This is their first album that I think is more necessary to judge as a whole experience as opposed to rating the collection of tracks that appear on the album together. From start to finish, it was a more complete and cohesive listen than anything they've done before. As opposed to loving the opener, closer, and a various handful of other tracks more than others, this album cannot delete any track or rearrange any orders. It's so good as a single listen.
I'm so excited about this record and getting to go see them live in a couple weeks. Incredible band that actually you happened to introduce me to back when Astoria first came out, Mark
I’ll give Marianas Trench this: they made the best medium tempo pop song from the last decade in the key of C with a chorus prominently featuring the phrase “Lightning and Thunder” Sorry Dan Reynolds :)
Spun this in full over the last couple of days, and I definitely really liked it, but the first half is far better than the second half, where a bunch of the tracks remind me of older, better Marianas Trench songs. As far as Marianas Trench albums goes, I'd place this around the middle - they've always had a problem where many songs in the midsections of their albums feel a little phoned in, and that flaw is definitely present here, as are the broad-strokes lyrics that mostly hold together in the first part but fall apart in the second. Still, Josh Ramsay is a goddamn insane performer as always, and he sells the hell out of this whole thing. 7/10, might have room to grow on me in the future.
Was not expecting Ayreon to come up in a Marianas Trench review. Anyway, it looks like I'll have to buy this album. And play it in my car. And have all the songs memorized. And use the challenge of hitting Josh Ramsay's high notes to better myself as a singer. Just like I've done for their last four albums.
Thanks for mentioning the limitations of the monomyth. As a writer, a woman (women can't be heroes, according to Campbell), and someone who studied literature, hearing Josh talk about it in such glowing terms in the promotional stuff makes me cringe. I just straight up don't like the album as a hero's journey. The hero's journey is basic, and only a detailed execution can save it from cliché. This album is not that. But, that said, the more I listen the more I forget the broad strokes of the hero's journey and hear Josh's specific emotions about his family, his career, and his history with his wife. And I do think it lands on that level. At least for me.
Yeah, this album is very scatter brained. It’s got a lot of great moments & every song works well, but it’s not as cohesive as some of their previous work. But that’s the thing for me that makes this album work. It’s like Josh took bits of every element of his past (even bits from his before MT project, Ramsay Fiction), and tried to improve upon them with every song here. While there’s a little bit edge lost… the bits that did sneak in had me wanting more. And there’s a lot of great cinematic moments all throughout, which was enough for me as a fan. Then again, you also didn’t like Painted Faces, which I argue is still the best track on his solo album. So yeah.
Having no idea that this album was based on the hero’s journey going in and finding out only after a few listens, I had such a blast piecing together how each song connected to a step in that journey, and seeing how they all fit into that mold not only thematically but sonically as well. I honestly adored the album from go, even as obvious as the formula for Marianas Trench has become. They just do it so damn well. I don’t know where I’d place the album among their larger catalogue, but for pop music in 2024 I see this as a triumph and probably my favorite album of the year, which I don’t say lightly considering just how many strong pop releases there have been this year.
Ive ALSO been following Marianas Trench for almost 15 yrs now and im so happy to see their return. I actually sat and listened to lightning and thunder on repeat for hours the day it dropped. Honestly, i was really worried this was never going to live up to ever after or astoria, some of their best tracks on there, but there are some real gems on here like worlds collide and the aforementioned lightning and thunder that i think will live rent free in my brain for years to come.
I was waiting for this review to drop, and honestly I think you put to words how I feel about this album and then some. Haven is a love letter to the fans through and through, but I can also see someone else who hasn’t heard of them getting into this and just being floored by it and wanting to see the rest of their great bodies of work that came before that makes this record, while also standing on it own by its aesthetic with its use of the Hero’s Journey in combination to their sound. While it does try to follow the structure, it does kinda feel they were trying to hit the quota to fit it, which I feel doesn’t allow for some flexibility, but I think they were able to pull it off despite the limit, though I do agree elements could’ve been explored more and expanded upon. And as a long time fan the callbacks were *everything to me.* To me they didn’t feel like a crutch and were used sparingly to built and expand from the sounds of their past to be used here, showing how much they’ve grown and evolved. I do agree on the meta text being really strong here in relation to Josh’s life at the moment of becoming a parent. Though I will say that merely calling Josh’s past issues “drama” and having it be correlated to just Amanda just feels wrong and kinda out of place since it was more than just his relationship with her back then, considering his deteriorating health at the time with having pancreatitis, alongside with his mother’s health too dealing with dementia. Regardless of that, I feel that even despite some parts of the album being in relation to his muse, Haven is also in strong relation to his new life in becoming a father while also balancing his life with the band, using “the storm” to describe the turbulence of his life now, which I feel is pretty apt comparison all things considered, in turn making me really curious as to where they will go from here and where that will lead after Haven, but I’m getting a head of myself. This was a great experience and I definitely recommend anyone to give a chance and let Haven take you away into its whirlwind of an adventure.
I’m enjoying this review. A Normal Life was so good when they released it and got my hopes super high. Down to You is one that I actually LOVE. And I also think Remember Me By is fun and then Worlds Collide and Into the Storm might be my favorites. I listened to Haven in its entirety, followed by Phantoms and Astoria all in immediate succession to try and analyze what’s missing on Haven. One thing that I found that is probably totally subjective but I’ll share it in case anyone else feels the same is that these songs weren’t as “singable” as the others. Like when I was listening to Phantoms and Astoria I basically felt incapable of not singing along with the songs and then only songs I feel that with on Haven are Down to You and Remember Me By
I could have used a lot more percussion and less jolty melodies on the main singles if I have a big criticism. Also the fact that Zedd ALSO dropped on the same day is funny given your parallel
The point about the high celling/high floor is apt because critiquing a project like "Phantoms" or "The Josh Ramsay Show" doesn't mean saying they're not good; they're great even. It's just that you know they're capable of more. I think they may have inadvertently taken a page from Taylor Swift's last two records for this project (although she adds full appendages to her albums) by having a front half (i.e. the singles) for the wider public and the back half for the fans. Also (don't quote me because I'm not into the personal lives of musicians or celebrities like that) but I think his current partner is the "actress" from "Ancient History" (iirc reading somewhere, every love song he's ever written has been about the same person).
I discovered this band because of you and they became my favorite band. I was looking forward to your review because I was very conflicted with this album. Like you said Josh elevates basic pop concepts, but I had a lot of problems with albums. Here’s a few points if you have the time to read. - it’s all over the place sonically, it can’t decide if wants to be Pop, Synth pop, Pop punk or a movie score. - it’s Josh Ramsay solo project, there’s no need for 3 songs where’s there’s no guitars, just Josh, strings and piano. It feels self indulgent at points. - Too much strings being the main melody. A lot of moments where could’ve have been more guitars, bass, even drums but it’s just Strings carrying the songs. -Guitars absent or completely buried in the mix where you can’t distinguish from synth or strings. There’s huge gaps between guitars lines, barely any leads to give texture and moments of guitars with more gain last about 8 seconds before the strings come back and the guitars disappear. - I’m Not Getting Better it’s Blank Space by Taylor Swift but worse. It’s the worse song they ever made. The mix is terrible, the melody is generic and the guitars are lazy. - Haven and A Normal Life are masterpieces that show what the band can do when Josh is not obsessed in making a hit pop song. -There’s so much good in this albums, great melodies, hooks, lyrics, Josh’s incredible vocals but the instrumentation doesn’t complement the songs sometimes. It lacks more bite, more guitars, better production, less strings. I can’t stop listening to songs like Haven, Ancient History, Now or Never, A normal life, Turn and run, but this album could’ve been so much better with more of a rock instrumentation and less reliance in string arrangements. Down to you is literally Stay by Kid laroi. I love this band, they are very dear to my heart. Even though I was disappointed with the album because of decisions not quality, I still find a lot of enjoyment in the album. I just wish they were more of a band and less of Josh solo project.
This is their first album that I think is more necessary to judge as a whole experience as opposed to rating the collection of tracks that appear on the album together. From start to finish, it was a more complete and cohesive listen than anything they've done before. As opposed to loving the opener, closer, and a various handful of other tracks more than others, this album cannot delete any track or rearrange any orders. It's so good as a single listen.
I'm so excited about this record and getting to go see them live in a couple weeks. Incredible band that actually you happened to introduce me to back when Astoria first came out, Mark
I’m gonna get to pop by their tour in November after seeing them at an Oktoberfest thing previously, will definitely be a fun time
Ever After will always be my favourite album by them, but honestly it's like picking your favourite child. Haven met my expectations and then some!
SAME
I’ll give Marianas Trench this: they made the best medium tempo pop song from the last decade in the key of C with a chorus prominently featuring the phrase “Lightning and Thunder”
Sorry Dan Reynolds :)
i hate that i only discovered this band five years ago
Thank you for your review. One of my favorite bands!
Hey man, WELL SAID.
Spun this in full over the last couple of days, and I definitely really liked it, but the first half is far better than the second half, where a bunch of the tracks remind me of older, better Marianas Trench songs. As far as Marianas Trench albums goes, I'd place this around the middle - they've always had a problem where many songs in the midsections of their albums feel a little phoned in, and that flaw is definitely present here, as are the broad-strokes lyrics that mostly hold together in the first part but fall apart in the second. Still, Josh Ramsay is a goddamn insane performer as always, and he sells the hell out of this whole thing. 7/10, might have room to grow on me in the future.
Was not expecting Ayreon to come up in a Marianas Trench review. Anyway, it looks like I'll have to buy this album. And play it in my car. And have all the songs memorized. And use the challenge of hitting Josh Ramsay's high notes to better myself as a singer. Just like I've done for their last four albums.
Thanks for mentioning the limitations of the monomyth. As a writer, a woman (women can't be heroes, according to Campbell), and someone who studied literature, hearing Josh talk about it in such glowing terms in the promotional stuff makes me cringe. I just straight up don't like the album as a hero's journey. The hero's journey is basic, and only a detailed execution can save it from cliché. This album is not that. But, that said, the more I listen the more I forget the broad strokes of the hero's journey and hear Josh's specific emotions about his family, his career, and his history with his wife. And I do think it lands on that level. At least for me.
Good review! Listened to Marianas Trench wayyy back and it's good to see they're still making music!
only started watching you recently and I didn't know you liked Marianas Trench
I was so hyped seeing this review in my recommended
Yeah, this album is very scatter brained.
It’s got a lot of great moments & every song works well, but it’s not as cohesive as some of their previous work. But that’s the thing for me that makes this album work.
It’s like Josh took bits of every element of his past (even bits from his before MT project, Ramsay Fiction), and tried to improve upon them with every song here. While there’s a little bit edge lost… the bits that did sneak in had me wanting more. And there’s a lot of great cinematic moments all throughout, which was enough for me as a fan.
Then again, you also didn’t like Painted Faces, which I argue is still the best track on his solo album.
So yeah.
Having no idea that this album was based on the hero’s journey going in and finding out only after a few listens, I had such a blast piecing together how each song connected to a step in that journey, and seeing how they all fit into that mold not only thematically but sonically as well. I honestly adored the album from go, even as obvious as the formula for Marianas Trench has become. They just do it so damn well. I don’t know where I’d place the album among their larger catalogue, but for pop music in 2024 I see this as a triumph and probably my favorite album of the year, which I don’t say lightly considering just how many strong pop releases there have been this year.
Ive ALSO been following Marianas Trench for almost 15 yrs now and im so happy to see their return. I actually sat and listened to lightning and thunder on repeat for hours the day it dropped. Honestly, i was really worried this was never going to live up to ever after or astoria, some of their best tracks on there, but there are some real gems on here like worlds collide and the aforementioned lightning and thunder that i think will live rent free in my brain for years to come.
I was waiting for this review to drop, and honestly I think you put to words how I feel about this album and then some.
Haven is a love letter to the fans through and through, but I can also see someone else who hasn’t heard of them getting into this and just being floored by it and wanting to see the rest of their great bodies of work that came before that makes this record, while also standing on it own by its aesthetic with its use of the Hero’s Journey in combination to their sound. While it does try to follow the structure, it does kinda feel they were trying to hit the quota to fit it, which I feel doesn’t allow for some flexibility, but I think they were able to pull it off despite the limit, though I do agree elements could’ve been explored more and expanded upon. And as a long time fan the callbacks were *everything to me.* To me they didn’t feel like a crutch and were used sparingly to built and expand from the sounds of their past to be used here, showing how much they’ve grown and evolved.
I do agree on the meta text being really strong here in relation to Josh’s life at the moment of becoming a parent. Though I will say that merely calling Josh’s past issues “drama” and having it be correlated to just Amanda just feels wrong and kinda out of place since it was more than just his relationship with her back then, considering his deteriorating health at the time with having pancreatitis, alongside with his mother’s health too dealing with dementia.
Regardless of that, I feel that even despite some parts of the album being in relation to his muse, Haven is also in strong relation to his new life in becoming a father while also balancing his life with the band, using “the storm” to describe the turbulence of his life now, which I feel is pretty apt comparison all things considered, in turn making me really curious as to where they will go from here and where that will lead after Haven, but I’m getting a head of myself. This was a great experience and I definitely recommend anyone to give a chance and let Haven take you away into its whirlwind of an adventure.
I’m enjoying this review. A Normal Life was so good when they released it and got my hopes super high. Down to You is one that I actually LOVE. And I also think Remember Me By is fun and then Worlds Collide and Into the Storm might be my favorites. I listened to Haven in its entirety, followed by Phantoms and Astoria all in immediate succession to try and analyze what’s missing on Haven. One thing that I found that is probably totally subjective but I’ll share it in case anyone else feels the same is that these songs weren’t as “singable” as the others. Like when I was listening to Phantoms and Astoria I basically felt incapable of not singing along with the songs and then only songs I feel that with on Haven are Down to You and Remember Me By
what the heck, I had no idea this was coming out
I could have used a lot more percussion and less jolty melodies on the main singles if I have a big criticism.
Also the fact that Zedd ALSO dropped on the same day is funny given your parallel
The point about the high celling/high floor is apt because critiquing a project like "Phantoms" or "The Josh Ramsay Show" doesn't mean saying they're not good; they're great even. It's just that you know they're capable of more. I think they may have inadvertently taken a page from Taylor Swift's last two records for this project (although she adds full appendages to her albums) by having a front half (i.e. the singles) for the wider public and the back half for the fans. Also (don't quote me because I'm not into the personal lives of musicians or celebrities like that) but I think his current partner is the "actress" from "Ancient History" (iirc reading somewhere, every love song he's ever written has been about the same person).
Voltorb pillow is a nice touch
ITS HERE YES, I AM HERE
Don't sound like Mike did~!
I discovered this band because of you and they became my favorite band. I was looking forward to your review because I was very conflicted with this album. Like you said Josh elevates basic pop concepts, but I had a lot of problems with albums. Here’s a few points if you have the time to read.
- it’s all over the place sonically, it can’t decide if wants to be Pop, Synth pop, Pop punk or a movie score.
- it’s Josh Ramsay solo project, there’s no need for 3 songs where’s there’s no guitars, just Josh, strings and piano. It feels self indulgent at points.
- Too much strings being the main melody. A lot of moments where could’ve have been more guitars, bass, even drums but it’s just Strings carrying the songs.
-Guitars absent or completely buried in the mix where you can’t distinguish from synth or strings. There’s huge gaps between guitars lines, barely any leads to give texture and moments of guitars with more gain last about 8 seconds before the strings come back and the guitars disappear.
- I’m Not Getting Better it’s Blank Space by Taylor Swift but worse. It’s the worse song they ever made. The mix is terrible, the melody is generic and the guitars are lazy.
- Haven and A Normal Life are masterpieces that show what the band can do when Josh is not obsessed in making a hit pop song.
-There’s so much good in this albums, great melodies, hooks, lyrics, Josh’s incredible vocals but the instrumentation doesn’t complement the songs sometimes. It lacks more bite, more guitars, better production, less strings.
I can’t stop listening to songs like Haven, Ancient History, Now or Never, A normal life, Turn and run, but this album could’ve been so much better with more of a rock instrumentation and less reliance in string arrangements.
Down to you is literally Stay by Kid laroi.
I love this band, they are very dear to my heart. Even though I was disappointed with the album because of decisions not quality, I still find a lot of enjoyment in the album. I just wish they were more of a band and less of Josh solo project.
Should I go to Canada to see these guys?
They’re touring the US before Canada this time!
I might have to revisit Astoria first before getting to this new pne.
Interesting album
CANADA SUPREMACY
That's so bad, it sounds like a silly boy band to me
Just give Marianas Trench a chance before you outright dismiss them as a "silly boy band"