The Script

       The band's new album came out this week (10/9) and, though I was going to try, for once, to abstain from buying anything by The Script, I now own #3. I got addicted to the band one summer, somewhere in Utah, when I heard "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" (a lot; Sirius radio does not have much variety on their stations) and thought that would be the end of the band. Then, of course, "Before the Worst" and "Break Even" began assaulting the radio stations and there was no escaping the band.

       I'm not complaining about the band's popularity, but the fact that their music has become such a mainstream item had me worried that it was going to have a poor effect on anything they produced after their initial success. For a while, I continued to hear only the songs which they had released from their first album; my friend was addicted to "Break Even" (and playing it with the bass ALL the way up) the summer before our first year of college, and my roommate and I could not stop playing "If You See Kay" (watch from 8:40 on if you're wondering about the 'pronunciation' (intentional mondegreen)) for nearly an entire semester. Then "For the First Time" invaded our airwaves and, a few months later, I had bought Science & Faith. When I got hooked on "Nothing" and "If You Ever Come Back," I realized that my addiction to The Script was very close to the one I have to Taylor Swift (except The Script has better lyrics and melodies). The thing was, all of the songs were just as well written and put together as they were on the bands first album, even when they changed it up a bit on "Walk Away," featuring B.o.B (of course, I liked the song because I kind of love B.o.B). 

       I was actually planning on just buying one or two songs from their new album, thinking that, by now, they would definitely have become too mainstream, with the fame going to their heads and ruining their songs; I was wrong. I saw them perform "If You Could See Me Now" and thought, "crud, that's good," and now I have the entire album. It's worth the $10 to just buy it on iTunes or Amazon, with songs like "Hall of Fame," featuring Will.I.Am, pulling them out of their comfort zone (in a good way), and "Glowing" and "No Words" to remind you of the sound on the band's first album. The other songs, like "Millionaires" and "Gold 'Ol Days," have the indie lyrics that The Script is so good at putting forth, but infused with the pop sounds that overlay the basic piano in each track. If you think that you're going to skip over The Script's new album because they're famous now and their music cannot possibly be as good as it once was, forget your preconceptions and buy the new album; it's a little different, but it's good. 

- E