hawthorne heights

The Silence in Black and White
$12.98
Well, it's been four years since this album has been released. It's still so much of a joke that reviewing this just to laugh at how bad it is, well, very encouraged. I hope that, in ten years from now, this album has reviews still being posted and people are still ridiculing this terrible _________. Not that these guys (and their lame comeback album) will ever find the success they once had, anyway.

Casey Calvert, hands, down, the worst screaming I have ever heard. Look, It's sad he had to die so young (since after all you don't go to heaven), but he sounds like an old man being strangled to death. Come on I can scream better than this. And if anybody still thinks he can scream, listen to anything by the Refused, Cryptopsy, Dillinger, Converge, Boredoms/Naked City, The Blood Brothers, Slayer, At The Drive In, ... you get me? Good grief, this makes Thrice's screaming (there decent, but they can't scream) sound like a banshee from the flames. He gets the award for the worst screaming I have ever heard.

The music? It's extremely dull. Considering that they had three guitarists at the time, how can a band like this seem like they have one guitarist? Seriously, clean picking that's been done a million times better before, wimpy power chords, dull attempts at being honey sweet (vomit worthy as it is), boring chug-chug-chug-chug guitars, it's all here. These guys ought to be arrested for their idea swiping, it's that bad. Plus, it will always feel it's watered down music, no questions asked.

the silence in black and white is truly the genre's badge of failure. Ohio Is For Lovers, for me, is the rollin' of the decade. Whiny lyrics, and the worst emo lyrics ever (cut my wrists and black my eyes), something not even Fallout Boy (dance dance is pretty catchy and doesn't contain any stupid lyrics about lost girlfriends) or even taking back sunday has ever matched. I think it's because of that one song, anything that was mentioned in the same breath (at the expense of Panic at the disco, mostly) as any of the fake "emo" trend bands were automatically deemed to consist of nothing (they didn't, but they still were terrible) but lyrics about cutting and crying about lost girlfriends. It doesn't end there either, including "a silver bullet through my heart cause I can't survive without you", and a lame tribute to that stupid movie where the boy holds a radio up to his girlfriends's window. Read a sample of these lyrics to see where all the stereotypes of emo lyrics came from.

Well heights. You most likely will become famous. However, it will be for all the wrong reasons. Enjoy your stay in the cage of the musical freak show, the Bee Gees, Limp Bizkit, Brittany Spears, Vanilla Ice, Winger, and Milli Vanillie (to name a few), while real people and bands laugh at you, throw things at you, take a _____ on you, and actually laugh at you for a good reason. This band will be remembered!

This Is Who We Are
$9.98
This DVD shows some great behind the scenes stuff with the band and some good live performances, but there are no music videos or a "Jimmy Kimmel Live" performance as the back cover led me to believe. This disc is just so you can see what you're missing if you haven't been to one of their shows, but I would recommend it to a true fan.

If Only You Were Lonely Version B
$13.99
Um...I think these guys are good, but they have to decide what genre they want to be. Are they trying to be emo, screamo, metal? I'm confused.

All the songs sound the same. The only ones I recognize when I have my iPod on shuffle are "Dead in the Water" and "Decembers".

The songs all have the same theme. They need to vary a little bit.

Their voices are soft. This clashes disasterously with the screaming. Either they should stop singing so softly, or stop screaming.

-That was a lot of negative stuff, but there are good things too.

Their music is good. Not too harsh, not too mellow (except for Decembers).

The reason I think their songs are all about the same thing is because they are trying to tell a story. The pictures prove that.

Their music is good to put on when you're writing a story or dark poetry (like I do). It's also good to put on when you're mad and just want to drown out the world (again, with the exception of Decembers. It's just too painfully mellow and slow. cough-they-sing-about-butterflies-cough)

...My final overview is, if you can find it cheap, buy it. I'd say under five dollars would be reasonable. You only need one version of it. I don't know why you'd buy two. But whatever. I'd wait for their next one anyways to judge them. They still have room for improvement.

Hawthorne Heights - Floating T-Shirt Medium
$17.95
This black cotton t-shirt from Hawthorne Heights features the band logo across the front with the image of a man floating above it.