The album opens up with the marvelous "I Want To Save You" a mid-tempo, piano driven effort that features lead singer Andrew McMahon's impeccable vocal presence that is the benchmark of all of SoCo's work and helps fuel the emotional output of the whole album. "Punk Rock Princess" amps up the intensity factor on this record with high energy guitar riffs brought to you courtesy of William Tell and Andrew's magnificent vocals working their magic once again. My absolute favorite track on the album is "I Woke Up In A Car", a emotional, heartfelt track that grips at you instantaneously with Andy's genius piano melodies working their magic throughout the track and quickly picks up momentum as the song goes along, a masterpiece from start to finish. "If You C Jordan" continues the melodic onslaught with a furious mixture of hard edged guitar riffs and a ferocious blend of Andy's piano expertise that matches the mood of the song perfectly. "The Astronaut" is a downtempo, piano fueled track that shows you why Andrew McMahon is an incredible frontman with the passion you can feel dripping from his voice and the piano adding a comfort level to the song and making you feel you're right there watching Andy perform the track live right in front of you. "Hurricane" starts off with a terrific acoustic guitar medley before settling into a consistent rock groove that resonates strongly throughout the entire track. "Cavanaugh Park" is a simple structured, piano based tune that allows the song to flow along at ease solely based on the sound of the piano alone.
The disc's second half starts off with "Fall", a mid-tempo rocker that features many of the sounds heard on the preceding half of the record and a great emphasis being put on melody and the song's ability to reach the listener, something that the album has already accomplished a great deal so far. "Good News" returns to its piano roots with Andrew belting it out on a passionate and heartfelt track that is one of the many highlights of this record. "Drunk Girl" is a fun, laid back song that allows the band to go outside the musical box a little on a track with extraordinary depth from everyone involved and Andy adding a great deal of personality and vivacity to an all around great track. "Not What It Seems" tugs at you emotionally immediately when the song starts with a gripping piano melody latching onto you and feeding the energy directly to you and allowing you to feel exactly what the band is feeling at the same time when they recorded this song. This album concludes on "Globes and Maps", a track that takes us on a journey through the whole album and presents to you all the sounds we've heard on the hour long trek and allow the album to close out on a positive note and make us feel like the listen was worthwhile. The very first time I saw Something Corporate was on their reunion tour back in the summer of 2010, and it was one of the Top 5 best concerts I've ever been to in my lifetime. So much so, that I was almost in tears by the end of the performance because I was so pleased with how incredible was. Andrew McMahon has outstanding stage presence and really connects well with the fans both in between songs and afterwards when he's signing autographs. (Afterwards he personally signed my copy of Leaving Through The Window after the performance which I keep right next to my stereo as a collectors item). Truly an inspiration to myself and countless other musicians out there aspiring to achieve greatness in their lives.
Overall, an amazing and incredible debut effort from Something Corporate, who made their presence known as one of the greats in the pop-punk scene and a band that truly knows how to connect with their fans both in song and in person.
Album Score: 4.5/5
Track Listing:
- I Want To Save You
- Punk Rock Princess
- I Woke Up In A Car
- If You C Jordan
- The Astronaut
- Hurricane
- Cavanaugh Park
- Fall
- Straw Dog
- Good News
- Drunk Girl
- Not What It Seems
- You're Gone
- Globes and Maps
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