I really like how “My Heroine” picks up the pace halfway through the track, with the guitar and drums overtaking the piano. I think that DeLonge tried to hit a note that too high for him (on the word “grin”), but overall the song is great.
”Moon As My Witness” is about blissful love in a troubled world. The song’s relaxed flow reminds me of “Breathe.”
The track ends with an instrumental transition, reminiscent of “Young London” and “Shove” from LOVE, Part I. I didn’t care for those transitions the first time around, claiming that it made it hard to listen to each song individually. However, the transitions have rubbed off on me. (What’s life if you can’t change your mind a bit?)
“Dry Your Eyes” is the first song on the album that I didn’t care for. I rank it with “It Hurts” as one of AVA’s worst songs. It had a promising intro, but the dissonant chords in the first verse threw me off. This song has two swear words.
“Dry Your Eyes” is the counterpart to “Moon As My Witness.” In this song, here is no bliss and love fell apart.
”The Revelator” builds on the religious theme that started in the previous album with “Letters to God, Part II.” This track is about dying faith and the coming judgment. Life is hard, but you probably shouldn’t worry about Judgment Day, because it’s not coming, and there’s no hell.
If cold humor, disillusionment, and irony were sounds, they would sound like “The Revelator.”
In ”One Last Thing”, prominent drums and upbeat guitars provide a background for DeLonge’s lyrics and quotes from the LOVE film.
The song mourns the tragedy of the human condition, but turns away from the cynicism of the last two tracks by saying that there’s something to believe in. Hope remains. We long for meaning and something bigger than ourselves.
”Inertia” starts out softly, with DeLonge’s distant vocals growing louder and louder. The steady build is rudely interrupted by drums and a grungy guitar. At the end of the first chorus, the word “buried” is smothered by the distortion guitar (a timely touch).
The meaning of the song is illuminated by a key quote (from the film) about humanity’s capacity for self-destruction. “Inertia,” which has an ominous mood throughout, ends with more quotes from the movie—and from “Shove.” The quotes focus on love and the legacy that we can leave behind for others.
”Behold a Pale Horse” is perhaps the most religious, and Christian, song that Angels and Airwaves has done to date—but it’s not Christian in the way you might expect.
Article comments
1 - Scott Taylor
One of the best reviews for Love around, the only review that I've read in which the writer actually explores the music's themes. Good job!