Sunday, November 10, 2013

No Offense

When I first heard the first Take Offense album, Tables Will Turn, I was blown away. They had a sound very reminiscent to Join The Army era Suicidal Tendencies, and I could not get enough of that album. I might have missed the limited pre-order color for the first album, but when their 12 inch follow up, Under The Same Shadow, was released, I made sure I hit the Reaper store as soon as pre-orders went up. I loved that EP as well, and ended up going back to Reaper to buy the other two copies of colored vinyl. I was stoked for the new Take Offense album this year, and did not hesitate to buy one of everything.

The album arrived and I couldn't wait to drop the needle to the grooves to hear what Take Offense had to offer. Whoa. What the fuck? Upon first listen I was incredibly disappointed in the whole thing. I don't know if it the production, the guitar tone or the vocals, but they seem to have lost all of that Suicidal sound that set them apart from other Hardcore bands going on today. The whole thing sounded very generic and uninspired. My initial impression was not a good one.

300 pressed on clear vinyl.

I wanted to like this record so much, so I tried desperately to not dismiss it. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I initially thought, and I needed to just spend some time with the album. I stuck with it, and after a handful of listens, I got to know the songs a bit...bit by bit I started to hear the band's signature sound come through.

700 pressed on green vinyl.

I've warmed up to the album since my initial spin, but it doesn't come close the band's first two releases. It's too bad. This thing could have been a top release for the year, but I think it comes up a bit short. 1,000 pressed on silver vinyl.

In addition to the new album, Reaper also had a live 7 inch from Take Offense available. I'm not a fan of these things, but it was Take Offense, and I felt the need to buy a copy...even though I'll probably listen to it once and file it away, and never think of it again.

Hand numbered and limited to 500.

Another worthless purchase that I made was for the Place Your Bet single. Released on a green flexi, this may be the most pointless item in my record collection. Nothing new or special. Why, Reaper? Why?

At the end of the day, I spent $60...when really, just one $15 copy of the album was probably enough. I need to make better decisions.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you don't like it, lessens the competition! Haha!

Mike said...

Ha ha. I do like it, but not enough to collect the damn thing. Their other records were amazing, and this one just falls a bit flat in comparison.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mike, I agree with you on this. The Reaper/label side is perfect though. With the teaser flexi and all. But the musical side was indeed a setback compared to their previous work. Not that I dislike metal but the sound of United States Of Mind might be produced by the same producer as Metallica or something.

Across Your Face said...

Didn't really like it at first, the more I listen to it the less I seem to like it. I've pretty much filed this in the "Never listen to again" category and I'll be sticking with tables will turn. I hope they come back from this with their next release.

J@screamingforrecords said...

Seems we all picked up the live 7" and flexi just for the hell of it haha. Can't fault Reapers marketing

Anonymous said...

I hope they learn from the comments people make.
If it's us all (bloggers) who disliking, there must be more people who do... if not it might be the general public opinion?
They need to return to their old style. At least I hope they do.

And you can blame Reaper Records. Although Bridge 9 Records also does those gimmick singles to make people warm for the upcoming release...

Anonymous said...

Most disappointing record of the year. I was really looking forward to this and it did nothing for me. Oh well!