album review
Album: Young Modern
Band: Silverchair
After an almost four year long hiatus and seemingly endless speculation about the future of the band, Silverchair have returned with their new album ‘Young Modern’, not only putting an end to the break-up rumours, but also proving that they are still one of Australia’s finest exports. Since the release of their debut album ‘Frogstomp’ in 1995 (when the band members were in their early teens), Silverchair has come up with a string of hugely successful albums. Along the way, they have traded some of their post-grunge sound in favour of more psychedelic flavours; in doing so the band has appealed to a whole new audience, but has ended up alienating some of its original fan base. So while the album continues to reside atop the charts, ‘Young Modern’ is likely to garner as much praise from critics as it is disapproval from old school Silverchair fans.
The album kicks off with the rather uptempo ‘Young Modern Station’ which showcases frontman Daniel Johns’ vocal ability while displaying the new direction the band is taking on this record. The very catchy first single ‘Straight Lines’, along with tracks like ‘If You Keep Losing Sleep’, ‘Reflections of a Sound’, ‘Mind Reader’ and ‘Insomnia’, make ‘Young Modern’ an interesting blend of alternative rock and synth-pop. The highlight of the album, however, comes in the form of the three-part track ‘Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)’, which goes for epic, and doesn’t fall short. The album does take a few missteps with songs like the somewhat disconnected ‘That Man That Knew Too Much’ and the bland album closer ‘All Across The World’, but the majority of the material on the album (even when it harks back to the sound of The Dissociatives) is exciting enough to more than makes up for these shortfalls.
So while this reviewer has nothing but praise for the album, here’s what it really comes down to: if you’re looking for ‘Frogstomp’ part two or a remake of ‘Freak Show’ or ‘Neon Ballroom’, then ‘Young Modern’ is bound to disappoint you. ‘Young Modern’ is an ambitious record, worthy of being praised for what it is instead of being put down for what it isn’t.
– Sameen Amer
Us Magazine, The News - 18th May, 2007
Album: Young Modern
Band: Silverchair
After an almost four year long hiatus and seemingly endless speculation about the future of the band, Silverchair have returned with their new album ‘Young Modern’, not only putting an end to the break-up rumours, but also proving that they are still one of Australia’s finest exports. Since the release of their debut album ‘Frogstomp’ in 1995 (when the band members were in their early teens), Silverchair has come up with a string of hugely successful albums. Along the way, they have traded some of their post-grunge sound in favour of more psychedelic flavours; in doing so the band has appealed to a whole new audience, but has ended up alienating some of its original fan base. So while the album continues to reside atop the charts, ‘Young Modern’ is likely to garner as much praise from critics as it is disapproval from old school Silverchair fans.
The album kicks off with the rather uptempo ‘Young Modern Station’ which showcases frontman Daniel Johns’ vocal ability while displaying the new direction the band is taking on this record. The very catchy first single ‘Straight Lines’, along with tracks like ‘If You Keep Losing Sleep’, ‘Reflections of a Sound’, ‘Mind Reader’ and ‘Insomnia’, make ‘Young Modern’ an interesting blend of alternative rock and synth-pop. The highlight of the album, however, comes in the form of the three-part track ‘Those Thieving Birds (Part 1)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)’, which goes for epic, and doesn’t fall short. The album does take a few missteps with songs like the somewhat disconnected ‘That Man That Knew Too Much’ and the bland album closer ‘All Across The World’, but the majority of the material on the album (even when it harks back to the sound of The Dissociatives) is exciting enough to more than makes up for these shortfalls.
So while this reviewer has nothing but praise for the album, here’s what it really comes down to: if you’re looking for ‘Frogstomp’ part two or a remake of ‘Freak Show’ or ‘Neon Ballroom’, then ‘Young Modern’ is bound to disappoint you. ‘Young Modern’ is an ambitious record, worthy of being praised for what it is instead of being put down for what it isn’t.
– Sameen Amer
Us Magazine, The News - 18th May, 2007
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