In Motion

Beneath Medicine Tree	Eat, Sleep, Repeat	Know Nothing Stays the Same	Dressed Up & In Line	The Everglow On February 2003, Virginia Beach, Virginia introduced the world to the charming quintet collectively known as Mae. Not only was their debut album, "Destination: Beautiful" an instant success with audiences, but their live show proved their talent moved even past just writing allu...
Destination: Beautiful On February 2003, Virginia Beach, Virginia introduced the world to the charming quintet collectively known as Mae. Not only was their debut album, "Destination: Beautiful" an instant success with audiences, but their live show proved their talent moved even past just writing alluring hits.	Never Take Friendship Personal There's only one word that comes immediately to mind when describing Anberlin's Never Take Friendship Personal release. The word? Amazing. This is one of those truly remarkable releases that is so refreshing, so defining, and so well done, you will feel a need to let every know a...	You Are My Sunshine Copeland returns on October 14th with "You Are My Sunshine", a brand new record delicately crafted by a production wonderteam: Aaron Sprinkle, Aaron Marsh, and mixer Michael Brauer (Coldplay, John Mayer, My Morning Jacket). With an eleven track offering of lush soundscapes, drivi...	Cities Unlike most emo bands that merely offer a laundry list of personal hardships over the sound of loud guitars, the members of Anberlin know that they can seek salvation in a higher power, so the songs on Cities aren't so much about self-pity as self-preservation. It's a refreshing ...	Blueprints for the Black Market Full Title - Blueprints For The Black Market. 2004 debut album from hotly tipped hard rock act who also appeal to indie/emo fans. 11 tracks. Golf.

More than what I had expected
I love this CD. At first, one might slap the label of same old whiney band right? I did. I saw the video for pin your wings down and pretty much made that decision. I heard the album a few months later and let me tell you what I found. This guys voice is angelic. Very soothing. At times, I wonder if you could call this Jazz Rock. Very steady drive, but with all the accoutremont to make it a melodic masterpiece. Plenty of songs you could break up or make up to. This record is just what you need.

Again, a surprise
To begin, I tend not to listen to much indie/rock style music. The softest I usually go when it comes to music is Mae; I am more for heavy, yet melodic music. This CD, though, took me by surprise. I had many friends who are into this band, so I decided to stop listening to Bullet for My Valentine and pop this in. I must say, this is a very good album. If you don't have "Love is a fast song" or "No one really wins" in your head, then I would be very surprised. The melodies are catchy, the music well done, and the lyrics are much less corny than the genre is known for. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a mellower-style indie/rock album.

Loved it...
What can I say? Infectuous tunes, fabuluous lyrics, haunting vocals... one of the best albums I've bought in a long while!! "No One Really Wins This Time" and "Kite" are my favorite tracks.

Perfection surrounded by imperfection
When I first heard Copeland's "Beneath Medicine Tree" some two years ago, I wasn't sure how much I liked the band. That CD was mostly a low-key mix of acoustic emo and Gin Blossoms-style pop-rock. However-as is the case with most people, I'm sure-I grew to love singer Aaron Marsh's crooning and the band's two-guitar textures and song structures. This CD seems like a natural progression for the band. The hard songs are harder and the soft songs are more contemplative. From a production standpoint, the overall sound quality on "In Motion" is leaps and bounds ahead of "Medicine Tree." The vocals are cleaner, the guitars are more punchy, the bass really growls (when called for) and the drums are very tight and sound incredible. As far as songs go, there are a few absolute gems here. What surprises me about other people's reviews is that not many are singling out "Love is a Fast Song." The song is easily the best on the album, easily the best of Copeland's career thus far, and-truly-the best emo song I have ever heard. It is perfect in every way-lyrically, musically and technically. The opening guitar riff is heavy, sludgy and would have made Quicksand jealous. That one riff is like nothing Copeland has done before-it's a shame there weren't more like it on the album (but I'll get to that in a bit). The bass and drums during the verses are marvelously tight and drive the heart-wrenching vocals home more perfectly than any rock song I've heard. And I cannot stay still or silent when the song explodes into its power chord-laden chorus. This song alone is worth purchasing the album. The next best song would easily be "Don't Slow Down." The song doesn't rock like "Fast Song," but it will move you like no other. This song really shows what magic singer Aaron Marsh can work with his voice and his lyrics ("You can take everything I have/Just don't leave my side now-don't leave my side") and what the band can do with their music. The chords in this song are not complex (a plus if you want to play it on guitar), but the music is smattered with shimmering, ethereal layers that complement each other perfectly. Aaron easily has the best voice in the indie rock/emo game and his tonal range and gorgeous delivery are showcased here. Other highlights include "No One Really Wins," a very punchy and energetic opener for the album that includes some great distorted bass and mean guitar riffs. Also, "Pin Your Wings" is a great upbeat rock song. Unfortunately, the album is not without flaws. The band did itself and us as listeners a great disservice by including too many down-tempo ballads on the album. While "You Have My Attention" works well, others like "You Love to Sing" and "Hold Nothing Back" are (gasp!) boring. Some would argue that these songs just show Copeland's softer side, but they just pale badly in comparison to the other great songs on this album. And "Kite," which invokes what sounds like an Italian love song one would hear on the canals of Venice (complete with accordian and scratchy film reel background noise), simply doesn't work. While songs like "Fast Song" and "Don't Slow Down" deserve six stars, I won't give the album five stars based on the strength of those songs. It may deserve that, but the tracks are just too inconsistent for me to give this CD a perfect score. Copeland would do well to realize that their guitars sound best with the distortion turned up. Also, as beautiful as Aaron's voice is, it doesn't seem to do him justice to have only acoustic guitars backing him up on most of the ballads. He truly shines with the whole band pounding away behind him. With any luck, the next album will give us more pure musical brilliance in the vein of "Fast Song" and "Don't Slow Down." Until then, however, you simply must own this CD. P.S. As a side note, I'm a graphic designer (as is Copeland's bassist), so I love the classy, understated look of the album art and typography. It just goes to show the multifaceted (not just musical) talents of this wonderful band.

Beautifully crafted melodies...
Copeland's second release is quite an accomplishment, very mature, yet not missing an element of rawness that all good indie music possesses. The keys on this release are well put, the atmosphere superb. There's also a lot of "after-you-think-it's-over" music as well (Sleep, Love is a Fast Song, Sleep, Choose the one Who loves you more, You have my Attention, You Love to Sing), you can really tell Copeland really feels what they do. 1. No one Really Wins this Time--overall 10/10-the guitars hit harder on this song than most of their former works (which may come as a surprise to fans of the last album; which I've listened to a little). The lyrics "in this fight of grace and pride, I don't wanna win this time" are just so awesome. Aaron's one of the best lyricists in the industry, period. Would make an awesome single. 2. Choose the One Who Loves You More 10/10-another superb track, the keys more influential, and is more melody-sensitive. As always, Aaron's lyrics and vocals are great. I love what they do with the drums on this song, it keeps the song moving; there is also a guest singer (which was a shock the first time I heard him, as he has a much deeper voice than Aaron, and I didn't realize it wasn't Aaron, lol). For some reason it just reminds me of drinking coffee while it's raining just outside the shop. 3. Pin Your Wings 10/10-didn't like this one at first, but it grew on me, and is such a fun, light-hearted song! Anybody know who Amanda is? 4. Sleep 10/10-this song is so great. The piano is great. The vocals are great. It's just awesome. It's just one of those love songs that just have the best atmosphere. 5. Kite 9/10-It's odd to hear an accordion, but this song is clearly supposed to have a lot of atmosphere to it-the old movie reel clicking in the background is really cool. Sounds a bit like something out of the sixties. It's all accordion and piano. 6. Don't Slow Down 8/10-I love the lyrics on this song, and definitely the piano. "You can take everything I have, just don't leave my side!" 7. Love is a Fast Song 10/10-this song just plain rocks. The guitars are heavier than anything they've ever done before; as always Aaron shines. The lead guitar work is great. 8. You Have My Attention 10/10-this is one of my favorites, the lyrics are very personal, "I'll sing along, the whole day through." It nearly makes me cry. It's beautiful, the melodies just soar, especially when Aaron really let's go at the end. It's so powerful! 9. You Love to Sing 10/10-possibly my favorite song on the album... "Sing with your head up; with your eyes wide, not because you love the song, but because you love to sing, you love to sing..." is so meaningful to me. I think it's kind of a metaphor of life-live with your head up, with your eyes wide, not because you love the life, but because you love to *live*. 10. Hold Nothing Back 10/10-the shortest track; very peaceful acoustic guitars with the electric backing it up. Aaron is such the romantic; I love it, I love it. :-) So, Copeland rocks, and makes some great emo-no-screamo, to the benefit of all who are privileged enough to experience this CD. All 41 minutes and 28 seconds are great. And they get 97 out of 100. It's hard to beat that, mates.