Yep, it’s that time again— time to reveal the results of our annual Music Awards!

Check out the new 2011 Edition to see who won, or view all of our editions via our Music Awards page!

Best First Release:

Wolves At The Gate, We Are The Ones EP     (Screamo/Rock)

Best Second Release:

Hope For The Dying, Dissimulation     (Metal)

Best Third Release:

 
Owl City, All Things Bright And Beautiful
(Electronic Folk Pop/Rock)

Best Fourth Release:

Life In Your Way, Kingdoms     (Screamo/Metal)

Best Fifth Release:

Becoming The Archetype, Celestial Completion     (Metal)

Best Sixth Release:

NONE CHOSEN THIS YEAR.

Notable 7th-Or-Higher Release:

 
Blindside, With Shivering Hearts We Wait     (Rock/Hardcore)

Switchfoot, Vice Verses     (Rock)

Best Live Show:

[Note: Due to circumstances outside of our control, we are not giving a Live Show award this year. However, many outstanding shows would have been nominated, so we have listed those below.]

Best Festival:

(CATEGORY RETIRED)

A NOTABLE 7TH-OR-HIGHER RELEASE 2011 Award Winner!

Also Winning An ’11 Notable 7th-or-Higher Release:
Blindside (With Shivering Hearts We Wait).

Runner-Up: The Echoing Green (In Scarlet And Vile).
Honorable Mention: The Newsboys (God’s Not Dead).

Vice Verses kicks right off with “Afterlife”, an excellent, rocking call-to-action.

“The Original” features some interesting musical rhythms in the verses and an enjoyable, old-school-style chorus.

“The War Inside” is also very rhythmic (though in a different way ), very memorable, and just all-around great.

“Restless” is a calmer track that features some intriguing, intertwining lyrical imagery.

“Blinding Light” musically picks up to a medium pace and lyrically encourages the listener.

Interestingly, “Selling The News” has rhythmically-spoken verses to contrast with a bouncy Rock chorus, and that combined with its starkly true lyrics about today’s ‘news’ industry make this another great track.

“Thrive” is a contemplative, atmospheric track.

“Dark Horses” is an excellent, anthemic, and very memorable Hard-Edged Rocker.

“Souvenirs” is a nostalgic track with music that builds in steps from a gentle ballad to Rock.

“Rise Above It” has rhythmic, monotone verses and a somewhat unusual chorus.

Title track “Vice Verses” has aching, searching lyrics matched with low, echoing acoustic music.

And sweeping finale “Where I Belong” musically and lyrically provides both a perfect counterpoint to the previous track and a perfect conclusion, culminating in a reprise of part of the album’s first track that brings the record to an uplifting close.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:

The Deluxe Edition includes the bonus disc Hello Hurricane LIVE, which (as you’d imagine ) is a live version of the band’s previous release, Hello Hurricane.

Those who preordered the Deluxe Edition on iTunes also received an exclusive Demo version of “Dark Horses”.

Super Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:

The Super Deluxe Edition contains all of the above (minus the iTunes preorder track, of course ), as well as a half-hour or so DVD with great, short day-in-the-life segments on all the bandmembers (which also include some thoughtful insights on their creative processes), plus the music video for “Dark Horses”.

Also included in this edition are handwritten lyrics/liner notes, a vinyl window decal, packages from each band member with photos and notes about what the album means to them, and a pencil (!).

Our rating for Vice Verses: 5 & 1/3 Stars.

Also Winning An ’11 Notable 7th-or-Higher Release: Switchfoot (Vice Verses).

Runner-Up: The Echoing Green (In Scarlet And Vile).
Honorable Mention: The Newsboys (God’s Not Dead).

With Shivering Hearts We Wait kicks off with “There Must Be Something In The Water”, a fantastic heavy rocker which also includes a fairly epic outro.

“My Heart Escapes” is a very memorable track with rhythmic Rock music and interesting, visual lyrics.

“Monster On The Radio” contrasts very bouncy, catchy verses with a bit heavier chorus.

“It’s All I Have” has ballad-like verses and a memorable, straight-up Rock chorus.

“Bloodstained Hollywood Ending” paints some interesting lyrical pictures and musically and vocally picks the pace back up a bit.

“Our Love Saves Us” is very rhythmic, rocking, and memorable in every possible way, making it an absolutely excellent track.

“Bring Out Your Dead” has some appropriately metaphorical lyrics and is the album’s heaviest track (both musically and vocally).

Lyrically a response to the previous track, “Withering” features some interesting musical and vocal rhythms in the verses and an excellent, unexpectedly intense bridge.

“Cold” is another quite memorable track, its lyrics describing a false relationship that needs to end and its vocals and music alternating between dynamic, intriguing verses and a darkly captivating chorus.

And “There Must Be Something In The Wind” closes the album perfectly with beautiful lyrics, rhythmic music, a dynamic and alluring vocal melody, and a fantastic outro.

Limited “Large” Edition Bonus Content:

The Limited “Large” Edition includes posters of the album’s liner notes and artwork, a newspaper-like retrospective from the band about their past few releases, and a great 2-hour DVD featuring live show and behind-the-scenes footage, photos, and hilarious and insightful band interviews on everything from how they got started as a band to in-depth discussion on their records’ writing and recording processes and much more.

Our rating for With Shivering Hearts We Wait: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

Runner-Up: Falling Up (Your Sparkling Death Cometh).
Honorable Mentions: Hawk Nelson (Crazy Love),
Seventh Day Slumber (The Anthem Of Angels), Flame (Captured).

Becoming The Archetype’s Celestial Completion is an excellent Metal release that almost feels like a concept album, with its pictorial lyrics and strikingly dramatic musical and vocal presentation.

Singing is sparsely but strategically used, placed only where it has the greatest effect; and when it does appear, it features perfect harmonies and a unique, alluring (and occasionally even darkly operatic) quality.

And there are some other great dynamic elements, as well, such as some fantastic use of piano throughout the middle section of the album, and even a very unexpected— but surprisingly fitting— shift to Ska (!) at one point.

In short, this record is absolutely worthy of both a full 5 & 1/2 Stars and Best Fifth Release!

Our rating for Celestial Completion: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

Runners-Up: Onward To Olympas (The War Within Us), After Edmund (Times Have Changed EP.1), The Ember Days (Emergency), Abandon (Control), Abandon Kansas (Ad Astra Per Aspera).
Honorable Mentions: Close Your Eyes (Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts),
Holding Onto Hope (Holding Onto Hope), Great Awakening (Songs In Secret).

Hope For The Dying’s Dissimulation is an epic Metal album that is excellent in every respect— from the vocals, to the lyrics, to the fantastic speedy Melodic guitarwork, to the perfect complementary use of piano, synths, and orchestration, to the targeted shifts in musical style at exactly the right points, to the way that every single track flows continuously from one into the next (even from the finale right back around to the beginning!), and more.

In all, this record is definitely worthy of both a full 5 & 1/2 Stars and Best Second Release!

Our rating for Dissimulation: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

Runners-Up: Kye Kye (Young Love), Peter Furler (On Fire), A Past Unknown (To Those Perishing), Tricia Brock (The Road), Fallstar (Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter.), Anthem Lights (Anthem Lights), Aaron Gillespie (Anthem Song), The City Harmonic (I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)),
Over The Ocean (Paper House).
Honorable Mentions: Icon For Hire (Scripted), Ashes Remain (What I’ve Become),
Cory Lamb (Break The Cycle).

We Are The Ones is an excellent album. The lyrics are fantastic throughout; the vocals are very dynamic, using about a 50/50 mix of singing and screaming— and both high and low ranges in the latter— to great effect; and the music is equally dynamic.

The album kicks off with title track “We Are The Ones”, an excellent, tone-setting intro that builds perfectly and then leads directly into the next track.

“Vapors” wastes no time, ripping into heavy vocals first before moving to a multilayered mix. The track features a couple of nice shifts in musical pace and tone, as well.

And it gets even better from there— “Heralds” is the perfect showcase of the band’s dynamic vocal mix (and perfectly matching music). This track is very memorable.

“Tonight My Son” takes on a slightly faster and heavier tone overall, and also features several great rhythmic sections.

“No Rival” has a particularly powerful feel at points, especially at the end.

And sweeping closer “Oh The Depths” is possibly the most memorable track of them all, taking every already-excellent element demonstrated in all of the previous songs and somehow amping them up even further, creating a perfect finale that both satisfies and then prompts you to replay the whole record again right away.

Label Rerelease Bonus Content:

The Solid State rerelease of this EP also contains two excellent, full-sounding acoustic-version bonus tracks (for “Heralds” and “No Rival”). And while the two songs’ original screaming portions are (expectedly ) replaced in these acoustic versions with singing, the vocals are actually not ‘soft’ as such— they still have a good amount of power behind them (about the same level as a full Rock song).

In short, this is a fantastic debut, and definitely worthy of Best First Release!

Our rating for We Are The Ones: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

BEST FOURTH RELEASE 2011 Award Winner!

Runners-Up: Cool Hand Luke (Of Man), August Burns Red (Leveler), Beckah Shae (Destiny).
Honorable Mention: Eowyn (Beautiful Ashes).

Kingdoms, Life In Your Way’s fourth full-length, is actually technically composed of 3 short, themed EP’s: “The Kingdom Of Man”, “The Kingdom Of Darkness”, and “The Kingdom Of God”.

As you’d assume from those titles , the album’s excellent lyrics range in tone from a determined beginning through a somewhat darker middle to a triumphant end. Musically and vocally, the first section tends a bit more towards Screamo, the second a bit more towards Metal, and— suitably — the last equally blends the two; and each and every track has its own unique dynamic element (whether in music, vocals, or both), making all of them memorable both individually and as a whole.

This is an excellent record, and quite worthy of both a full 5 & 1/2 Stars and Best Fourth Release!

Our rating for Kingdoms: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

Runners-Up: Hands (Give Me Rest), Manic Drive (Epic), Deas Vail (Deas Vail),
Red (Until We Have Faces).
Honorable Mention: Brandon Heath (Leaving Eden).

All Things Bright And Beautiful opens with “The Real World”, which is a great introduction to Owl City’s main music style and whimsical lyrics (as well as being a great song in itself ).

“Deer In The Headlights” moves to slightly bouncier music with some smile-inducing lyrics.

“Angels” has intriguing music and lyrics which intertwine with each other to create a great— and quite memorable— track.

“Dreams Don’t Turn To Dust” is a uniquely encouraging track with music that is very rhythmic and (again) very memorable.

“Honey And The Bee” (featuring Breanne Düren) is another track that will likely make you smile— the lyrics intentionally include a number of cliché’s, but they end up more sweet than silly here.

“Kamikaze” features a somewhat unusual music style for Adam at times (though in a good way ), which— in combination with its interesting lyrics— make this another great track.

“January 28, 1986″— which is actually an intro to the track that follows— contains clips from President Ronald Reagan’s Address To The Nation after the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle.

“Galaxies” is excellent in every way, from its appropriately-space-themed lyrics to its celestial music.

“Hospital Flowers” (featuring Joan Young) is unusual because its lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who went through a near-death experience; because of it, the person finally gains a ‘new sense of sight’ and realizes how precious life truly is.

“Alligator Sky” (featuring Shawn Chrystopher) is another fantastic space-themed track, this time incorporating some slow rap (!) courtesy of guest Shawn Chrystopher, which— while unexpected— actually fits in perfectly.

“The Yacht Club” (featuring Lights) has sweet verses and a very upbeat, Dance-styled chorus.

And perfect closer “Plant Life” (featuring Matthew Thiessen of Relient K) is an excellent, uplifting track with brilliant lyrics (and by that we mean ‘even more than usual’ ).

Bonus Track On Some Digital Outlets:

“Alligator Sky (No Rap Version)” is exactly what its title states — “Alligator Sky” without rap. We very slightly prefer the original; but this version does contain entirely new lyrics in the verses, and is a great track on its own.

iTunes Bonus Tracks:

The iTunes edition contains the “Alligator Sky (No Rap Version)” bonus track as well as “How I Became The Sea”, another excellent track with intriguing music that weaves around the verses like the waves its lyrics envision.

German And Japanese Edition Bonus Tracks:

Finally, the German and Japanese Editions contain two different bonus tracks: The bouncy, lyrically-soaring “To The Sky” (which was made for The Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole movie and is also available as a single), and great, atmospheric “Shy Violet”.

Our rating for All Things Bright And Beautiful: 5 & 1/3 Stars.

(Blog Credit: Ember)

And, as that picture aptly states, what happened was definitely unforgettable!

A long and amusing run of hints, teases, and an interactive multiple-website scavenger hunt all lead up to much-beloved band Five Iron Frenzy announcing their return— to a truly amazing fan response.

Because, along with revealing a fantastic newly-recorded track, the band also set up a $30,000 Kickstarter project to fund a new record and tour… and the goal was reached in less than one hour of its posting! And, in fact, by just two days later the pledge amount had gone over $100,000, and only kept on climbing from there.

As a fan of FIF myself, this was a pretty moving event, because it vividly showed just how much love we all still had for the music, message, and hearts of this band, even 8 long years after their last show.

Congratulations, Five Iron— and welcome back!

Ember is the owner of several businesses and the main writer for ListenUpReviews.com. She lives in the American Midwest, and enjoys action sports, technology, science, reading, being a part of certain sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery fandoms (and just a geek in general! ), playing her violin, piano, and electric guitar, and most of all listening to great music (both recorded and live).

…Or at least it will be fairly soon. And thus, every year from November 1 to December 31, we Spotlight ListenUpReviews.com’s Rockin’ Christmas Picks, our special review of the best Rocking Christmas music!

We hope you enjoy— and have a safe, Blessed, and very Merry Christmas!

We support every band and artist that we review, along with the following organizations:

Compassion International
(Releasing Children From Poverty)

Project AK-47
(Rescuing Child Soldiers)

Rock For Life
(Human Rights For Every Person, Born And Preborn)

CRASH: Love On Japan
(Disaster Relief)

(Screencap Credits: Ember)

Portal 2 is the full-length sequel to hit video game Portal (and if for some strange reason you haven’t actually played the original Portal yet, by all means you really should do so first ).

Amazingly— considering the excellence of the first game— every element in Portal 2 has been given an upgrade, from its music to its story to its characters to its humor to its gameplay to its complexity to its length (…etc.). Indeed, as awesome as the first game truly is (as we mention in its review, literally the only reason we gave it 5 & 1/3 Stars instead of 5 & 1/2 was because it’s short!), Portal 2 somehow manages to be even more awesome. And with the introduction of numerous new gameplay elements, several satirically and/or anti-humorly witty new characters, a fairly comprehensive backstory, and some truly excellent near-realtime escape-for-your-life sequences, Portal 2 is also even more immersive.

(Screencap Credits: Ember)

Also newly introduced is two-player co-op, which is basically a second full-length game (as of course the storyline and all the puzzles have to be quite different to accommodate two players). And the true teamwork necessary for this portion of the game is actually quite amazing (and quite fun ).

In short, this is everything Portal fans hoped it would be— and a truly excellent game in itself.

So what are you waiting for? Go play Portal, and then Portal 2— because they are both absolutely fantastic.

Our rating for the Portal 2 video game: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

It’s March 1st— and that means it’s time to reveal the results of our annual Music Awards!

Head on over to the brand-new 2010 Edition to check out who won, or view all of our editions by going to our Music Awards section. Enjoy!

Best First Release:

I Am Alpha And Omega, The Roar And The Whisper     (Screamo/Rock)

Best Second Release:

Children 18:3, Rain’s ‘A Comin’     (Punk Rock/Rock)

Best Third Release:

NONE CHOSEN THIS YEAR.

Best Fourth Release:

 
tobyMac, Tonight     (Rock with a little Hip-Hop (Rap) flavor)

Best Fifth Release:

 
Haste The Day, Attack Of The Wolf King     (Metal/Screamo)

Best Sixth Release:

NONE CHOSEN THIS YEAR.

Notable 7th-Or-Higher Release:

Disciple, Horseshoes & Handgrenades     (Hard Rock)

Best Live Show:

Family Force 5 (TIE)

Skillet (TIE)

Best Festival:

NONE CHOSEN THIS YEAR.