The Silver Cord (by The Classic Crime)

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Artist: The Classic Crime
Album: The Silver Cord
Label: Tooth & Nail
Released: 07/22/2008

Review

The Classic Crime (TCC) is to music as the Space Needle is to Seattle, a huge landmark. In early 2006 the band released Albatross that up to that point had the highest debut sales in the history of Tooth & Nail. It didn’t take too long for Albatross to conquer crowds all over the world. In 2007 the band got everyone by surprise with their Acoustic Seattle Sessions EP, which was filled with honest lyrics. Songs that would not fit on their upcoming project, but that at the same time could not go without being recorded. The EP generated a positive response from the fans, leaving everyone wanting more, and wondering what was coming next. The only question left was… could TCC top their much acclaimed debut album? Could it get any better than their acoustic EP?

The Silver Cord is a fifteen track album that starts at “The End” and ends at “The Beginning”, but it’s really what’s in between those two tracks that will get your attention. The album follows a life and death theme, exploring the thin line that connects our souls to our mortal bodies. It examines our human fragility; not only in the physical aspect, but also in the way we base our relations to one another, and our beliefs. As Matt (lead singer) explained, the title of the album, The Silver Cord, was taken from the book Ecclesiastes, expressing a “fragile connection between life and death”.

“The End” is a slow sung opening track, a song of a defeated leader “Call me a liar, call me your friend, I will let you down again. Cause I’m a disaster of epic proportions. I will let you down again.” This is merely an introduction to the next track, “Just a Man”, which continues along the same lines. The lyrics are brutal and honest, “You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego) to a TV commercial… you are so naïve, I’m sorry for leading you along.” The song talks about how we place our hope on other people that will eventually let us down. “Gravedigging”, sounds a lot like something you would hear on Albatross. The song kicks off with nothing more, nothing less than a cowbell, which is something pretty rare to hear in a rock band. This song was second to be released on their myspace, and it was also released on a Warped Tour Compilation. “The Way That You Are” tells two different stories about a boy and a girl struggling to find reason to live, while dealing with guilt and shame.” Even though this song has a rather dark theme, it sheds some light on encouragement. The albums follows up with other remarkable songs like “Salt in the Snow”, and “Abracadavers” which was the first single to come out. There’s also a music video for this song coming out pretty soon. “Abracadavers” is based on a “Bodies Exhibit” that shows the interior of the human body. “We’re all the same, made of hair and bones and water and blood cells.” The comparisons in this song are used to pose some moral issues “And we’re all to blame, for spending way too much time on ourselves.”

Matt MacDonald does a good job using metaphors to get his point across. “R&R”, “God & Drugs”, and “Medisin” are a good example of that. These songs mention the use of drugs and chemicals to express our inner struggles. “Light the cigarette and take a breath, the smoke inflates your chest and thins your blood so you bleed less inside.” At the end of track nine, “God & Drugs”, you will find a quick reference to “We All Look Elsewhere” (from Albatross). The album becomes a little lighter as approaches its final songs. “Sing” and ‘Everything” are more radio friendly than the other songs. “Everything” has a catchy pop/rock tune. “Closer Than We Think” is one of the songs that really stand out from the rest. It reminds me of “Who Needs Air” from Albatross. And finally the album closes with “The Beginning” which is the only song that doesn’t really fit in this album. It sounds more like something U2 would play. The lyrics are also a little off from the rest of the album, talking about missing “the pacific ocean” and “missing my girl”. “The Beginning” is more to Seattle Sessions than to The Silver Cord, but nonetheless is a nice way to close the album.

The only downfall of this album is the lack of bridges, which makes some songs sound too repetitive.

Summarizing, The Silver Cord is pretty amazing. Musically, it has a noticeable difference from Albatross; it’s more aggressive, and more melodic. The lyrics are honest like in Seattle Sessions. You can often feel the passion in Matt’s voice. The Classic Crime has set new standards with The Silver Cord. They were able to craft songs that will both please fans and new comers.

*The Silver Cord (by The Classic Crime) was added on July 16th, 2008