Waiting For Morning To Come -... .- .- ---

Waiting For Morning To Come by. 

Being As An Ocean

WOW! It has been two months since my last post, and man has it has been a hectic couple of months that included the internet being out at my house, moving to a new house, a hurricane hitting home, taking a road-trip to Lubbock and back, and finally getting the internet back at my house. Now that all is settled I can get back into a routine of writing my music review blogs. Only this time I will only be doing one a week, along with a vlog of the review. In the new video format I will also be including a music news segment. Here I will go over the week in music and any news that has happened. Now let's get down to the review.

The album I will be reviewing this week is the latest release from the Post-Hardcore band Being As An Ocean, from Alpine, California. The album is titled "Waiting For Morning To Come" and comes on the heels of their buyout of their contract with their previous record label, Equal Vision. They released the first single from the album named "Dissolve", announcing their singing with Equal Vision, and that there would be an album coming soon. They originally had the record set with their label to be released on June 9th but was met with unexpected and unexplained delay from the label. Then on August 14th guitarist Tyler Ross announced that he had bought all the rights to the album and would be releasing it on September 8th. Five days later the band announced that they had also bought out their contract and were now an "Independent Band", releasing singles "Thorns" and "Black & Blue" with a week of each other, and then finally releasing the album in its entirety. Speaking of the album. This one is a bit different than what they have done in the past. They have gone a bit weirder, a bit darker, and a bit more interesting all the same. The album boast 14 tracks in total, 7 with lyrics, 6 instrumentals, and one really interesting song with lyrics, but then again not any lyrics? Food for thought eh? Anyways, that is the track I want to single out and break down along with reviewing the album as a whole. But before I begin take a look at the track listing below.

1. pink & red
2. Black & Blue
3. floating through darkness, they seemed to
4. Glow
5. and fade away when morning came
6. OK
7. as though each of my problems would slip away
8. Dissolve
9. Thorns
10. eB tahT srewoP ehT *track to be reviewed*
11. Suddenly, I Was Alone
12. Blacktop
13. i saw before me a bright light, and silently i stood
14. Waiting for Morning to Come

eB tahT srewoP ehT (The Powers That Be) - Track Review

This Track is the one that intrigued me the most out of this album. Not just because of the name, or how they have spelled it backwards either. No, not only is the title spelt backwards, the entire song is played in reverse order. This caused me to be very confused and seeking for the song played in the correct order in order to discern what the lyrics were, and what they meant. And what I found had me, well, shook. Never thought that I would actually use that word, but this track is a special circumstance. The song speaks of a message that we are missing, blindly being lead into slaughter, and the useful ones were cut down before their message could be heard. A message that would require us to use our brains instead of blindly following the easiest path. The song has no chorus, this is nothing new to the band though, as they have had several songs in the past with no chorus. 

Starting with the lyrics "There has always been this sneaking suspicion. There’s something critical we’ve missed. More connected than ever before" An admission that there is still a belief that we are not getting the full picture. that there is something still hidden from us. Continuing on to "Yet we are all dying of loneliness. The trap was set; we’ve trusted a deception. As if there weren’t fullness of life without incorporation. Into these churning and violent systems" Following to say that we still would rather head down that path of hidden things, even if it means we are being led towards our imminent doom. 

We just float over, skirt around, or just blatantly ignore the troubling facts so that we can live comfortably. We would prefer to trust a screen, and not converse with an actual human being. Letting ourselves be fed what to think instead of using the muscle between our ears and think for ourselves. "Those sworn to protect us have become our captors. One-stop judge, jury, and executioner. Granted license to take a life without giving chase. Youth cut down in its prime. Oh G-d, what a f****** waste!" Here we see one of the only glimpses we have of Joel actually cursing in a song. Something we only see one other time and it happens to be in this album as well. And in this line we see him speaking about how the youth are cut down from free thinking at an early age. They are taught that thinking for themselves is not something that is good, that if they think something other than what the popular opinion is, then they are wrong, and need to change.

The track continues with theses lyrics "You took a solemn oath, placed your hand on that Bible. Pledged your protection and service. To adorn yourself in courage. Craven hands, dutifully raised. To uphold truth and justice. Would rather bend the knee to fear. Instead of flex that muscle between their ears. Coward, pull that trigger with haste. I’ll fire back with my words and a raised fist" Bringing about this sense of anger at those on official places, and places of authority. Stating that you have taken everything you promised to do and thrown it out the window. And now you do whatever you want, cutting down those who oppose them. And the track concludes with these lyrics "Those sworn to protect us have become our captors. Don’t make idiots your idols; so many bow down to fools

Strutting around like crownless kings. Raving mad aristocrats, crippled by insecurity. They prey upon the weak, both in will and mind. Preaching that compliance is peace. That the walls they’ll build will bring sanctuary. Masses, blinded by fear, clutch and grab for stability. But one day, we’ll look up and see the walls and wire. Our monoliths of false safety. And realize that our battlements have only served to shut us in. Stone only hardens our hearts. Isolation only constricts our souls. Hatred dominates when we refuse to see the other as our own. (We are still here) Were we ever truly free?" And boy, what a powerful ending it is. A proclamation of sorts, and a call to arms. Speaking to those who would dare to go against the grain. 

All in all a great song from this interesting album. It is quite possibly the most interesting, just going off of the fact that they decided to put the track on there backwards. Leaving many of their fans, myself included, confused, and intrigued. Amazed to the point of taking long hours into the night, poring over the lyrics and deciphering their message. So if you decide to look into this album, please give this one a thorough listen through, backwards in this case, which would make it sound like it is playing in the right order. Kind of a mind bender, right?

Waiting For Morning To Come - Album Review

On to the album. As a whole the album is a little puzzling, I will say that. There are 14 tracks as stated above, with half of them having lyrics, and half not. It is puzzling to think of what the record label was doing with their delay of the release. Everything seems to have been put together very well, both in the mixing and the mastering of each track. I feel that there shouldn't have been any delays in the release of said album. And as far as lyrical and musical composition of the album it is hard to find a bad thing to say about, other than to say that I think they should've included more songs with lyrical movements. Other than that, the album is really tight, even the instrumentals provide a great transition to the lyrical ones, giving you a background to begin a deep thought.

Furthermore, I believe that this album, and what it has driven the band to do has proved interestingly beneficial. The band has now joined the list of bands/artists who have either stayed or have decided to go independent. This can be both good and bad. The good is that you can control how the music is produced a little more, and you can distribute new music whenever you choose to. The downside is that you have to bear the financial burden on your own. You have to pay for the recording, mixing, mastering, and distribution of the music. You do get 100% of the profits from the music, but if you don't sell enough, or gain enough royalties from streaming then you can end up losing money on the music you put out.

In Conclusion

In conclusion this has been a cornerstone album for this band. It comes with their evolution, their progression, and their moving into the independent area of music. If you have not listened to this band before, give them a shot. They have a unique sound, interesting, inspiring, and thought provoking lyrics. They are definitely worth your time, especially if you are a fan of the heavier rock and hardcore music. I will be posting a link to their website as well as the Spotify link for this album so that you can go check them out. Stay up to date with me, this blog, and my YouTube channel. The links to all of my socials, Spotify, and Channel will be down below. And while you're still here go ahead and subscribe to this blog so that you get notified of when I post a new blog page. Thank you!

Social Media and Links

FaceBook: www.faceook.com/christopher.mcardle2

Twitter: @CMcArdle49

Instagram: c.mcardlepoetry

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF43bvnzDy8zkQsFEIXtwPA?

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/12181766444
BAAO's Website: https://wfmtc.co/
Album Link: https://open.spotify.com/album/03WtnwL8vgRQ1xphh53aqp
Review Video: https://youtu.be/MWgk-r93-2o