bullet for being "one of those bands that thinks 'Master of Puppets' is a genre all its own," and this song is one of those. The bridge not only doesn't fit with the movement or key of the rest of the song, but Moose commits the lamentable drumming offense of trying to "DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a" his way through it without getting very creative. No one should be able to call themselves a metal drummer unless they've outgrown this tiresome syndrome. Still, this is one of my favorite tracks on this album. I've been in this situation (or something similar to it) before. The story is one of a relationship deteriorating in an apparently inevitable way, and living with the fear of abandonment should you open up and be vulnerable with the other person ("would she hold me if she knew my shame?") I love how he screams, "Can anybody help me MAKE IT BETTER!?" I also enjoy the wary, ambient clean-tone sound as well as the crushing overdrive this song offers.
"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow" - This was one of the first BFMV songs I ever heard. The riff is pretty nifty, especially when you can really hear it with clarity like you do in the 320kbps/high-quality version. It's clearly a song about a night out with one of those psycho-women who, the first time you see her, every flashing red light in your head starts going off, but you can't resist the appeal of "that girl your momma warned-you-about." There's implicit violence ("there's bodies lying on the floor, but I keep on staring") and apparently this is a night that got out of control and went horribly wrong. I enjoy the music, though I'm grateful to say I've never been in that situation before. o.O
"All These Things..." - I like how this song begins with acoustic guitar. A lot of heavy bands, starting out, wouldn't dare touch an acoustic. But it makes for a nice contrast. I also love the riffage in the bridge, where he's singing "torn apart at the seams..." and "best place to be when you're feeling like me..." with clean tone arpeggio to bring a moment of near-lucidity before coming back to the screaming and crashing of the final chorus. It's that kind of thing that separates the good heavy bands from the talentless aggro-hacks who just want to scream nonsense, tune to drop-B, lay a finger across a whole fret and slam ham-fistedly as if the guitar had insulted your mother.
"Intro" - this sets the tone for the album very nicely. It's dark, brooding and ominous, and even better, it's nice and instrumental. I might expect to hear music like this in the intro to a modern film adaption of the "Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde" story. It builds up well but isn't the album's climax by any means. The last note rings for only an instant before the recording ends altogether, and it's not continued in the next track either. I wish they'd have finished the audio in that track properly. Still a neat intro, though. Worth noting is that according to Wikipedia, Apocalyptica was featured on this track.
"Tears Don't Fall" - I often criticize Bullet for being "one of those bands that thinks 'Master of Puppets' is a genre all its own," and this song is one of those. The bridge not only doesn't fit with the movement or key of the rest of the song, but Moose commits the lamentable drumming offense of trying to "DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a" his way through it without getting very creative. No one should be able to call themselves a metal drummer unless they've outgrown this tiresome syndrome. Still, this is one of my favorite tracks on this album. I've been in this situation (or something similar to it) before. The story is one of a relationship deteriorating in an apparently inevitable way, and living with the fear of abandonment should you open up and be vulnerable with the other person ("would she hold me if she knew my shame?") I love how he screams, "Can anybody help me MAKE IT BETTER!?" I also enjoy the wary, ambient clean-tone sound as well as the crushing overdrive this song offers.
"Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow" - This was one of the first BFMV songs I ever heard. The riff is pretty nifty, especially when you can really hear it with clarity like you do in the 320kbps/high-quality version. It's clearly a song about a night out with one of those psycho-women who, the first time you see her, every flashing red light in your head starts going off, but you can't resist the appeal of "that girl your momma warned-you-about." There's implicit violence ("there's bodies lying on the floor, but I keep on staring") and apparently this is a night that got out of control and went horribly wrong. I enjoy the music, though I'm grateful to say I've never been in that situation before. o.O
"All These Things..." - I like how this song begins with acoustic guitar. A lot of heavy bands, starting out, wouldn't dare touch an acoustic. But it makes for a nice contrast. I also love the riffage in the bridge, where he's singing "torn apart at the seams..." and "best place to be when you're feeling like me..." with clean tone arpeggio to bring a moment of near-lucidity before coming back to the screaming and crashing of the final chorus. It's that kind of thing that separates the good heavy bands from the talentless aggro-hacks who just want to scream nonsense, tune to drop-B, lay a finger across a whole fret and slam ham-fistedly as if the guitar had insulted your mother.