Search - Metric :: Live It Out

I'm an addict

Natural Freak | 03/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I hate indie bands, and I hate Canadians. But I LOOOOVEEEE Metric. Go figure."

4.5; They just keep getting better...

Cloud | Canada | 06/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's always nice when you latch onto a band like Metric or Stars. They make memorable, hard rocking music without feeling a sense of generic-isms; a band that just sounds way too polished for its own good that radio will adore but it leaves your brain just as quickly. With their 3rd release (1st album was re-released recently...too many re's there), the band just keeps getting better and able to blend their new-age influences and rocking rhythms rather than one overpowering the other.



Empty: Starts out nice and slow before heavy guitars kick in and it just becomes a very groove-based track that's great to headbang too (it's fun to do vocalist Emily Haines' head movements which go sideways rather than vertically). 9.5/10



Glass Ceiling: One of the more enjoyable tracks on the album with a catchy main riff and the chorus being a nice quick sing-along. It just sounds like a fun track to listen to and tap your foot to. Only problem is it's slightly repetitive. 8/10



Handshakes: Even though there's a lot of elements to like about this one such as the fast-paced main riff, it doesn't really take off. Not that it's a bad track and you probably wouldn't skip over it but aside from a few things, it's hard to keep it in your head. 7/10



Too Little Too Late: After a long guitar riff, we get into a mid-tempo number with Emily's sexy vocals harmonizing with each other before it goes into a beautiful chorus which is mainly thanks to the guitar line underneath. Not really a pop hit but it's just a very enjoyable track to listen to. 8.5/10



Poster of a Girl: Some songs are just way too catchy for their own good. Everything from its ungodly catchy synth line to the guitar line played before it to Emily's sexy-as-hell repeating of the song's lyrics in French, it's an obvious highlight. 9.5/10



Monster Hospital: Very indie rock and loud and full of energy with a Clash-inspired chorus yet...I don't like it that much. Strange huh? It doesn't do anything wrong really and many love it and it was obviously a single but it's one of those songs where you're the odd man out. 7/10



Patriarch on a Vespa: Great beat although like Handshakes, it might be one of those tracks you like but probably won't go back to much. It's got its heavy guitars, Emily's vocals and good rhythm bass/drums-wise. Chorus and its noise solo saves it. Come to think of it: I like the song. 7.5/10



The Police and the Private: More catchy synth arpeggios and great interplay between it and the guitar. It's a great example of them building a kind of atmosphere without going completely nutso a la Empty or Monster Hospital. Album standout. 9/10



Ending Start: Kind of a weird song. Piano-based at its start with Emily harmonizing with a weird male voice with swirls going around all over the place. It's a nice sounding if off-kilter track but it's kind of missing a memorable hook to rope you in. 7/10



Live it Out: I love Emily's vocals at the start and when you think it'll be another ambience piece, it kicks up and rocks hard. Might not be a catchy sing along song but its rhythmic beat sets it apart and maybe not an ideal closer, it's certainly a good rocker. 8/10



It's too bad female fronted bands tend to be known more for its vocalist than anything. Everyone knows Emily just as everyone knows Amy Millan from Stars or Hayley Williams for Paramore but the band here does a great job at being a band and luckily, they come up with great records like this one."

Ephemeral

neoREgen | Austin, TX | 06/04/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"With "Empty" (the opening track) playing in the car, I found myself satisfied with my purchase. It's pretty. It's clever. How I love to give in. And it suddenly explodes into something different. It's a very cool opener.



There are a half-dozen highly quotable and clever lines throughout Live It Out, but the songs never feel as interesting as the first track because they don't venture away from themselves as "Empty" did. The repetitious lyrics succeed in making Live It Out easy to listen to straight-through in the first sitting, but have the side-effect of drastically reducing its replayability / lasting appeal / the thing that makes truly great albums great.



I can't listen to it all the way through any more, and I've only listened to it all the way about three times now. That's very low replayability for me- usually I get nine listens out of a good-but-easy-to-digest album. This just didn't keep me interested. There are points during Live It Out when I feel like I may as well have bought an album by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.



Emily Haines (Metric's vocalist) has a solo project that sounds very different from this, but I get the impression from the myspace page that the songs retain the same type of writing. That is- take a few clever but vague lines, insert them into typical pop song structure, and fin!- a new song thats as easy to get bored with as it was to create."