The Classic Crime is my favorite, and for good reason. This album is overall very good, with songs like The Fight, The Coldest Heart, and The Poet being quite enjoyable. Then, there are they really great songs like Flight of Kings and We All Look Elsewhere (Make sure you listen to that song all the way, there 's a full verse-chorus-verse-chorus before it suddenly becomes fantastic). The band has a few nics to the polish, but the overall style is really great-- it's somewhat light-end but somehow with enough emotional power to make what would be a mediocre style its own strength (their 3rd CD showed where the style can come up short when it lacks the depth). The singer has a good voice, even if he has certain cracks and imperfections in his singing, his voice is perfect for the style.
But then there are two songs which suddenly make this one of the best albums ever. When I was first introduced to the band, I quickly latched onto Say the Word, and for good reason. The song packs such a huge amount of raw power and it's well polished to boot; it's easily my 4th favorite song-and I rank things obsessively. I also noticed Headlights, but it didn't impress me too much.
Now I can't figure out why. Headlights... Headlights is a masterpiece of such unimaginable greatness I can't begin to describe it. It is the utter epitome of the "bittersweet" emotion, an emotion made so powerful by being a combination of both Happiness and Sorrow, the two most powerful emotions to begin with. And this song accentuates that feeling beautifully. It begins with more of a slow sad feel to it, but not the hopeless kind of sorrow (there are so many shades of sorrow) but rather the soft, weeping caress. Then it speeds up in the second chorus, but not in the RJA's "Your Guardian Angel" kind where a slow song morphs into a fast one (which was well done in that song) Rather, this is a subtle increase in speed and volume. The song is just so wonderfully complex, so heart-wrenching and incredible, with fantastic vocals to boot. His voice manages to be flawless for this song; a friend has told me he's electronically assited, and while I don't know the truth of this I can say it doesn't SOUND electronic at all, and that's ALL I care about. The song is easily, EASILY my favorite song.
So, with my 1st and 4th favorite song on one album and many other good pieces, Albatross becomes phenomenal.
The only thing criminal about this band would be not knowing them. This is among the best christian rock albums I've heard in a long time. It spans the sounds from light rock and BonJovi sounds to one song (my favorite) that sounds very much like Chevelle "The Poet". This cd would seem hard to follow but they made another just as good when the recorded "The Silver Cord" last year. Those who like these sounds will not be disappointed.