my review of the original album<\/a>; I\u2019m going to focus here on the points of difference between the original and this new edition.)<\/p>\nThe 2023 version of \u201cMeant To Live\u201d sounds almost identical, though Jon Foreman adds a few tweaks and ad-libs to his lead vocal. The vocal filters they add in a couple of places are an unfortunate choice, but given the direction their music has taken in recent years, not surprising. The synth patch Fontamillas uses for \u201cThis Is Your Life\u201d sounds identical to the original, little details like the guitar down deep in the mix sound very much the same, and Foreman\u2019s voice has held up beautifully. What\u2019s intriguing is how the whole song\u2014and album\u2014is informed by 20 years of singing these songs on the road; \u201cThis Is Your Life\u201d in this rendition may have slightly less urgency than the original, but it\u2019s just as gripping.<\/p>\n
Similarly, \u201cMore Than Fine\u201d has slightly less snap and playful sass to it than the 2003 version, but it’s once again a really detailed recreation by the four guys who created in the first place. The bridge section (\u201cmore than oceans\u201d) has a little less muscle and a little more roll to it, and the song feels just a tad mellower overall. Interestingly enough, I\u2019d forgotten about the drum solo introduction to \u201cAmmunition\u201d until the guys recreated it here and I went back and checked the original\u2026 it feels like the tempo here isn\u2019t quite as headlong as the original, but it’s got plenty of muscle and energy. (And Jon isn\u2019t trying to hit the crazy high notes anymore, but that\u2019s probably just smart…!)<\/p>\n
They extend \u201cDare You To Move\u201d a little bit, but that\u2019s the only change I noted in this otherwise detailed recreation of the original. And why wouldn’t it be? Much like \u201cMeant To Live,\u201d the 2003 version of \u201cDare You To Move\u201d was pretty much a perfect song, and they\u2019ve been playing it in concert every single night since. <\/p>\n
The second half is where things get sketchy in places. \u201cRedemption\u201d sounds fine, but on the title track\u2014which was already skittering on the edge of overkill with electronics and filters on the original\u2014they add yet more filters and effects. It\u2019s unfortunate, though it\u2019s still a solid tune. Same deal with \u201cGone,\u201d where the changes they make to the sonics and effects reduce from, rather than add to, the original, though I did enjoy the lyrical update from \u201cour convenient Lexus cages\u201d to \u201cour convenient Tesla cages.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Fire\u201d is a faithful recreation and \u201cAdding To The Noise\u201d remains a brilliant power-pop screed against corporatism and capitalism (people who still think \u201cliberal Christian\u201d is an oxymoron really need to listen to this band more). And closer \u201cTwenty-Four\u201d remains a gorgeous tune, melancholy and uplifting, grounded and soaring all at the same time\u2014a sober, mature look at life and its ups and downs complications and challenges.<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re being honest here, this album is unnecessary in just about every way, but there is some fun to be had in hearing evidence of how the band itself has evolved while the songs have remained the same. This recording, while mostly faithful to the stellar original versions, does reflect in places the evolution of their sound. Thankfully these adjustments are mostly subtle; if they\u2019d tried to remake these songs in the style of, say, Fading West<\/i>, this would have been a different review.<\/p>\n
The original version of The Beautiful Letdown<\/i> is and always will be the definitive version, but anyone who loves that classic mid-2000s era of Switchfoot should find much to enjoy in this revisitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7886],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46700","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-switchfoot","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46700"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}