Reviews

People have been saying that Rookie Of The Year is the band to watch of 2006. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m listening and not watching. I could simply end this review here and lump the band into a category that affectionately includes hormonal youth driven rock like Anberlin, This Day and Age and The Spill Canvas, but for my own sake I’ll further explain.  Yes, there are beautiful melodies, soaring harmonies and lyrics so cute my ears had to detach themselves from my head and go puke, but that’s just the thing; this record is a perfectly packaged love song filled rock ballad. 
 
It’s not that I’m a pessimist or a cynic; it’s just that I like to be impressed.  If you’re going to sing about love, make it dangerous.  Don’t tell me about the stars in the sky or the way some girl is calling out your name; I can listen to any band to hear about that. In “Liars and Battlefields,” lyricist, Ryan Dunson apologizes for his “bleeding words,” and in “Pop Destroyed The Scene,” we are informed that Dunson may be a stalker as he writes “One two three four five six seven calls to her cell phone /Without a good reply/Seven six five four three two one times/She picked up the phone and screamed, I wish you would die!"
 
Near perfect production and mastering does not mask the fact that this record doesn’t deliver anything worth fawning over. Yes, it’s decent; maybe even good. But there are enough albums out there that are “good.” Give me something great; make me want to go buy it. I’m not buying this.