Marlon Pitter
Connector Editor
With mainstream music the way it is, and radio stations only playing five songs a day, it’s easy for good music fall through the cracks, going unnoticed to the average listener. However, with the power of the Internet at nearly everyone’s disposal, and apps like Spotify and Pandora, finding new music you can enjoy is as easy as pointing and clicking a mouse. These three albums released in 2013 should find their way onto your playlists if they are not already.
1.“Long Forgotten Songs: B-Sides & Covers (2000-2013)” by Rise Against
Release date: Sept. 10, 2013
Genre: Punk rock, hardcore punk
Record label: DGC, Interscope
Score: 10/10
This compilation album may be titled “Long Forgotten Songs,” but these tracks will be hard to forget after a listen to this record. It’s hard to imagine that all of these songs did not make it onto any of their studio albums, but here they are, conveniently packaged together one disc for your listening pleasure.
This album features 26 previously unreleased or rare covers and B-sides recorded during the career of the world-renowned punk rockers out of Chicago known as Rise Against. No true fan of this band should go without having this collection of songs in their music library.
The highlights of this album are the acoustic version of “Everchanging,” the cover of Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” and the unreleased tracks “Elective Amnesia” and “Historia Calamitum.” The previously mentioned unreleased songs sound like they could have fit anywhere in their 2008 album, “Appeal to Reason.”
Additionally, an early version of “Give It All,” a song that served as a launching pad for mainstream success for the band, is also available on this album.
2.“Renacer” by Senses Fail
Release date: March 26, 2013
Genre: Post-hardcore
Record label: Staple Records
Score: 7.5/10
“Renacer” means “to be reborn” in Spanish. Wanting to change their identity as a band and go through a sound transformation after losing founding member and guitarist Garrett Zablocki, this was the perfect title.
The New Jersey natives lived up to their album’s title, and certainly needed it coming off a somewhat disappointing fourth album in 2010, “The Fire.” Screams and growls are more prevalent in this album than ever before in the band’s career. Though it was a slight improvement, the signs point in Senses Fail’s direction on this record.
“Mi Amor” and “Canine” are, by far, the best songs on the album. If not for the sheer aggression in Buddy Nielsen’s voice, “Mi Amor” is impressive because I’m not sure many of you reading this have heard a post-hardcore song screamed in Spanish. Meanwhile, “Canine” is one of the best examples of the group turning over a new hardcore leaf.
3.“The Tipping Point” by Authority Zero
Release date: April 2, 2013
Genre: Punk rock
Record label: Hardline Entertainment
Score: 8/10
The hardcore punk quartet from Mesa, Ariz. known as Authority Zero bring to you their fifth studio album, “The Tipping Point.” As they have done consistently throughout their career, they have eloquently blended punk rock and ska elements together for another impressive record, although it seems that they have taken a more hardcore path through this CD.
The best songs on the album are “No Other Place,” “For the Kids” and “Today We Heard the News,” written in honor and memory of the late Tony Sly. “Today We Heard the News” is one of the slower songs on the record in the verses, but picks up in the chorus and reminds you that you’re still listening to a punk rock band.
“21st Century Breakout” is a song that has earned itself an honorable mention. The tune is not too hard or soft, or too fast or slow, to end this record; it blends in perfectly.
