This Is The Sound (by After The Anthems)

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Artist: After The Anthems
Album: This Is The Sound
Label: None
Released: September 2007

Review

With new bands coming out everyday it becomes hard to find meaningful music. There are plenty of successful bands with catchy songs out there, but at the end of the night, after the show, that’s all that is left… nothing. That’s where After The Anthems (ATA) comes in, to fill the void.

This Is The Sound, released towards the end of 2007, is not just an album, it’s a journey filled with love, hope and encouragement. In fact, with exception of track nine, “Give A Cut“, all songs in the album focus on love. Not your typical, romantic, boy to girl love, but the kind of love that makes us help one another.

The album starts off with “Everyone” which begins with a slow instrumental intro that soon picks up the pace and prepares you for what you’ll be listening to in the next nine tracks. Just like in “Everyone“, all other songs in the album follow the same instrumental pattern, which can become repetitive at times, but it really gives you the feeling that all songs are interconnected. This Is The Sound is the kind of album that you have to listen from beginning to end to get it. A first listen will make you think you’ve heard it before, and there’s not much to be explored. However the more you listen to it, the more it grows on you, each song carefully building up the next.

Lyrically the album is exactly where it needs to be. Songs like “Let It In” and “Don’t Let It Get Away” talk about how we can overcome our struggles with love “...We could save this day, oh I know love can find a way…“. Other songs such as “I’m With You” and “Can You Hear Us” offer us hope. Most songs in the album end up on a good note. “Why Is It” is the only song that will offer more questions than answers “…Why are we so hard to teach, and please come help us solve it tonight. Why is love so hard to reach, and why is it so far from over?…“.

Even though all songs follow the same theme, the focus of the album is track 6 (“Prelude“) and track 7 (“This Is The Sound“). As it’s own name says, “Prelude” is an introduction to the track “This Is The Sound“. As Phil Johnston (drummer) explains, “originally Prelude and This Is The Sound were one song, but when we went into the studio to record it – it became two because there was so much we wanted to do with it…The first part of the song is a call sent out …and ‘This Is The Sound’ is the response to pick us up and take us away“. While the whole album centers on these two songs above, “Why Is It” and “Give A Cut” are the songs that are going to make you move from the back towards the front of the stage. “Why Is It” is just a passionate sing along song, and “Give A Cut” is catchy, and fast-paced.

Though, musically, there is a lot of room to grow, This Is The Sound is a solid album. This four piece Canadian band have crafted an album worth listening from the opening instrumentals in the first track, till the final beats in the last track. They will take you on a journey, and at the end of the night, after the show you will want to change the world… or at least start loving a little more.

*This Is The Sound (by After The Anthems) was added on January 5th, 2010

Reviewed by Dan
Daniel is a music lover, a designer and web developer. He current resides in Philly, but he is always on the move.