Atlanta's 99x, which has been a great early supporter of Switchfoot early on in the radio cycle of, "Mess of Me," has the song as one of their top this week:
Top songs this week on 99X - Monday, September 14, 2009
1. Muse - Uprising
2. Rise Against - Savior
3. Kings Of Leon - Notion
4. Paramore - Ignorance
5. Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
6. Linkin Park - New Divide
7. Weezer - I Want You To
8. Blue October - Say It
9. Dave Matthews Band - Why I Am
10. Pearl Jam - The Fixer
11. Cage The Elephant - Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
12. Anberlin - Feel Good Drag
13. Jet - She’s A Genius
14. Metric - Help I’m Alive
15. Sick Puppies - You’re Going Down
16. Green Day - 21 Guns
17. AFI - Medicate
18. Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
19. Dead By Sunrise - Crawl Back In
20. Owl City - Fireflies
21. Shinedown - If You Only Knew
22. After Midnight Project - Take Me Home
23. Alice In Chains - Check My Brain
24. Flyleaf - Again
25. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
26. Switchfoot - Mess Of Me
27. Three Days Grace - Break
28. Cage The Elephant - Back Against The Wall
29. Anberlin - Breaking
30. The Used - Blood On My Hands
31. Breaking Benjamin - I Will Not Bow
Yes, here's proof too. ;)
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Also, KBZT-FM in San Diego has given the song some early play, having spun the song 8 times within the last week.
"Mess of Me" has registered some plays at WEQX-FM in Manchester, Vermont as well, with 10 spins.
^All of this radio news, about two and a half weeks before official impact day is encouraging, to say the least. I'll be putting together a radio station request list, relatively soon, once I get the heads-up.
This is an exciting time to be a Switchfoot fan, friends. Keep promoting "Mess of Me" to your friends, blasting the song from the rooftops of your town or the subwoofers of your cars. Be proud! :)
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Here is yet another early review of "Hello Hurricane," this one from Wrecked.org. I've copied and pasted the entire review for your perusal here, and my thoughts on it afterward:
I can't say a lot about the new Switchfoot album coming out, but here's what I can say: It's different. Think U2 meets late Nirvana. Personally, it reminded me of Dashboard Confessional's transition from the very poppy A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar to a very different and unresolved Dusk and Summer.
Hello Hurricane has the endearing melodic quality of typical Switchfoot, but it is backed by a much more brash, less-polished ensemble. If you're part of the late majority in the Switchfoot world (in other words, "Meant to Live" was the first time you heard them), then you may find this new release to be a welcomed departure, but still fun to listen to.
Laden with power chords and a occasionally over-strained vocals, Hello Hurricane rocks as hard as The Beautiful Letdown, has as much angst as Nothing Is Sound, and is even more unresolved and raw than Oh, Gravity.
However, those who fell in love with the band after listening to Learning to Breathe set to "repeat" (as I did) or can hearken back to the days of Legend of Chin may miss the extra, inexplicable umph of a classic Switchfoot album. The presence of a strong ballad like "Only Hope" or "I Dare You to Move" isn't prevalent as with other Switchfoot projects.
That's not to say that there aren't powerful pieces that will certainly rock in concert, but there is nothing in the album that makes me want to pick up an acoustic guitar and play along (yet). This may be a premature diagnosis (I'm still planning on doing a more thorough review later), but it seems that Hello Hurricane is more of a statement as a whole than a collection of individual, memorable songs, as other Switchfoot records have been.
Some instant favorites are the title track (with Jon on the mandolin) and upcoming single "Mess of Me" (you can follow Switchfoot on Twitter to find where they're hiding copies of this single all around the world). With these and other songs on the new album ("Red Eyes" and "Always" make the honorable mentions list), you'll find the band revisiting common themes like entropy, dissatisfaction with the status quo, and a honest confession about humanity's own failings. And that's precisely the problem -- it all seems like recycled content from other projects. There is nothing particularly new or fresh about Hello Hurricane -- at least, nothing that jumps immediately after a few listens of it.
With Jon Foreman releasing four solo EPs and another side project this past year, a new Switchfoot release is nothing short of an amazing feat, to say the least. In my opinion, Jon and Time Foreman's songwriting ranks with the likes of Lennon and McCartney; it's original, simple, and inspiring. To be fair, I still need to give Hello Hurricane a few more listens before I make a final judgment call on it. However, for now, the album, like the release date, feels rushed and somewhat premature. Nonetheless, Switchfoot is still Switchfoot. And I'll continue to think and reflect on this new addition to their discography, while looking forward to future creations. Watch the video below and check back in for an upcoming song-by-song review of Hello Hurricane.
^ That review was unfocused and confusing to me. It also sounds a lot like the writer is confused himself as to what he thinks.
He begins the review saying "It's different."
Then, at the end, look what he says:
"It all seems like recycled content from other projects. There is nothing particularly new or fresh about Hello Hurricane"
So which is it? Is it different from any work Switchfoot has done in the past, or is it old and "recycled" news? I'm not sure.
In my opinion, it is a really well-written review, as is usually the case. Despite the positive/negative aspects of this album, I thought this line was pretty flattering for the two people mentioned:
"In my opinion, Jon and Tim Foreman's songwriting ranks with the likes of Lennon and McCartney."
That really is the redeeming factor for me. Also, in all fairness, "I (the writer) still need to give Hello Hurricane a few more listens before I make a final judgment call on it."
I'm noticing that there is a trend amongst the reviews we've seen so far to say that "it isn't as special as previous records." Amongst the more hardcore fans however, "Hello Hurricane" is being hyped as their greatest work to date, with "Nothing is Sound" enthusiasts very willing to pledge allegiance to the Hurricane.
I suppose we'll all eventually see on November 10, but until then, that's a trend I've noticed. What do you all think??
2 comments:
All I can say is I was one fo those who did listen to "Learning To Breath" on repeat neraly fifty times a day, and I fell head over heals in love with only hope...but I still think Hello Hurricane will be a most welcomed addision to my Switchfoot Collection.
I just re-read the review with a little more thought, I still agree with my first comment but I have something to say about him comment on the theme of the CD. Heres what I would say to him:
Every CD I've every heard from Switchfoot, every song (including learning to breath) has carried that theme. Its a passion of theirs to share that message and it has brought back repeat "offenders" as I like to say. But you can't say its old or recylced because its completely new and A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I love it, and so do all the other fans i've heard from.
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