Hello all! Allow me to introduce this new series I’ll be doing every other week/whenever I feel like it. This series, “My DNA Code is a Discog” will be a series where I discuss albums that have shaped who I am as a person. Those who know me personally have probably heard me say “If I’m a house, then God is the builder, and these albums are His construction tools.” Music is one of the most important things to me period, and I’m almost always burning with a desire to talk about it. So, let’s do it! We’re gonna start this series with a monumental favorite of mine (literally my #1 album of all time), “Cities” by Anberlin.
MAN VS SELF
The year is 2007, and Anberlin has been writing new material while out on the road touring for their sophomore record, “Never Take Friendship Personal” (2005). This album made them a name worth noting within the emo, alternative, and christian rock scenes with tracks like “Paperthin Hymn”, “A Day Late”, “The Feel Good Drag”, and the album’s own title track. While preparing to go back into the studio with producer Aaron Sprinkle for the third record of their three album contract with Tooth & Nail Records, frontman and lyricist Stephen Christian was living in a state of introspection and reclusion (wink wink) that very much played a part in the themes this album would tackle. From Christian tackling darker, much more personal topics, lead guitarist Joseph Milligan working side by side with Sprinkle on production, and drummer Nathan Young truly coming into his own as a musician, this album was setup to be a huge success, and a leap forward for the entire band. After recording in Seattle, “Cities” released in March of 2007 and experienced a multitude of praise and positive reception amongst fans and critics alike. Coming in at 12 tracks, and a later released deluxe edition with three bonus tracks and a 30 minute documentary following the recording process, “Cities” marked the maturing point of Anberlin as a whole. As Stephen Christian described it in the short documentary, “The Making of Cities”, this album was a sort of completion to the thematic trilogy of Anberlin’s first three albums. While “Blueprints For The Black Market” came with a Man vs. World type of experience for the band and “Never Take Friendship Personal” being a more Man vs. Man experience, Christian described “Cities” as a sort of Man vs. Self experience. He wrote about his personal demons, and admitted that he spent a lot more time alone during this recording process than he had previously. Milligan also stated that many other artists they knew said that a band’s third album would end up being their own “Sgt. Pepper’s”, and while he didn’t want to fulfill the cliche, he admitted in the documentary that he felt very much like this album was shaping up to be their best work to date. Okay. History lesson over!
A MONSTER ALBUM
To truly make it known how young I am in the grand scheme of time or whatever, I was finishing up kindergarten when this album released. Anberlin’s second album (Never Take Friendship Personal) is some of the very first music I can remember ever hearing and developing an instantaneous love for. Alas, I was 4, and my perception of time was not really…there. So in my memory, I can’t recall a time when my Dad was like “Woooaaahhhh new Anberlin album! And it’s called Cities!” I just remember hearing Anberlin’s music a lot at a young age, not really knowing what song came off what album, but it didn’t matter to me. I loved it regardless. Eventually, my Dad gave me burnt CDs of their first three albums when I was old enough to handle my own CDs without breaking them. As I grew up, I was always in love with Anberlin’s classic stuff, and excited to hear about any new music they were going to release. But even when new things came out, Cities always stood out to me. The instrumentation. The lyricism. Even the production and mix of the record was so different. I would continue listening to Anberlin, and of course, I’d get into plenty of other music as I aged. Whether it was other rock acts or different genres entirely, I would always find myself gravitating back to Cities. During middle school and high school, my taste in music exploded into new and uncharted territories of sound. I would binge genres like indie sleaze, shoegaze, psychedelic, metalcore, grunge, classic rock, emo, alternative, with dashes of rap and pop sprinkled throughout. Also, the occasional electronic binge. Anything from chiptune to breakcore, it was all in my wheelhouse. But. No matter how deep I got into other bands, or other genres, I always found myself back in Anberlin’s 7 (8 as of this year) album discography. And, of course, standing at the forefront was “Cities.” Without fail, I hear and find new things with each listen. New sounds. New lyrical content and new meanings within the words being sung. I relate to each track in new ways with each listen, and I really can’t get enough of it. As my Dad would say, “Every song off this album is hit material. It’s a monster of an album.”
THE EFFECT TODAY
“Cities” tackles anything from love, to never taking a moment of life for granted, to divorce, to realizing that you will be disappointed if you try and seek Jesus through other believers. Stephen Christian’s lyrics in each track are truly just poetry, each song being written with such eloquence that I could only dream of slightly replicating. Lines like “my mask is growing heavy and I’ve forgotten who’s beneath”, “rather be lonely in love than alive with you and dead”, “this is the correlation of salvation and love, don’t drop your arms, I’ve got your heart, with quiet words I’ll lead you in”, “hands like secrets are the hardest thing to keep from you, lines and phrases like knives, your words keep cutting through”, “I am the patron saint of lost causes, a fraction of who I once believed.” I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW THE HUMAN MIND CONCEIVES THESE PHRASES AND THEN COMPOSES THEM TO A MELODY WITH A RHYTHM AND INSTRUMENTS. Each line, lyric, and stanza of these songs skip my brain and heart and strike me straight in my very spirit. Each part of this record works in such beautiful tandem, whether it’s Nate’s driving and aggressive yet flowing and calculated drumming or the heavy and chugging guitars met with high-spirited riffs and lead lines, each part of the album compliments the other so seamlessly. And NONE of these songs are a skip. It doesn’t feel like a loosely put together series of tracks and singles, this album feels like a very carefully and intentionally constructed piece of sonic artwork. The way each song goes into the other, and the way the album gets seemingly more serious as you start with the electric punch opening of “Godspeed” and end with the gut wrenching 9 minute piece of reflection and mourning that is “(fin*)”. I’ve learned lessons that I carry today thanks to this album. It gave me perspective on the vitality of personal relationship with God that isn’t completely reliant on religion and practice, it’s taught me the value of living and embracing each moment of life, and it’s also given me inspiration to write every single song with intent and with meaning that transcends just speaking to the human condition that we’re all already so familiar with. I want to write songs that tackle the very things that make us human and take complex approaches to each issue and facet of my own being, and tear them apart and analyze them in all their beauty and depravity through the lens of poetry and music. And it’s all Anberlin’s fault! Because they made this record. Even as I type this, (fin*) is halfway through it’s instrumental climax. And I still have chills. I still have respect. I still have love for this album. As God constructed the house that is me, he laid Himself down as my foundation to stand on. And this album? This album is the frame holding together the house He built atop His foundation.
WRAPPING IT UP
My friends. People of Earth. I implore you. Listen to this album. I guarantee you that it will not strike you the way it has me, because when it comes to Anberlin, I am the most shamelessly biased motherfucker I know. But, regardless. I believe anyone can get something from this album. Whether it’s relating to the lyrical content or simply just thinking it’s a whole ass bop from start til finish, I think you’ll find something to love from Anberlin’s masterpiece. Thank you for reading this messy, discombobulated, passionate piece about the #1 album of my life, “Cities” by Anberlin.