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I like the album, but not as much as I like the previous 3 albums. It does not suck, giving it anything below a 5 star rating is pretty harsh and biased seeing as to how they can play and sing perfectly. So they deserve the 5 star rating, they are great musicians! They really are, but North didn't lead up to what I expected. I am not going to rate this album song-by-song with a rating out of 10.. That just isn't going to be enough to explain this album with past albums. Here it goes:
There are three things that change this new album from the classic Matchbox Twenty sound. 1. Progression: If you're a seasoned Matchbox Twenty fan, the first thing you will most likely notice is that the first 3 songs on the album have that classic sound. Parade is almost tear forming when you hear that nice smooth intro with reverb on the guitars, that nice building up verse, then all of a sudden a powerful chorus that gives you this heartfelt feeling. And then throughout the "Parade" the song just gets stronger. It is the same way with the first three songs. Reguardless of what people think, "She's So Mean" has that classic MB20 feel. It is just more modern than ever. However, once you pass the first three songs, you start to notice a small slump in the albums "Progression" sound, it becomes severely light. This is where I say it, if you guys were expecting a album with 12 straight songs like "Push", "Bent", "3AM", "Disease", "Bright Lights" etc.. You will not find plenty of songs like that on this album. Although "Radio" has that classic MB20 feel, but the rest of the album is a new sound. Dont get me wrong! It is a great sound, just not my cup of tea. You know?
2. Structuring: This album almost sounds like a complete experiment. Nearly every song could be a different genre. I was really confused on how the album changed from a poppy, moderate tempo "Our Song" to a Rob Thomas left over from Cradlesong. (Yes "I Will", I am talking about you!) I like "I Will".. But seriously, the acoustic guitar part sounds increidibly like "Getting Late" off of Rob's "Cradlesong" album. It did to me at least.. What made the other albums really unique was that it seemed like everybody in the band made an attempt at mixing the songs together to create a good flow. Listen to how "Hand Me Down" mellows in after "All I Need" ever so gently. Or how "Bed of Lies" plays out so well when opening for "Leave". This album just throws Slow Song, then fast song out at you. And it just kind of feels awkward to me.
3. The Sound: I still, to this day, just don't understand how Kyle Cook is keeping himself together without the big solo's like in "Downfall." What happened to the distorted guitars like in "Disease"? This album has almost no distortion on it, which is something I cannot get used to! This is a Matchbox Twenty album, they are meant to be somewhat Rockish! It leaves me to wonder, what happened? Did Rob become too much of a softy after his "Something To Be" album? Come to think of it, ever since that album, I have not heard another song from him like "So Sad So Lonely" or "Feel". I Just don't get it.
Overall, I don't want anybody to get me wrong here. North is a GREAT MB20 album, but it just is not my cup of tea nor does it sound anything like Matchbox to me. The album deserve a 5/5, because even though I am not a huge fan of it, other people are. And it selling very well and people honestly do like it. So I cannot just trash the album just because I don't find it amazing. I am not a very biased person and try to keep things in reality. Again, North, great album, not my cup of tea. Give it a listen though.
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Reviews with images
DELUXE EDITION - Sorta
The official deluxe edition is nearly twice the price for two more songs...Maybe it includes linear notes and lyrics (This version does not). I was a little disappointed by the little effort that it feels like they put into the artwork.But this is like the digital deluxe version on itunes. You get 3 bonus songs "Waiting on a train", "I believe in everything" and "straight for this life".Total of 15 songs for about $11. Not bad at all. It wasn't advertised anywhere.
