THE END IS BEAUTIFUL

In choosing to move to The End is Beautiful after having been highly impressed by Mei, I made two flawed assumptions. Firstly, that if Mei was so great then logic should follow that an album with a similarly high rating should be of the same calibre. Second, it would likely be in my best interest to continue my exploration with the latter portion of Echolyn's career as it should be musically most similar to the Echolyn I know and love.

It should be abundantly clear that I am not a big fan of this album. There are most certainly parts of this album I like, but the highly erratic nature of the band means that these good parts are mixed in almost indiscriminately with the bad. Not unlike Octane by Spock's Beard. The parts I like tend to be mostly when the band is light hearted and playful as opposed to snarling and dissonant. Dissonance by the way appears to be one of the calling cards of Echolyn; something which wasn't quite as apparent on Mei, but is on "as the World" and "The End is Beautiful."

This is by the way, a concept album, and the end in question is the end of a relationship; on this front Echolyn have crafted some piercingly accurate lyrics. I first heard it when I was still dealing with a breakup of my own and I almost threw up during the title track because it hit so close to home.

Luckily I think the more completely good tracks err towards the longer ones "Lovesick Morning," "Misery, Not Memory" and "The End is Beautiful" itself. All have more than a passing resemblance to the grandiose and captivating passages of mei. They are in my opinion not quite strong enough to carry the entirety of the album. As a result, I tend to listen to this album sparingly. For the record, the tracks I dislike the most is the lead track "Georgia Pine" and "Make Me Sway."

Like most things in life it is worth trying this album out. You just might find it to your tastes even if I didn't. It seems many others have. Perhaps I may come to like it more in time. I am certainly willing to accept that I got off on the wrong foot with it. For now though my opinion stands relatively firm. I give it two stars out of a potential five.