Boring, derivative and monotonous. I will never understand the level of saturation surrounding this style and the inevitable "critical acclaim" it attracts.
This album was emblematic of early 00s emo. Sure, it was super corny but damn did we scream the hell out of these songs. Kids lost their minds when Emotion is Dead Part 1 fed into If I Told You This Was Killing Me live.
The production is fantastic and there truly are some great melodies and unique moments here. 20+ years later and it is still a lot of fun.
Yawn. I'm so over this sound. The Alcott and Tropic are the only tracks worth lauding. The National has become a caricature of itself, superfluous and predictable. It's truly a shame considering this is the band who gave us Mr. November.
Impossible for me to squeeze out the nostalgia that saturates this album.
Screaming in my dorm room, "I'm waiting to give you whatever the world may bring. I'd give you my life cause I don't own anything!!!!" while waiting for my crush to turn off his AIM away message. Chris Carrabba at his finest.