Story of the Year has been a good band. One of the more consistent rock bands of the last decade. Not the most original, but with their work ethic, energy and passion the easily make up for that. Don’t expect brilliant, deep lyrics from these guys, but what you should expect is passionate vocals, endless energy and effort and great timing. They do that constantly. Which is why “The Constant” is an excellent title for this new album.
The Ghost Of You And I is the musical equivalent of drinking too much Red Bull, but the release of energy will definitely catch on. The Children Song and I’m Alive (lead single) are not particularly strong tracks, but To The Burial is a heavy rocker that shows SOTY at its best. They bring a lot of guts to the table, and they work it out to something you just have to rock out to. They do this a couple more times on this album (Won Threw Ate, Eye For An Eye). Not everything’s superb, as the power ballad Holding On To You is quite mediocre. But we can easily forgive them these missteps, because the overall quality of the album is strong and the lesser tracks are swiftly forgotten. Even the 90s powerpop (a la Weezer) on Remember A Time is quite catchy and actually works.
“The Constant” is more or less a continuation of “The Black Swan”, in quality it is no less than the previous album, but probably not a big step forward either. But it’s consistent and it’s solid. It’s a good rock record for the fans of real rock (opposed to the more mainstream variants that are popping up everywhere). It will not win the award for most original album of the year, or the award for best album of the year, but above all it’s a solid rock album with a lot of guts and energy that is very suited for rocking out.
The Ghost Of You And I is the musical equivalent of drinking too much Red Bull, but the release of energy will definitely catch on. The Children Song and I’m Alive (lead single) are not particularly strong tracks, but To The Burial is a heavy rocker that shows SOTY at its best. They bring a lot of guts to the table, and they work it out to something you just have to rock out to. They do this a couple more times on this album (Won Threw Ate, Eye For An Eye). Not everything’s superb, as the power ballad Holding On To You is quite mediocre. But we can easily forgive them these missteps, because the overall quality of the album is strong and the lesser tracks are swiftly forgotten. Even the 90s powerpop (a la Weezer) on Remember A Time is quite catchy and actually works.
“The Constant” is more or less a continuation of “The Black Swan”, in quality it is no less than the previous album, but probably not a big step forward either. But it’s consistent and it’s solid. It’s a good rock record for the fans of real rock (opposed to the more mainstream variants that are popping up everywhere). It will not win the award for most original album of the year, or the award for best album of the year, but above all it’s a solid rock album with a lot of guts and energy that is very suited for rocking out.