You know that I wouldn’t skip to do a review on anything to do with Poets of the Fall, quite possibly my favorite contemporary rock band of the moment (see my last.fm profile if you don’t believe me ;) ). They put out a new album back in April, but because of time, I couldn’t review it right when it came out. Thus, I decided to take the time to review it after it had been released for a while. After two weeks of release, “Revolution Roulette”, their third studio album, certified gold in Finland, another record breaking success for the band. Not only that, it, alongside other Poets’ material, the album was finally made available on Itunes, so it made this stateside Poets fan immensely appeased.
What a rich, mesmerizing album for the most part. I think to date it marks Poets’ edgiest album, with quite many strong tracks to choose from. I find this CD to be somewhere between the caliber of their first two CDs, and even takes a bit more risks in sound than their former releases.
All in all, if you’re a die hard Poets fan, or just want a great rock album to listen to with a decent mix of edgier elements of melodic tonalities, then by all means explore this one. Track-by-Track review following the tracklisting and cut.
“Revolution Roulette”- Poets of the Fall
Released: April 12, 2008 (Worldwide Itunes)
- “More” (4:01)
- “The Ultimate Fling” (6:55)
- “Revolution Roulette” (5:55)
- “Psychosis” (4:23)
- “Fragile” (4:08 )
- “Clevermind” ( 3:38 )
- “Miss Impossible” (3:52)
- “Diamonds for Tears” (4:07)
- “Passion Colors Everything” (3:51)
- “Save Me” (3:31)
- “Where Do We Draw the Line” (5:09)
“Revolution Roulette” took me by pleasant surprise when I heard it first from a friend of mine who bought the album on import. I later purchased it off Itunes and let the album spin for several days/weeks. It’s an engaging album from a rock standpoint, allowing Poets to flex some creative muscles in cultivating their sound and bringing a different coat compared with their previous albums. I saw the potential for them to go heavier when listening to “Sorry Go Round” from “Carnival of Rust”, but the moment I heard “Psychosis”, it had me hooked, and it certainly wasn’t the only song I found myself drawn into. The slower tracks on this album are just as well noted too, save for a few that tend to fall in the same formula as some of the more average tracks from their first two albums. Let’s take this album a step at a time, shall we?
1. More: “More” commences the album off to a sweet start, though if I had to compare it to their previous albums, it falls short of how anthemic “Lift” sounded as the first track of “Signs of Life”, but more engaging on first listen than “Fire” was on “Carnival of Rust.” Mark Surresto brings plenty of attitude and irony projected through his vocals and within the coat of the lyrics. I love how the tonality of the song shifts closer to the end of the song where he begins singing the lines:
You know it isn’t particularly funny
Killjoy walks in just when it’s turning sunny
Killjoy lives like it’s all about the money
All about the money, all about the money
All about the money, all about the money
It’s almost as if it teases you with its lighter tonality then erupts in surges of yearning in the chorus. The song itself expands on this constant, covetous quality of the speaker, and expands upon the descent into greed with quite a few potent images. I smiled at some of the lyrics, including the one above because killjoy is a fun word to personify. That brings into measure why I liked the shift in melody, because it fits hand in glove. Would I say it’s the strongest effort this band has to offer from this album? Not really, but it certainly provides a fun start, if you can wrap your head around it compared to some of the stronger songs. Good, but not great. (7.0/10)
2. The Ultimate Fling: I’ll admit with little argument that the second track into “Revoultion Roulette” I liked on first listen. It delves a bit into the band’s anthemic, metal-influenced tonalities, but never becoming too heavy on the ears until it erupts in the chorus. It starts off with the little “circus chimes” as I like to call it, before surging with the guitars and drums, lovely start. Mark really illustrates some of his strongest vocal work here in terms of meshing with the meaning: conflicting and biting in all the right places. I love the instrumental closest to the end, excellent guitar work. I was very moved, not just by the song and meaning, but the wicked work on the instrumentation overall in this song. It ranks among my favorite songs on the album for those reasons among many. I should also mention this was the first single released from the album. The video for it was entirely shot by cellphone cameras submitted to the band, talk about an interesting way of shooting a video.; it didn’t turn out too bad either. (9.0/10)
3. Revolution Roulette: I couldn’t tell you how impressed I was with this song on first listen, quite fitting to be the title track of the album. This is the kind of rock music that I love to listen to. It had me from the steady instrumental build of the opening to the smoothness of the vocals throughout,. It doesn’t overdo the instrumentation and actually works well with its steady build. I find it even more interesting that one of the lines in the song mentions “clockwork precision”, because it feels like the song tends to work alongside that idea before breaking that mold in the chorus, and then further breaking that mold by coming into keyboard interludes. There’s certainly an art to this subtle layering, and I had this song in my head for the remainder of the week I first listened to it. It also stands as the second longest song on RR (clocking in at 6:15), but you never really know where the time goes because it keeps you that engaged. Lyrically, it works just as well – the lyrics are complex in their simplicity, if you can handle that contradiction. They’re downright seductive in a mechanistic sense. I love these guys for how well they play on words and images while still making their songs so appealing. In sum, another of my favorite songs on the album. (9.0/10)
4. Psychosis: This song is so much fun that whenever I listen to it, I can’t help but smile; if I were at a live concert of theirs, I could see myself really bouncing along with the song with my fist thrust high in the air. It’s much darker than anything Poets had done in their discography to date, and it’s love. They delve a bit into their metal influences in this particular song and it works quite well. You can tell that the band has a lot of fun with this, if Mark’s laughing in the background doesn’t tell you anything XD (or you could say it’s a part of the irony of the song just as much). It’s very much a cognitively distorted song within a rebellious coat, with a liberating quality even noted in the lines “And I see that it makes me anti-everything/and it makes me want to shed my skin, shed my skin”. Loved this song for its energy and presentation. (8.5/10)
5. Fragile: Now we come to a stark differentiation within the album, as this marks the first mellow track of the album. I’m not complaining though, if you have too many heavy hitters in an album, it becomes a big sensory overload, and I actually like hearing the tender side of the gents. “Fragile”…doesn’t really engage me as well as some of their better songs in this coat (see “Late Goodbye” of “Signs of Life”; “Desire” and “Dawn” of “Carnival of Rust” ). Even coming back to it, I felt it struck me as seeming a bit flat. While one could argue that it might have been the stark transition from “Psychosis”, I don’t think that’s the case. There’s something missing here, and it’s hard to place what it is. I wish I could give them more credit for this song, but it doesn’t strike me more than just a good song overall. It’s treated with tenderness, and the lyrics are quite beautiful, but I think it’s just not my cup of tea and not as interesting as some of the other tracks lent on this album. (6.5/10)
6. Clevermind: Okay, now we’re talking. This is much better than the aforementioned, simply beautiful, though it takes on more of a surge in the instrumentation in a smooth, melodic progression. I could have seen this as a potential track from “‘Signs of Life” if considering the likeness in the stylistics.
The lyrics are beautifully crafted, as quoted below:
Looking at the road that rises up ahead
I thought I’d learned a thing or two
But this is where it’s all made new
And I gotta throw my hands up
I can’t go on if I can’t stopLook the leaves are dead
The moments gone, there’s no surrender
Forever now unsaid
The words that might’ve warmed December
Cause it’s all inside your head
Like fragments of a dream you remember
So never mind, your clever mind, never mind meStaring at the ceiling from my bed
I thought I’d earned a chance or few
Thought I’d be paid in due
Time isn’t made for waiting
Past isn’t worth debatingLook the leaves are dead…
Feeling like a fool again
Just need a new direction
a new beginning , a new beginning
I can’t hold back and I can’t hold on
It’s all about gratification
See me running, see me running
Probably my favorite track of the more melodic songs on this album, not just for the meaning, but also for the overall delivery, also love the backing vocals in this. (9.0/10)
7. Miss Impossible: Very fun, romantic and yet surging song. I think I’m not the only girl who would feel honored if described in the coat of a “Miss Impossible”, as it radiates an energetic, likable, and flirty individual in the affections of the speaker. I think it also provides a nice illustration of how Poets can couple their instrumental progressions with the theme of the song, not just matching what they describe, but also having a gentle interjection before kicking the energy back up. Very nice overall. Yet, while I say it’s flirty and full of personality, it’s rather…mediocre lyrically, considering the gents are usually so invested in their lyricism. (7.5/10)
8. Diamonds for Tears: I heard this would be the second single released from Poets through a few sources, which kind of surprised me because I thought they would have more than likely released the title track or one of the other songs before it, but it’s actually fine with me because I really enjoy this song as well. You could say it has the same appeal to me as “Miss Impossible” or “More”: energetic with some nice transitions, and while I wouldn’t call it the best song on the album, it’s very fun to listen to.
My favorite stanza(s) in the song come toward the end, including the chorus:
Is it a lost cause,
Can we overlook this taint
Are these the dead laws
Like a doubt eating the saintAnd though I fear these shackles, like my darkness closing in
I will hold out my hands, I will hold out my handsCos when you’re sound asleep next to me, I know you’re the one
So when I hear you calling my name, I’ll know the good I’ve done
I guess that’s why it’s raining diamonds, sweet happiness in tears
Crying heaven shed your diamonds, diamonds for tears
Overall, this is a rather strong song in its own right, and I definitely look forward to seeing if Poets put out a video for this because I have a feeling it would be very interesting to see how it’s presented. :) (Though, “Sorry Go Round”, one of their released singles from “Carnival of Rust”, never had a video to go with it :( So it’s a matter of touch and go as to whether or not it will. ) (7.0/10)
9. Passion Colors Everything: This song is my choice for personal favorite from the album, and also my choice for favorite lyrics on the album. All the elements that composed the stronger songs on this album are present in this in abundance: anthemic and progressive build, strong vocalization and instrumentation, and just unearths itself from a multitude of layers. It’s never too heavy, and progresses so well with the meaning in tow. It’s funny how my choice on the album could come with so few words to describe, but I find myself at a loss for words in describing just how strong this song presents itself, and it does it even with being shorter than some of the songs that started the album. It tells you that strength can show itself even in brevity. Lyrics are as following the overall ranking of this song, highly recommended. (9.5/10)
This is my toothpaste moment, oh, I’ll need to flash a smile
I’ll be the super-absorbent-man, watch them flock to me in single file
And I’ll need to do it with style, I need to keep me up to date
Swallowing the sun run another mile, it’s overrated how we underrateI dance in tune with what I fear
To do adrenaline
Completely rapt with what I hear
When passion colors everything
The songs I sing, from way out there to deep within
The face I wear behind my grin
The mess I made to the original sin
Everything, everything, everythingI have a mind for simple things, but things are not of mind to simplify
There’s always some loophole technicality you buy into and pay until you die
Money doesn’t bring me joy, it’s more like a darling dead weight
And I seem to have lost my appetite, it’s underrated how we overrateI dance entangled with my dear
She pulls my every string
Completely trapped yet never here
When passion colors everything…And when I’m finally brought to my senses
Parade the rain on my parade
Before I’m back to my defenses
To watch the whole thing escalate
10. Save Me: despite the strong instrumentation in this song (which I loved to bits), I didn’t care for this song as much as I would have liked. Granted, if you judge it just on the energy and instrumentation, I’d match it to be as strong as “More”, “Miss Impossible”. Yet the song never really connected with me on a personal level, so there was some give and take as to how I interpreted this song. This was probably the hardest track on the album for me to rank accordingly taking into consideration those factors, but in the end, you know what, it’s a good song to rock out to, I just wish it had the same mesh of complexity and appeal as some of the stronger songs on this album. (7.0/10)
11. Where do We Draw the Line: It seems traditional that Poets concludes their albums with strong ballads, and I can understand how that places the finishing touches on the overall canvas of the album. I’d argue the strongest closing of any Poets album, for me, came in the realm of “Dawn” from “Carnival of Rust”, just a beautiful descent and portrait of a song overall. Does “Where do We Draw the Line” measure up? Not as much, but I’d put it on the same level as “Sleep” from “Signs of Life”. Beautiful meaning and vocalization, but it doesn’t quite move me or settle as strongly in its potency. However, it does close the album on a well rounded note, because if considering the thematic of all these songs, “Where do We Draw the Line” is an appropriate measure in the surge of emotions, reflections, and the “roulette” that this album takes you through. Considering the strong, life-reflective lyrics, ’twas the most appropriate note to end on and I really enjoyed it. (8.5/10)
In sum, “Revolution Roulette” might just be Poets strongest release with consistency, despite a few sluggish spots. I’d certainly recommend it to old and new Poets fans alike.
Overall: 8/10
