Chevelle - The Fad

[pen]

Once the fad permeates it's hip to care, hip to hate it.

And that's all I've got to say about the third single from Vena Sera, that goes for adds on January 14th. I kind of wanted something like "Saferwaters" or "Antisaint", but this was originally the second single choice, so I'm not surprised they went back to it in the wake of "I Get It"'s success.

[American Idiot]

I'm ok with this but I think I would have rather had "Brainiac" or "Antisaint." Either way, I expect this to skyrocket and do incredibly well.

[jvandyck87]

This is my favorite song from Vena Sera so I'm pretty excited to hear that they're releasing this to radio. I also think it's a good choice considering the relative floppage of "Well Enough" and the success of the much harder and fresher "I Get It." And I think they need one more song that stands out as somewhat edgy to reassure those who are still hesitant to buy the record that this is album is just as heavy as their others. This song is raw as hell, but then again so is "Antisaint." And like Penance, I also really like "Saferwaters" and like AI I also really like "Brainiac." Maybe they should go more than 3 singles deep with this record, as "I Get It" was almost like their fresh start and "The Fad" now being the kickass follow up (making single #4 almost like single #3). There are a lot of good songs on this record, so they might as well.

I'll admit I'm extremely biased though, cuz I abandoned my fan-hood of Chevelle because I hated "Well Enough Alone" that much. Then my friend showed me "The Fad" and I heard "I Get It" a bunch on the radio, and now I'm probably more into them than I ever was before. Good album with a song that I really can't stand for whatever reason.

[Nicholas2.0]

I'm just about done familiarizing myself with the album and I'm kinda glad I opted out of buying this one. "I Get It" aside, most of their songs (especially this deep into their career) are getting pretty indistinguishable from one to the next.

Looking up the tracklisting just now and seeing that this is #6, it turns out "The Fad" is one my least favorites on the record. Although if it gets ample radio play, I might be inclined to move it up through the ranks.

Jan 5, 2008 3:21:22 GMT -5 jvandyck87 said:

Good album with a song that I really can't stand for whatever reason.

Maybe because they have so many mid-tempo songs in 6/8 time.

[jvandyck87]

Yeah...and the whole major key thing just doesn't do it for me either. You don't like "The Fad?" I guess I could see it, but I would feel like most ppl who like harder stuff like Atreyu would dig "The Fad." It's got some neat time changes in the bridge too. And it is the opposite of a sluggish 6/8, this baby's pulsing in your face 4/4. It also doesn't sound like any other Chevelle song, whether or not that's a good thing, which I think in this case it is.

[Crushcrushchris]

I love this song...but I figured they'd have attempted a potential crossover with Saferwaters.

[(Artie Ziff)]

I too haven't heard the whole CD. The first two singles were medium rate to me, so maybe this one when I get to hear it will be enough to make me to buy the thing. It should've been a no-brainer since I bought the first two discs the weeks they came out. But I think I made the right choice so far.

[Nicholas2.0]

Jan 6, 2008 13:39:51 GMT -5 (Artie Ziff) said:

It should've been a no-brainer since I bought the first two discs the weeks they came out. But I think I made the right choice so far.

Point #1 and Wonder What's Next?

I thought my latest trip through the album, in yet another adjusted ascending order of perceived likability, would be my definitive listen, but the songs (yes, including "The Fad") are so goddamn indistinguishable in certain groups of 2's and 3's that I'll have to listen to it again for probably the 6th time. (I leave out "Well Enough Alone" and "I Get It" so it goes quicker. I know those are the top 2, so I don't have to listen to 'em until I'm sure I have the other 9 arranged properly.)

I'm trying to finish off the last few 2007 albums I'd started before 2008, so I can get to 40 and still count them properly, but this record has really started to test my patience every time I think I'll be able to set it aside as finished...

[pen]

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned This Type Of Thinking yet.

Also, to balance out the negative vibe here, I'd like to say that even though it's true some Chevelle songs do sound the same, I also think they have a style not typical of anyone else.

[Nicholas2.0]

Jan 13, 2008 17:41:09 GMT -5 pen said:

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned This Type Of Thinking yet.

Yeah, I know. I was just trying to bust his balls, thinking he'd probably forgotten about Point #1, figuring I'd never come across anyone that actually bought that one right when it came out. I mean, it was just one of those soft-release, under-the-radar albums. 98% of everyone who even knew "Mia" at the time didn't discover it until the album was already out.

I mean, May 4? Are you kidding me? I don't think I even heard "Mia," myself, until July or possibly August.

[pen]

I didn't hear of Chevelle until "The Red", and I actually think I was looking for Unwritten Law at the time instead. It was a happy accident.

[American Idiot]

I don't think I heard "Mia" until I was playing some racing game (I can't recall the name and it's going to drive me insane now) on XBOX with the song in it and I'm sure that was well after "Wonder What's Next" was released. I remember seeing the video for "Point #1" probably back in '99 when I used to get "The Box" Music Network.

[Nicholas2.0]

Okay, so once and for all, like the 5th or 6th time thru the album, I was finally able to rank all the songs against each other. Not only did I listen to each song once, I had to listen to 8 of the songs at least 2-3 times each through, like, their first thirds to halves, just to figure out which I liked better. It took me about 75 minutes on the 5th or 6th listen to get through a 45 minute album, I found the songs that indistinguishable. Mind you, I was attempting to listen to them, yet again, in an ascending order of my preference. In some cases, after listening to two songs, I'd listen to the first third of one song, the first third of the other and then the first third of the first one again, just to be sure. Then a couple of times I'd do that, and then go back and compare it to a song I thought I'd already filled in for good prior to the pair I was working on. It's a decent album, it's just that most of the songs aren't memorable and sound pretty similar from one to the next.

In the solo during "Paint the Seconds," the different guitar tone is a huge breath of fresh air. The songs with vocal harmonies are usually the better ones. And "Straight Jacket Fashion" is better than most because of the snare hits on every downbeat in certain sections. You wouldn't think such little things would be so important, but when most of the songs are in a sluggish 6/8, you take what you can get. Here's how I ranked the songs:

1. I Get It
2. Well Enough Alone
3. Saferwaters
4. Antisaint
5. Straight Jacket Fashion
6. Humanoid
7. Brainiac
8. Saturdays
9. Paint the Seconds
10. The Fad
11. Midnight to Midnight

A big reason why I don't prefer "The Fad," as it turns out, is because I find the way he screams the chorus to be whiny and irritating. Plus it lacks strong hooks.

[pen]

It's funny, with the exception of where you put Brainiac and The Fad, that's pretty much how I'd rate the album. Now that I think about it, some of the songs on there are pretty unmemorable, but I really like the ones that are, so it kind of balances it out in my mind.

[jvandyck87]

I thought about my ranking and this is where I'd put them for what it's worth:

1. The Fad
2. I Get It
3. Antisaint
4. Straight Jacket Fashion
5. Saferwaters
6. Paint The Seconds
7. Saturdays
8. Brainiac
9. Humanoid
10. Midnight to Midnight
11. Well Enough Alone (Maybe I hate this just because I was disappointed that this could possibly be supposedly the best song on the album as they selected it as their lead single, but it's definitely one of my 3 least favorites on the album).

[reception]

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