Anberlin - "Dismantle.Repair." (2007)

I’ve mentioned Anberlin in a few other posts so I figured I should let you hear one of their tracks if you’re not familiar with them. On their latest album Cities, Anberlin stuck to the same formula that was successful for their two previous records, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Their 2003 debut Blueprints for the Black Market was an extremely tight collection of hard rocking songs with amazing vocals from lead singer Stephen Christian. A lot of people may lump Anberlin in with several other bands in their genre, but to me they stand high above the rest due to Christian’s outstanding voice. Their 2005 sophomore release Never Take Friendship Personal didn’t let up and delivered what I consider to be one of their best tracks, “Paperthin Hymn.” In fact, Never ventured into a little more edgy territory with some screaming thrown in here and there for good measure. I was anxious to hear what Anberlin would be delivering on their third record and when I heard the first note of “Godspeed,” I knew I was in for a treat. “Godspeed” is the first single on the album and prominently features the amazing guitar work of Joey Milligan. Anberlin is the kind of band that I can hear a guitar solo and immediately know it’s them. Milligan just has a signature style. The band also showed their softer side on Cities, with two excellent acoustic driven tracks “The Unwinding Cable Car” and “Inevitable.” Today’s song is my favorite on the record because it showcases the full range of Christian’s voice and is also one of their best songs musically and lyrically. Anberlin have recently signed with Universal Republic Records and plan on releasing a new album next summer. Hopefully their jump to the big leagues won’t turn them into a different band. Next up for the band is a fall tour with Motion City Soundtrack and Mae as well a their final release on Tooth & Nail Records, Lost Songs, a collection of b-sides and rarities that will be released in November. I’ll probably give you a sampling of that when I get my hands on it, but for now you should definitely pick up Cities. And I suggest going with the deluxe edition, because it includes three bonus tracks and a cool “making of” DVD that are well worth the price.


Anberlin - "Dismantle.Repair."