Shifting Opinions: Rise Against, The Wallflowers, & Transatlantic

What we don't always remember is that when we give an opinion on something, it is only a marker of what we are feeling at that particular point in time. Especially with music, there is a period of understanding that comes along, where the more we hear a record, the more it can grow on us. Or the more it can sour. The point is that music is not intended to be listened to just once, only to move on to the next thing. We listen to these albums over and over, and seldom do we get the chance to go through all the stages of development before we voice an opinion.

I have become pretty good over the years at being able to form quick judgments that tend to be accurate, which is actually an underrated skill, but every so often I miss the mark. It's inevitable, but what's interesting to me is that I have done so three times this year already, which is more than I would expect. Let's take a moment to explore how this happened.

Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

My initial review of the album was positive, but certain this was a pale imitation of their previous album, "Wolves". With the chance to give the record more spins, the differences between the two records have become more clear. "Nowhere Generation" is a more varied (relatively speaking) album, and it was the slight steps off the straight-and-narrow that originally led me to say it was a lesser record. The more I listened, the deeper the hooks were able to sink their teeth in. So while I still would say this might be a slightly less immediate album than "Wolves", it is not at all lesser. It's an album of tired frustration more than righteous anger, and now that I see that, everything else makes sense.

The Wallflowers - Exit Wounds

You would expect, given the review I wrote, that I might have given up listening to this album. My disappointment was all I could think about in the moment, and that has long since evaporated. I do believe my commentary on the form of the songwriting is still accurate, but not as important now, because the songs have blossomed regardless of the form they take. The writing is indeed a bit more subtle than some previous records, and a lot of what I wind up listening to these days, so it took more time for the petals to open up. Now, I can hear the tones of classic Wallflowers records, albeit played through the lens of a band older, and perhaps more mature, than before. The trees are there, once I was able to stop seeing the forest. "Exit Wounds" is becoming one of my favorite records of the year.

Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe

I doled out plenty of criticism of this album as well, but that was mostly due to the questionable formatting and decision making process behind it. As for the actual music, I was still incredibly fond of much of what I was hearing, and I was posing the question about whether or not a compiled version could rightly be considered an Album Of The Year contender. We don't have to worry about that anymore. Over the last few months, even as I have eschewed listening to anything but my own version of the record, I have grown increasingly frustrated with what I'm hearing. Even cut down, there is too much wasted space, too many vocals that shouldn't have been given over to lesser voices, and not enough songs I need to hear again. Like the universe, it seems to get darker the further away the edges get.