Abingdon Road [Regular Edition]

This album was just excelent it was easy listen but with flowing rythm and great vocals. It was worth spending the money on

Yet another flawless addition to the a.b.s discography. Every song is a great aural pleasure, with nothing to skip over. It’s true, they’ve gone for a (slightly) lighter, more varied mix of content, but at no cost? only gain. With tracks like "Pineapple Army", "From Dusk Till Dawn", and their darkest piece yet, "Siren", this is an incredible compilation of styles showcasing the band's dedication to hardcore rocking out, quality, and their willingness to expand and try new styles and approaches. If I ever had a complaint about this band (and there's only the one), it is simply that I’ve often wished they had some lighter music for when you don’t feel like smashing your furniture or going flying through your living-room picture window while getting carried away rocking out to Via Dolorosa and Innocent Sorrow. The arrangement of the pieces is quite a bit quirkier than their debut album, but even in their funkiness, these boys are totally serious. To summarize in 2 words: unfairly awesome.

First of all I have to say that I really loved the first album "Abingdon Boys School" but since I visited the concert during their european tour 2009 I am really hyped and had very high expectations for their new release. So how about "Abingdon Road"? A.B.S. has not drastically changed over the last two years and every song can clearly be identified as an A.B.S. song but in fact there are some differences. Altogether the sound has become much more rough and edgy. The guitars gained more boost and the drums have been emphasized a lot at the expense of Kishi's turntables, being reduced by far. "PINEAPPLE ARMY", definitely lives for the rhythm and the marching 6/8 beat during the verse of "Siren", feels like climbing a troublesome mountain to the peak, and rushing it down freely and relieved when the refrain begins. Very different, very cool. Nevertheless there are still songs that retain the familiar A.B.S. sound like "BLADE CHORD" and "Kimi no Uta". "JAP" is just a great happy party song and "Shiosai" reminds me of an uptempo reprise of "Athena". On the entire album, i consider "From Dusk Till Dawn" to be the most unique song, a wonderful midtempo ballad. It was very clever to put it right in the middle of the album to make the listener's ears calm down and refresh to enjoy the second half of "Abingdon Road" to its fullest. Unfortunately, I have never been that satisfied with Abingdon's "Sweetest Coma Again" since I absolutely love the amazing original by "Luna Sea", which, in my opinion, cannot be improved any more. I just miss the guitar riff during the refrain. That makes it the weakest track on "Abingdon Road", in my opinion. Almost at the end of my review I want to reveal the real gem: "STRENGTH." is not only my favorite track on "Abingdon Road" but A.B.S. in general. Both lyrics and sound are pretty melancholic but so powerful at the same time. Listening to this track, which was also the opening song at their concert, makes me shiver every single time. Many people mentioned "Souen" to be the strongest track on the album, which is without any doubt a great song but cannot win agains "STRENGTH." for me. Even though it is the first track on the album I kept it back until now, because I don't like the best track to be placed right at the beginning, since it is possible to make me disappointed or feel bored too soon. Surprisingly on "Abindon Road" it works very well. Altogether "Abingdon Road" is an awesome album with lots of variety and will surely make it to one of my all-time favorites. Honestly, "Abingdon Boys School" has overwhelmed me a little more, but this time my expectations were a lot higher. Thus 5 of 5 is warranted.

I am so excited for this album!! I've waited for what seems like forever for it, and it's finally here!!! T^T The first one pretty much blew me away, and I hope this one will do the same! While their first album was definitely "heavy" hard-rock, I am a little worried that this album will be "lighter" like their newer singles. I mean, they aren't bad, but they are not the type of songs that I fell in love with a.b.s with! However, with the addition of the mind-numbingly good, aggressive single "Blade Chord", the wonderfully powerful and fun, "Sweetest Coma Again" cover, and the "mysterious" "From Dusk to Dawn" single, I seriously think this album still has the potential to satisfy those who prefer a.b.s' harder stuff (me), as well as those who prefer lighter rock as well. Afterall, this is still Abingdon Boys School, and they still have the amazingly talented vocalist Takanori Nishikawa, and guitarists Shibasaki and Sunao. This is still going to be awesome! I can't wait to get my copy! ^^