SOS A Guide to Better Living
3:16 Productions 2005
By Jason Jordan
I imagine SOS have plenty of hometown fans, but I cant see these guys ever venturing past New York Citys limits, and being successful. A Guide to Better Living is a comeback album of sorts, squelching this quartets four-year hiatus, while boosting their full-length discography from three to four. On the whole, though, their material is innocuous, forgettable, and even grating.
First, this disc is way too long. I dont need 17 tracks totaling 60 minutes of semi-hard rock, unless its incredibly well done. This isnt. SOSs tunes are simplistic, which can be good if theyre catchy, but they arent. The vocals on A Guide to Better Living are all subpar, even though there are three different vocal styles present. The lyrics are quite inane, too. Songs such as Star Killers and The Wedding Guy will leave you cringing, whereas the pop punk of Scenic Route and Hopeless will confuse you. I thought this was supposed to be hard rock laced with grooves? The best music, however, comes in the form of Slut, which has pretty decent riffs. As I said before, they throw in disparities once again on the acoustic-led Killing Time and Italian-esque Venice. The latter soon morphs into a hardcore punk anthem yuck. It wouldnt be so bad if SOS werent annoying. But they are. The unexpected transformations unlike bands that incorporate juxtaposition in all their compositions are unwelcome because they come out of nowhere.
Overall, A Guide to Better Living breeds the opposite of what I presume it wanted to. That is, it breeds contempt. As it stands, this most likely wouldve fared better had it not been so freakin long. Its like that one guest who overstays his welcome, or even the one you never wanted to invite in the first place. Dont give this a chance to unravel; theres just not much worth liking here.
3/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official SOS Website
Official 3:16 Productions Website
3:16 Productions 2005
By Jason Jordan
I imagine SOS have plenty of hometown fans, but I cant see these guys ever venturing past New York Citys limits, and being successful. A Guide to Better Living is a comeback album of sorts, squelching this quartets four-year hiatus, while boosting their full-length discography from three to four. On the whole, though, their material is innocuous, forgettable, and even grating.
First, this disc is way too long. I dont need 17 tracks totaling 60 minutes of semi-hard rock, unless its incredibly well done. This isnt. SOSs tunes are simplistic, which can be good if theyre catchy, but they arent. The vocals on A Guide to Better Living are all subpar, even though there are three different vocal styles present. The lyrics are quite inane, too. Songs such as Star Killers and The Wedding Guy will leave you cringing, whereas the pop punk of Scenic Route and Hopeless will confuse you. I thought this was supposed to be hard rock laced with grooves? The best music, however, comes in the form of Slut, which has pretty decent riffs. As I said before, they throw in disparities once again on the acoustic-led Killing Time and Italian-esque Venice. The latter soon morphs into a hardcore punk anthem yuck. It wouldnt be so bad if SOS werent annoying. But they are. The unexpected transformations unlike bands that incorporate juxtaposition in all their compositions are unwelcome because they come out of nowhere.
Overall, A Guide to Better Living breeds the opposite of what I presume it wanted to. That is, it breeds contempt. As it stands, this most likely wouldve fared better had it not been so freakin long. Its like that one guest who overstays his welcome, or even the one you never wanted to invite in the first place. Dont give this a chance to unravel; theres just not much worth liking here.
3/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official SOS Website
Official 3:16 Productions Website
