From First to Last - Dear Diary My Teen Angst Has a Body Count (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count

Toomin | 03/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're considering purchasing this album because you liked "Ride the Wings of Pestilence" or "Note to Self", chances are you'll probably find some songs that you like and dislike. First of all, this CD consists of four of five geniously constrcuted songs... packaged in more filler than anyone could want. In all honesty, From First to Last has great talent, but this should have been an EP with the four of five "complete" songs.

Soiliquoy (10/10)- This is just an intro, but it's an amazing way to start the CD. The first think you'll hear, "Hello world, suck the life right out of my voice and breathe it back into yourself," will give you an indication of the power of this group.

The One Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine (10/10)- The title has nothing do with the song, but you'll find that that's a recurring theme with this group. This is probably the best song on the album. I love the drum intro that leads into the rash scream "kill the lights". The music is rather punkish, and Sonny's speedy vocals only add to the addrenaline. The best line is "How do I address a letter to my generation? "Sonny" she sighed... "Save yourself the postage".

Note to Self (9/10) - The group's most popular single, Note to Self is nothing like the rest of the album. Atypical emo lyrics, and a video easily confused for a Good Charlotte song, you may be turned off by the group's angsty appearance. If you dislike this song, don't let it ruin the band for you. If you take the lyrics serious and don't laugh them off like "every other emo band" you may have trouble identifying with the humorous and sarcastic lyrics in every other song. Best line is "Exagerating the barrier between who I am and who I want to be".

I Liked You Better Before You Were Naked on the Internet (6/10) - So it begins... This song just has no substance. A repeating electronic drum pattern and some unidentifyable string instrument in the back just make this song sound like something they threw in to take up a track. This is bad enough in an 11 song record that already has an intro AND an instrumental.

Featuring Some of Youir Favorite Words (8/10) - Hooray another "complete" song! This song is also pretty punky, and is a great chyange of pace. The back-up vocals from the guitars also add alot to the momentum that this song picks up as it goes on. Best line is "This distance seems closer... once you shove it in my face".

Emily (7/10) - An atypical acoustic song about a lost (or maybe not) loved one. Sonny's high pitched vocals seem so out of place and downright awful at the end of the song. "There's no one in the world like Emily". I mean come on... how do they feel about themselves after releasing such a stereotypically emo song such as this? Best line, "She's simple yet confusing". Hey, there wasn't much to choose from.

Secrets Don't Make Friends (9/10) - This is an amazing song. Amazing lyrics and awesome music. The hi-hat work matches perfectly with the speedy guitar loops. The chorus is extremely catchy, and will make this song stand out amongst others. Best line is "We stand alone, under ficticious skies".

Populace in Two (7/10) - Ok... It's starting to get a little repetaative here. This, if you listen to it alone, is very entertaining and catchy, but after the momentum created by Note to Self and Secrets Don't Make Friends, as well as the upcoming Kiss Me I'm Contagious, this song is very easy to skip.

Kiss Me and Contagious (10/10) - From First to Last has been labeled screamo. What a horrible choice for this group... This CD hasn't had a real screamo sessions since the short one in The Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine. I suppose they took all that potential and crammed it into this one song. Almost straight screaming through the song, Kiss Me I'm Contagious is the most exciting song to listen to. Strangely enough, the lyrics are about cowboys. Yes, cowboys. Best line is, "I break hearts like the west was won, ad baby I look like an outlaw."

Minuet (5/10) - An acoustic instrumental. Very boring and easily skipped. If you've been keeping score we have an intro, two obviously filler songs, and now an instrumental, all in an 11 song album. No good.

Ride the Wings of Pestilence (8/10) - The first single. This song is a parody that graphically depicts a murder, hiding a body in a house's walls, then wearing their skin as a suit and pretending to be them. The speed punky intro and the pop punk like verses blend perfectly into the hamemring chorus and screamo bridge which includes the title "Dear diary, my teen angst has a body count, I believe its six going on seven now".

In short, buy it, just for the handful of good songs it includes.

"

I'll Drink you down with a bottle of Rubbing Alcohol

Eric | Canada | 08/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"note: title of this review is very similar to titles of From First to Last, as they have nothing to do with the actual content of the song/review.Soliloquy - (10/10) This is just an intro but it's a damn good one. This line seems to sum up the entire album: "Hello world, suck the life right out of my voice and breathe it back into yourself." The One Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine - (10/10) This was the first song I heard by them and remained so for quite some time. It's the most punkish song on the album and a great opener. Perfect blend of screams and tempo changes, I love it!Note to Self - (10/10) This was my second favourite on the album. It's got an emo feel with angsty lyrics (see album title) "Two roads...Split off from here, and my life goes running in opposite directions. Exaggerating the barrier between who I am, and who I want to be."I Liked You Better Before You Were Naked On The Internet - (8/10) This is almost like an intermission kind of track. It's cool, but it feels out of place, it should have been track 8 or something. P.S. The song title has nothing to do with the song.Featuring Some Of Your Favorite Words - (10/10) Well, this is my current favorite song. It's got some of the best lyrics I've read in a long time. It's about how you can never but what you're thinking into the proper fitting words. It's truly amazing.Emily - (7/10) Whoever arranged what order these songs went in should be shot. They shouldn't have had intermissionish song, then rocker, then acoustic. It just doesn't flow. As for the song it's not up to par with the rest of the album. It's got the weakest lyrics and the singing doesn't fit the gorgeous guitar part.Secrets Don't Make Friends - (9/10) Lyrics are awesome. Sonny (lead singer) kind of sounds like Bert from The Used in this. Maybe I'm crazy. I only gave it a 9 because my expecatations are set so high from tracks 2, 3, and 5. This is still awesome.Populace In Two - (10/10) This song is so awesome. The lyrics are as emo as they come, but in a rocking kinda way. "Even if I spend 2004 listening to Morrisey in my car.
I'm better off alone than I would be in your arms." Greatest lines on the album.Kiss Me, I'm Contagious - (10/10) The most hardcore song on the entire album and definitely the most fun to rock out to. The lyrics are funny as hell as well. It's about cowboys. Hehehe. This song makes Alexisonfire look like The Cure. Ride The Wings Of Pestilence - (10/10) If you're feeling sadistic, read the lyrics to this song. It's pretty gruesome! But it's still an awesome way to end the album. "I've been dreaming about you in a pool of your own blood. Your eyes gouged out by the work of my thumbs." !NOTE!: Keep all knives, scissors, and any other sharp object away from these guys.[Hidden Track] - 10/10 Haha what is this a rap cover? This is pretty damn cool and the lyrics are funny. I don't really like the rapper at the end of it but it's still awesome. Buy this CD right now. Other than the fact that the order of the songs should be re-arranged this is an awesome buy. Besides, you can program it to whatever order you want on your CD player."

Simply Amazing

PaintedInfinity | 08/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard about this band from my brother, who is a hardcore emo fan. I heard the song: Note to self, so I deicided to buy myself a copy, due to the fact I was ready for something new music wise ( My Evanescence CD is collecting dust cuz I listened to it too much, but that's not the point)

And dude.... I WAS BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!! Sonny's vocals are great, the beats are as fast as hell, the drummer is crazy, and the lycircs made my heart pound. I don't think I've listened to the enitre thing yet, but let me get into the songs I know of:

1. Note to self- 10/10 Everyone who has heard of FFTL has heard of this song. It has great lycrics, but the beat gets old after you listen to it too much

2. I liked you better when you were naked on the internet- 4/10 It's ok, nothing really that special.

3. Emily- 10/10 I love it. It's such a bittersweet song that makes you sad. It's perfect to play when you miss someone you love

4. Secrets don't make friends- 8/10 It's pretty good. Not my fave track on the CD, but it's good. The lycrics as usual are great.

5. Populace in two- 8/10 I liked this one alot too. It reminded me of a blink 182 song or soemthing. i don't why, it was probley the guitar.

6.Kiss me, I"m contigous- 9/10 AWESOME SONG!!!!! Sonny is an awesome screamer

7. Minuet- 9/10 Beautiful. It's perfect before you go into Ride the wings of Pestilence.

8. Ride the Wings of Pestilence- 10/10 OMG!!!! This is the best track on the CD!!! I love the angsty lycircs, the high pitched guitars, and of course, Sonny's vocals. The best part of the song is the ending, where Sonny screams, and the guitars go extermly highpitched. It makes chills go down you're spine. This song will get stuck in you're head for days.

So buy this album. I promise, if you need to get away from mainstream bands like Yellowcard, Simple plan, or Evanescence ( Though i love them) , this band will be you're awnser.

"

Coheed and Cambria sped up and thrown in a circle pit

Marc Bika | Pittsburgh, PA | 01/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this record totally on a whim. I had heard buzz about this band, but had heard none of their songs. Thanks to a Target gift card and an $8.00 sticker I picked it up, and I am glad I did. Let's set the record straight, this is not your standard Mall-punk emo core outfit. This band draws influences from hardcore and skate/speed punk (in the vein of Pennywise/older Strung Out). The Vocals on this record, as well as the lyrical content shows flashes of The Smiths. The record is very dark in my opinion, and the lyrics reflect uncertaintly, longing, desperation, and anger. The slower,off-tempo tracks like the pining ballad "Emily" and the trippy "I Liked You Better Before You Were Naked on the Internet" contrast nicely with brutal sonic assaults like "Riding the Wings of Pestilence", which is my favorite track on the disc. This record is different from what a lot of bands are putting out right now, and I expect that this young band will be blowing our speakers out for years to come."

More addicting than heroine ;)

Alana | 08/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1-Soliloquy: Intro. Pretty good intro considering I hate intros.

2-The One Armed Boxer Vs. The Flying Guillotine: I love this song. It's really a great way to kick off the CD, very fast paced song that caught my attention.

3-Note To Self: This isn't my favorite song, but it's probably one of their most well known. It's definitely not the best off the album but I love Sonny's vocals on it. Once I listen to it I love it, but compared to the rest of the album it's not very good, which is sort of unfair since it's still a good song.

4-I liked you better when you were naked on the internet: This is my favorite song, a lot of people don't like it and think it's boring, but I just love listening to Sonny's voice without the distraction of instruments and screaming. Yes those things are awesome, but Sonny's voice is more amazing. & It's a good song lyrically wise too, but is a short song. (Under two minutes.)

5-Featuring Some Of Your Favorite Words: A great song, another one of my favorites. (That's not saying too much since I love every single song on this album because they're all great.)This has a bit more instruments than some people might like, but not enough to ruin the song or anything. My favorite line is about 2 minutes into the song when Sonny goes, "No I can't breathe".

6-Emily: This is an amazingly sweet song. Even better; it's acoustic. Sonny's vocal job is amazing. It might seem like I overuse that word, but Sonny is a really really really great singer and he deserves credit. :) The only bad thing about this song is its length. I play it over-and-over because it's too short, only 2:39 and it goes by fast when you get caught up in the lyrics. This is my favorite of my favorites. It's short and sweet. Really sweet.

7-Secrets Don't Make Friends: It's a great song, but sort of disappointing after hearing Emily right before it. If a different artist had this song, it'd probably be considered their best, but this is From First To Last we're talking about! :)

8-Populace In Two: It starts out sort of slow, but picks its pace up a bit. I know a lot of people sort of dislike this song, because it's a bit slow, but it's got some lines that stick in your head. It's got a bit of an instrumental in it, but it's still a good instrumental.

9-Kiss Me, I'm contagious: The lyrics make it an ideal scene song, (Bang, Bang, Guns go bang) but this came out before the scene got really huge. It's still a pretty decent song.

10-Minuet: A minute long acoustic instrumental, I usually hate instrumentals, but I actually like this one a lot.

11-Ride The Wings Of Pestilence: A song about murder. What could feed and tame teen angst any better? Even if murder isn't your scene (no pun intended) it's a great song, I love it a lot, even when I'm not mad, so it's a great song you can enjoy anytime. Again, Sonny does some great vocals.

12: Hidden Track: This song is great J they're making fun of rap/hip hop in it, & it's a really great song. Another one of my favorites, although it disappoints me that Sonny didn't do the rap, it doesn't ruin the song though. "Hiding cameras in your bedroom, girl I know what you've done!"

Overall this is a great album the only one I listen to anymore. I've only had it for a month, but I haven't listened to any other CD since. This CD doesn't get old, and is just an amazing CD.

"

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