Fightstar

One Day Son This Will All Be Yours

Written by: TL on 30/09/2007 23:24:07

Ah the good old days come to mind: In my attempt to join up with Rockfreaks.net, I composed a trial review of Fightstar's debut album "Grand Unification" and as fortune favoured me, it was acknowledged and posted, and I was instated as a writer on this site. Back then, I had been among the many sceptics, having little faith in Charlie Simpson's attempt at making music that could actually be taken seriously. Like many, I was completely blown out of the sky by the gargantuan record "Grand Unification" proved to be, and when I finally got my hands on the sophomore "One Day Son This Will All Be Yours" and put it on, it was not without fear for it joining 2007's considerable amount of failed follow ups.

Let me just cut the crap. Again, Charlie and Fightstar have completely shamed the critics by creating a record of outstanding quality. Once again we have the trademark sound of guitars, heavy as mountains while still seemingly floating on the clouds, this time sporadically backed by pianos that paint a starlit sky as a background for the already spectacular soundscape. And while the concept and story of the previous effort has been abandoned in order to fan out focus on more individual songwriting, the overall impression is still - Apocalyptic. When Fightstar plays, the earth quiver, the oceans roar and fire rains from the sky. When Charlie sings he is a prophet, whispering the future in your ears. Granted Fightstar's music is far from conventional rock, on the contrary, the grandeur and theatricality (as well as the now added pianos, synths and some vocal parts) reminds of Muse on Absolution. The difference and in my opinion the positively distancing factor, is the density of the sound, the layers and the variety that comes in moments in songs like "Deathcar" were the band makes Deftones seem like featherweight and burst out sheer reckless aggresion, showing their fearlessness in the eyes of the more casual consumers that might be scared off by such things.

I find it hard to highlight tracks off the cd, because once again the effort is so homogenous, that pointing out one on account of another seems unfair. At least half the album immediately, upon initial listens, stands out and identifies itself. "We Apologise For Nothing", "Floods", "One Day Son", "Deathcar", "I Am The Message", "You & I"... Take your pick, they're all great songs. With that said, I have to objectively admit that while "One Day Son This Will All Be Yours" is a very very good album, it is still quite some way from being perfect. First off, even though every song is frankly fascinating, it is still largely the same elements that make them work, and it could be argued that when focus has been shifted towards the individual song, the change could have been followed through a bit more, with even more added diversity. Maybe it would've helped to remove the impression that, while "One Day Son This Will All Be Yours" is a collection of very good songs, it doens't have that same overwhelming impact and feeling of being a greater whole, as "Grand Unification" had. Nevertheless Fightstar have composed an album that has set them firmly in the group of bands you can count on and should always be on the watch for.

Download: We Apologize For Nothing, Deathcar, Floods
For the fans of: Deftones, Muse, 30 Seconds To Mars
Listen: MySpace

Release Date 24.09.2007
Institute/Trustkill Records

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