The Higher- On Fire

Hey, y'all! It's time for me to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: March 6, 2007

Genre: Pop Rock, Alternative

Track Listing

1. Insurance
2. Guts
3. Rock My Body
4. Weapons Wired
5. Histrionics
6. Movements
7. Carly
8. Darkpop
9. Dare
10. 31 Floors
11. Our Movie Rules
12. Pace Yourself (Patrick Stump Remix)

The Higher lineup on this CD:
Seth Trotter- vocals
Tom Oakes- guitar
Robert Ragan- guitar
Jason Centeno- bass
Pat Harter- drums

About The Higher: 
The Higher was originally formed when the founding members were in high school, and it was called September Star. They released two EPs: Star is Dead in 2003 and Pace Yourself in 2006, as well as 3 CDs: Histrionics in 2005, On Fire in 2007, and It's Only Natural in 2009. After the series of lineup changes, the band broke up in 2012.

My Opinion about The Higher:
Honestly, I don't have much of an opinion on them. This is the only CD I have by them, and I bought it on a bit of a whim. While I like this CD, I haven't gotten any other CDs by them. I guess I like them, but I'm just not blown away enough to want to get more of their music.

About the CD:  

On Fire was The Higher's second full-length CD, released in 2007. It was their first CD released on Epitaph records. While signed to Epitaph, they adopted a more poppy style than they had on previous CDs.

IMHO: 
It's a pretty good CD, but I tend to overlook it quite a bit on my iTunes. Since it's not by a band I SUPER love, and it's just a good-ish CD, I just tend to overlook it and forget it's there.

As always, I'm going to give each song a rating out of 10 and then give a brief explanation of why it got that rating. 

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Insurance- 9.5/10. It's a great opener, and is definitely one of the most exciting songs on the CD. I especially really like the breakdown with the heavy guitar.

Guts- 6/10. I'm not a huge fan of this song. It just seems like it doesn't go anywhere. It tries to build up to the chorus, but it's hardly more interesting than the verses. The bridge is pretty cool, but it's the only standout part for me.

Rock My Body- 7/10. I have a lot of the same complaints about this song that I had about Guts. However, it has an interesting beat, and I like the bridge and following guitar solo. But other than that, it's a pretty static and uninteresting song. Especially the over-autotuned bit at the end. I get that it's for artistic effect, I just don't like it.

Weapons Wired- 8.5/10. I really like the Spanish influence of the acoustic guitars in the verses and the way they contrast with the very rock-driven electric guitars.

Histrionics- 9/10. I think this is one of the most interesting songs on the CD. It's very simple, but that's what makes it really cool.

Movements- 8/10. While I think it's a bit static like some of the songs before it, I really enjoy the chorus, especially the vocals. It's not outstanding, but I think it's pretty cool.

Carly- 9.5/10. This is just a fun, light-hearted song. I really like the vocal line in the chorus. I especially really like the bridge. This is just one of those songs that technically isn't that great, but I really like it anyway.

Darkpop- 9/10. The bridge of this song is one of the highlights of the CD for me. It's so cool with just the vocals and the drums. The rest of the song is really cool too, but that's just SO great.

Dare- 9/10. This one is a lot like Carly in the fact that it's just really fun and has a light-hearted feel to it. It's so chill. The guitar part is especially cool in this one.

31 Floors- 9.5/10. Another of the best songs on the CD. I just really like the way that the guitar and drums interact with the vocal line and absolutely love the chorus. This could be my favorite song on the CD... maybe. I'm not sure I really have a favorite.

Our Movie Rules- 7/10. It's ok. The chorus is kinda cool. Nothing about this song really stands out for me as being either great or awful.

Pace Yourself (Patrick Stump Remix)- 5/10. I'm not a fan of remixes. It sounds like it was a pretty interesting song before it was remixed. I should probably look it up when I finish this.

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Favorite Songs: Insurance, Histrionics, Carly, Darkpop, Dare, and 31 Floors.

Least Favorite Songs: Pace Yourself (Patrick Stump Remix) and Guts.

Video! 

Insurance music video

31 Floors

Rating: 7.5/10. While the songs averaged to ~8, I docked it .5 for the fact that it's so disjunct. I had forgotten how many of these songs I really enjoy, and the main reason I forgot about them was because the other half of the songs aren't interesting.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Have any questions? What did you think of The Higher? Let me know in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

The Cab- Whisper War

Release Date: April 29, 2008

Genre: pop rock, pop punk, power pop 

Track Listing

1. One Of Those Nights
2. Bounce
3. I'll Run
4. High Hopes in Velvet Ropes
5. That 70's Song
6. Take My Hand
7. Risky Business
8. I'm A Wonder
9. Zzzzz
10. Vegas Skies
11. Can You Keep A Secret?
12. This City is Contagious

The Cab lineup on this CD:
Alex DeLeon- lead vocals
Alex Marshall- piano, guitar, backup vocals
Ian Crawford- guitar, backup vocals
Cash Colligan- bass, backup vocals
Alex Johnson- drums

About The Cab: To date, they have released 2 CDs and 3 EPs. They've also had a number of lineup changes. Out of the lineup on this CD, only Alex DeLeon and Alex Marshall are still in the band. Currently, the other members are: Joey Thunder- bass, Dave Briggs- drums, and Chance Johnson- guitar, backup vocals, and cello. They were previously signed to Fueled By Ramen/ Decaydance, but left just before releasing their sophomore CD, Symphony Soldier, in 2011. They've toured with bands such as Maroon 5 and Simple Plan, and are currently working on a new album that's supposed to be released later this year

About the CD: Whisper War is the band's debut CD, following the release of 2 EPs. It was produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, and he guest features on "One of Those Nights", "Bounce", and "I'm A Wonder". Fun fact, the girl on the cover is actually Alex DeLeon's sister!

IMHO: I've had this CD for quite a while, but it's not one that I listen to a lot. Some of the songs are good, and I listen to them some, but it's not enough of a standout for me to listen to it a lot. 

Favorite songs: My favorite song on the CD is Bounce. It was the first song by the band that I heard, and it's what caused me to actually buy the CD. 

Other gems: High Hopes in Velvet Ropes, That 70's Song, and Vegas Skies. I haven't listened to the others enough to figure out if they're good or not, but these were good enough to get multiple plays.

Video!

The music video for Bounce

Rating: 5/10. I like the songs I've listened to, but not enough to delve further into the CD which, for me, means that it's only mediocre. 

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! I'm hoping that soon, I'll get one of my favorite CDs or something I listen to a lot, so I can have more to say about it! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of The Cab? Let me know all of this in the comments. Also, any opinion on the time? I have them automatically set to post at 12. Unless I get any other preferences or info, they'll be posted at 12- maybe not every day, but many days. Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow to see if there's a new post! Thanks for reading!