Call The Police, This Whole Place Is Gonna Burn

So as we all know (or don't know), my favorite band is From First To Last.  I've been a fan for almost three years now, and I've fallen in love with their music, and the band has helped me through all of my serious, and little every day problems.  If you know anything about the band, you would know that singer Sonny Moore left the band back in early 2007 to start his own solo project.  Since then Matt, Travis, Derek, and new-but-not-really-so-now bassist Matt Manning have been trying to get back on their feet and show that they can survive as a band.  Now, From First To Last has been touring almost non-stop and their self-titled third album is due to come out at the end of April.

As I was flipping through May 2008's issue of AP Magazine, I came across a review of the new album.  Excited, I quickly got comfy and ready to read what I then noticed was a two star review.  This is what I found:

"following some controversy ignited by supposed vocal problems, from first to last singer sonny moore parted ways with the band he fronted for three years in feb 07, citing a desire to pursue a solo career.  the remaining three members, led by the group's guitarist, primary songwriter and original vocalist matt good, seemed unfazed, penning a new album and entering the studio with modern-rock producer josh abraham at the end of 07.  the speed with which fftl jumped back into the fray following moore's departure, paired with good's role as songwriter for the majority of the band's previous tracks, may lead one to believe that moore wasn't necessarily central to fftl's sound.

as it turns out though, he was.  fftl's third full-length, which follows 06 heroine, is not without merit, but is undeniably underwhelming.  while heroine wasn't necessarily pushing any previously untouched musical boundaries or reinventing the post-hardcore/screamo genre, it displayed a band who'd found a sound that worked for them- and their fans.  on from first to last (self titled cd), however, you can almost hear how hard the band (who enlisted matt manning as bassist for this album) are trying.  it's almost as though they know they have something to prove and are expending all possible energy to do so, rather than relaxing to craft an album that represents their evolution and new goals.

on one hand, tracks like "profound" (a title seemingly lifted from pete wentz's journal) and that i'm-fucked-up-you're-fucked-up love song "a perfect mess" maintain the group's signature surging guitars allowing good to ape moore's combination of nasal melodies and growling yelps.  "we all turn back to dust", on the other hand opens with the unlikely sentiment, "little soul your dreams are waiting/grab them up, hold them closely." the same guitar riff repeats over and over as good failingly tries to sound inspirational.  the record has it's share of merciless hooks (unfortunately accompanied by cliched lyrics) and is not entirely dissmissible, mostly because the songs get stuck in your head whther you like them or not

but when a band self-titles their third album, it's usually interpreted as a statement of purpose; this album defines who they are and want to be remembered as.  if that's really the case, from first to last might want to consider a name change"

Okay, seriously, what the hell!  First off, "supposed vocal problems"?  There were deffinitely some vocal problems that had to be dealt with!  It's not like they dropped so many shows and tours just because they COULD.  And the whole "Sonny actually WAS central to the band's sound" thing, yeah he contributed his own ideas when he was in the band, but he never was THE band.  The author seriously acts as those who only listened to the band because Sonny was hot.  And how was Heroine not pushing any musical boundaries?  Have they not listened to the whole album straight through?  Give me one band that sounds like From First To Last in Heroine.  The author also states how with Heroine they had also found a sound that works for them and that they should stick to that sound.  What's the point of growing as a band if you don't decide to take risks or experiment.  Who wants to hear the same CD twice?  One of the things that REALLY got me though, was "who enlisted matt manning as bassist for this album."  In case you didn't know, Manning is and has been an official member of the band and wasn't just brought in to record on their CD!

Now the author goes into a paragraph of bashing and comparing, not once giving them any respectable amount of credit for all they have been through as a band and how well and far they came.  Matt's vocals are compared to Sonny's and honestly, Matt's voice just blew me away the first time I heard it.  I had no idea he was capable of doing so great.  Matt isn't Sonny so of course he's not going to sound like him.  They're two different people with two different voices.  Also, We All Turn Back To Dust happened to keep my head level soooo many times since it's come out, don't even try to tell me that Matt "fails at sounding inspirational".  All of their music is so important to me, and their lyrics are NOT cliche :|

And last, but not least, the closing statement of this article.  Wow, can you say HARSH!  Fuck, if that were said about my band I would be very insulted.  Honestly I belive that whole comment is quite rude and I know this is a review, but I would never let something that sounds so low be posted in an article.  This seems more like a personal opinion than a music review, and I have a feeling that 99% of From First To Last's fans would agree with me on this.