I'm not looking for a universal answer, just
trying to
understand music and tastes. Why are you frowning upon everything? For every discussion/topic you have the urge to at the very least correct something, if not outright calling the whole thing pointless.
Which reminds me, that I forgot to respond to your idea about SC being the start of a new IF age, which I highly oppose. Just compare SC to SOAPF, then SOAPF to ASOP. Maybe it's just my ears, but ASOP is like a soft version of CC. If albums were real people, CC would be some angry young adult, while ASOP is his his ~15 years older self, who got burnt out. CC is angry but confident, ASOP is fucking disappointed and many of its' lyrics are about being worthless, it's like no one gave a shit about his wake up calls in CC, and people are still worthless creatures, so why should he even bother?
SOAPF is much more organized, and you can't just say he wants to kill himself basically. There are songs on SOAPF which are actually about leaving OTHERS behind because they drag him/them down, or trying to help OTHERS, which is quite a long way from "Move through me, I'll be your triumph", "I am the sober and irrelevant", "[...] thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me", etc. Sure, there are depressive lyrics in every album (I guess, I don't understand a fucking word from LS), but ASOP is full of it without much confidence to support it. For example, in Vacuum he calls out people for their ignorance and not crying about people being ignorant. There's a difference.
SC is different thematically from SOAPF, it's like the "happiest" IF album, where even the most depressing songs do not beg the listener to heal the protagonist. He has some apathy ("feelingless", like ASOP), but it always ends in a positive note. Yeah, things are still fucked up, but hey, I believe! We can do it! I will try! Yay!!!!! And musically it's so much more SOAPF than SOAPF being ASOP. SC has some interesting production (yes-yes, inb4 "
you mean SHIT", but the word I'm looking for is probably layered, or some-what overcleaned in production), but it's still rather clean, like SOAPF, unlike ASOP, which is like... uncolored? You know what I mean? Like every song (except Alias) is fucking grey.
Even the setlist overhaul started during the SOAPF tour. I mean, this year you got Resin, last year you got The Hive. Wow, 10 more years and they run out of Colony songs!
But yeah, aside from you hating SC with a passion, thus it might be a new IF age for you, objectively speaking, it started with SOAPF. As I read the comments here throughout the months, ASOP is looked as the ultimate collapse of post-Clayman IF, rather than the beginning of a new era. Even the smaller details checks out with this viewpoint. They went back to Sweden to record it; the old IF logo returned; Jester-guy all over the place; an accoustic part in an IF song since... ??*; I doubt it has more added electronics (again, exclude Alias) than COlony for example, it's pretty straightforward, just like the older materials; Jesper's last album, and picking up the puzzles (get it, THE PUZZLEs - kill me) around his departure, he probably went into recording this material with an ultimatum: "let's have democracy and try to mesh all of our ideas into one, and let's see if it works out". Well, he either disliked the result, or Anders and co. said that they won't do another album like this again, so take it or leave it. Or both, which would be very amusing, but it's possible.
*edit: Dawn Of A New Day does not count!
I now refuse to listen to SC again because of IF's attitude about it combined with their lies in the past about their previous music. And of course, their choice of setlists.
If In Flames were a metal band that realized they won't be rock stars one day and were SATISFIED with being metal gods and appropriately honored their entire amazing catalogue that so few bands have, I wouldn't have a problem with them.
Most metal bands play live a ratio of 60:40 new/old. Some even do 50/50... but for In Flames... 70:30 today would even be acceptable for them.
Metal is not radio rock or pop music... In Metal (especially for a band such as IF with such a big discography) people know mostly all of your stuff and would appreciate your most well-known hits even from the very beginning. Not even a question. Those of us that have gone to so many shows and have seen so many metal bands understand this.
^Amorphis, Trivium, & As I Lay Dying etc. etc. all know/knew the importance of this.
There's no excuse for In Flames not to constantly play at the very least 1/3rd of a show, the pre-ASOP staple hits they played for years and years up until like 2009.
So obviously, they don't like their older(best) stuff and want to become what their music is now... Even though they could still sellout venues or come very close and still be one of the top dogs in the metal world playing a good chunk of a show all the best live songs from Jester Race - Come Clarity... But that's not enough for them.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Btw, if they really hate those older staples (I don't think so), would you still force them to play it like monkies?
you could take a selection of lyrics from practically any In Flames song post Clayman and roll your eyes at some point. I wish Anders would take some fucking E's before writing lyrics.
