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Album Details

• Artist: Story Of The Year
• Album: The Black Swan
• Label: Epitaph
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2008-05-20

Ah, you remember Story Of The Year? They had it made being signed to Madonna's Maverick records right? Wrong... The band seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle after their multi-platinum Page Avenue album, but now they have a home that is a little more deserving. Their third album, The Black Swan is on indie powerhouse Epitaph and you know, the band seem to have got it right once again. Seriously. This is a strong album with many potential modern rock radio hits contained within. They are not an emo band but just straight ahead rock with a lot of melody involved.

With the first single, "Wake Up", is a shout out to the world to smarten up or mankind will be gone. It's an infectious track. On "Angel In The Swamp" they look to 90's underground heroes Hum for influence. They've got the same type of guitar sound going on, even if SOTY's is a little larger. The title track is quite anthemic with it's huge chorus and such. "We're Not Gonna Make It" is probably as radio friendly as you can get. You might compare this to something the Goo Goo Dolls might do.

Maybe Epitaph isn't the perfect home for Story of the Year but I think they'll at least get the attention they deserver for The Black Swan. The music is not original but damn if this band isn't strong at what they do. It's the sort of music that deserves radio play, catchy and large.

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