season of poison update.

[dont praise me]

as many of you know, it'd be an understatement to say i came outta the gates brash. i was quick to shoot the new album down in the praise of 'we are pilots'. however, i gave this album a solid listen-thru several times and here's my final verdict:

shiny toy guns emerged from the cluttered LA music scene in 2004 as one of the most talked about and promising bands in years to come. their euphonious blend of dancey electro/pop and 80's influenced power/pop made them both impossible to hate and ignore.

i immediately began to burn countless copies of 'we are pilots', handing them out to friends, retail stores, while imposing the ears of party goer's in and around the scene. thereafter, memories upon memories were tired to this album. shiny toy guns; they unarguably solidified their spot as my "new" favorite band.

much like the killers debut 'hot fuss', 'we are pilots' was an album i was sitting on for years now, i mean, 3 releases of one album is enough for even the most diehard fans. i began to doubt the possibility of a new album ever coming out.

finally received an update at their homecoming show that they were in fact in the studio and the new album would be wrapped up and ready to be released in fall 08. suhweet!

their first 'season of poison' single ricochet was released all over the internet, and reactions were definitely more mixed than their more lovable/commercial/dancey track 'le disko', however i didn't fret. in fact, i thought ricochet was pretty cool.

next was frozen oceans, which is more of what i expected from shiny toy guns; a heart-felt melodic ballad full of beautifully-layered instrumentation and dynamics.

but after waiting 4 long years for an entire new album, the day finally came that allowed me something different to sink my teeth into. something fresh. something unfamiliar.

i felt half of what made this band great was abandoned. that "don't cry out/le disko/rainy monday/jackie" sound. i had a feeling it was coming, too. hearing old songs like photograph, weather girl, turned to real life, sky fell over me, and seeing how half of them were cut from version 2, and the other half were cut from version 3 - it was an early indicator that their next proceeding album might cut out that sound altogether...and unfortunately i was right.

there's really no "club anthem" song on season of poison. no sassy vocal parts over a punchy quasi-robotic drumbeat riddled with keys and sampling.

so i was quick to hate. bashed season of poison more than it deserved, and fell victim to the whole "this isn't the band i fell in love with" idea.

but after giving it more of a chance, i can't tell if it's growing on me or if i just don't have it in me to hate these guys, for all that they've done for me as a fan of music, and as a fan of nostalgic value. ****, i even got laid in the tan-bark at one of their shows. true story.

we are pilots is what it is. a 9 out 10 album with flaws just microscopic. i realize it's not fair to judge season of poison in relation to we are pilots, but as it's own single entity. with that said, the album is solid. very SHORT, considering there's only 11 tracks with half of one being a short organ filibuster.


#1. When Did This Storm Begin - the singing is great, the rapping not so great. maybe it'll work in a matrix-sort-of rip-off movie, but it hasn't been working in my car. sorry.

#2. Money for That - surprisingly one of my favorite songs off the album, mostly because the breakdown is just so ****ing good. this is the albums "chemistry of a car crash."

#3. I Owe You a Love Song - the albums "rainy monday." hated this song at first, but i love the breakdown and how the last chorus changes keys. this is evidence that they haven't completely ditched their heavily 80's influenced sound.

#4. Ghost Town - the albums "you are the one." this song ****ing rocks. makes me want to wear sunglasses and drive fast.

#5. It Became a Lie on You - this song won't be a hit upon first listen, but it'll have the most longevity.

#6. Ricochet! - this song pretty good. i'll get sick of it fast if i'm not already.

#7. Season of Love - very melodic and pretty. i just wish the chorus had more lyrics.

#8. Poison - i actually like this song a lot. a little "mr. roboto a la styx and revenge of the nerds" but cool nonetheless.

#9. Blown Away - the albums "starts with one" only it doesn't even come close to being as good. i skip this track.

#10. Turned to Real Life - sorry, over it.

#11. Frozen Oceans - this song has zero longevity for me. i loved it the first 5 times i heard it, i skip it now.

tracks 2, 3, and 4 are my favorite.

overall, i give the album a respectable 6 out of 10. not what i expected, but i enjoyed it on  the drive up to jury duty this morning. i give it another week at most before i put this guy somewhere in the back of my cd wallet and subsequently forget about it.

[Enuf3]

You skip Blown Away, but sit through Season of Love?

[dont praise me]

You skip Blown Away, but sit through Season of Love?

i don't sit through either anymore to be honest. blown away doesn't do it for me. i've been liking money for that.

[abthomas]

You skip Blown Away, but sit through Season of Love?

i don't sit through either anymore to be honest. blown away doesn't do it for me. i've been liking money for that.

I DO like Money for That. But I'm kind of into It became a Lie on You, and I Owe You a Love Song. I am really into them. His has amazing note combos in those songs and they are heart wrenching, at least for me. Especially it became a lie. Oh man. I want to explode into the universe when I listen to it.

[Enuf3]

Idk. I was blown away by... well, Blown Away. And Poison. I absolutely LOVE how they're connected to each other. Ricochet, Frozen Oceans... love em. And it's funny cause my mother HATES when my sister plays STG in their house... But just the other day I was over and Frozen came on and she was like.. in tears.. haha In a good way. She loved it and begged me to make her a copy. But I pulled the "buy it yourself, woman!"

At first I wasn't sure why she liked it so much.. then it hit me. For the longest time her current husband and her could only communicate through internet.. cause that's where they met. Turned out he lived in England and without every meeting her first, he packed his stuff and flew across the ocean to be with her. My mom was in rough shape from the divorce with my dad.. but when she saw the new guy for the first time, she rocketed in happiness. I think it's totally cool that a STG song actually got through to my mom and actually meant something to her.

Then she looked over and went, while sobbing "Are these the same ****ers who ride the race cars all the darn time?" 

So yeah.. just one of the reasons why this is a very important album that can reach out to different types of people. Hell, at the concert I went to, there were straight up ghetto guys groovin to Rainy Monday... 

[dont praise me]

You skip Blown Away, but sit through Season of Love?

i don't sit through either anymore to be honest. blown away doesn't do it for me. i've been liking money for that.

I DO like Money for That. But I'm kind of into It became a Lie on You, and I Owe You a Love Song. I am really into them. His has amazing note combos in those songs and they are heart wrenching, at least for me. Especially it became a lie. Oh man. I want to explode into the universe when I listen to it.

ditto. it became a lie on you will be the dark horse of the album. the key change in i owe you a love song is brilliant. it just pains me that they couldn't come up with more lyrics, because the melody is infectious as ****.

[abthomas]

You skip Blown Away, but sit through Season of Love?

i don't sit through either anymore to be honest. blown away doesn't do it for me. i've been liking money for that.

I DO like Money for That. But I'm kind of into It became a Lie on You, and I Owe You a Love Song. I am really into them. His has amazing note combos in those songs and they are heart wrenching, at least for me. Especially it became a lie. Oh man. I want to explode into the universe when I listen to it.

ditto. it became a lie on you will be the dark horse of the album. the key change in i owe you a love song is brilliant. it just pains me that they couldn't come up with more lyrics, because the melody is infectious as f*ck.

Still, the simplicity says a lot. The melody itself is not intricate, so using lots of fancy words or even too much variety, could have killed it. The song feels more like a "feeler" than a "listener." You focus on the words, you lose part of the melody. I feel like the simple words say a lot (which is why "I Love you" stuck around for ever and ever) and the melody says the rest.

[Natty ♫=♥]

Well I'd like to give my input on the new album.

And, I would like to say that I pretty much agree with 'dont praise me'


Alright so my expectations were high. I listen to 'We Are Pilots' so frickin much and it is an amazing album. STG's gotta beat that!

I heard Ricochet and Frozen Oceans and I got realllly excited. Both of those songs have an amazing edge to them. I think it was last night when Matty told me that the full album is uploaded and can be listened to. I listened. I listened again, and then again, and again. Here's what I think about Season of Poison.

The positives: I loveee how they incorporated more rock into these songs. I'm a hard core rock-a-holic so I was really satisfied with songs like "Money For That" although I don't like the intro or the ending.
I like the upbeat-ness of "I Owe You A Love Song".
"Poison" is on my 'okay' list. I don't care for the intro but when it actually starts up it's pretty good! "When Did This Storm Begin" is waaaay different for STG. I definitely love this song. It's got a lot of variety in it but I don't like the long intro.
I really like "Blown Away" however, I don't really care for the intro too much again. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaays! I haven't seen daaaaaaaaays" mehhhh boring. God I'm so negative.....and this was supposed to be the positives section haha.
I like "Turned To Real Life" and "Frozen Oceans" and "Ricochet" they're just awesome, love the edgy/rough-ness.

The negatives: I don't like some of the intros to the songs. They either take a long time to get going or it sounds weird or annoying. I really don't care for "Ghost Town" at all. Like at all. The beat of it is awesome. The lyrics and everything about it just...bleh. No point to the song. I don't like the robot sounds on "It Became A Lie On You" but when the song starts up I like it, pretty good! "Season of Love" reminds me of Disney's, The Lion King.....lol. I just don't care for this song at all!!!

Season of Poison is an album with an attitude. More rock involved and I like that I rate this album a 7/10. It's good. Not great or wonderful or magnificent, but good. I think 'We Are Pilots' beats this album but still, some of these songs are really awesome. Some of them I'll never really play, ever. (Ghost Town and Season of Love--bleh)

I still love STG and I will definitely go out and buy the new album.  I think they did a good job but it sucks that I have so many negatives.

I don't know, what do you guys think about the album?

[abthomas]

I agree with you about the intros except for "Poison." It is kind of powerful if you put it in context with the rest of the song. I mean, he's committing suicide! Actually, I'm fairly certain he's also feeding poison to someone else (plural perhaps?). So the intro of "I'm going to meet you" over and over is kind of like the insanity taking over and echoing in his brain. Endlessly distracted to the point of desperate suicide/murder.

[Enuf3]

Natty, I disagree on Ghost Town. I think it's a great song that does have a nifty point to it.

Only songs I don't really care for are Money for That (I just hate how it sounds) and Season of Love (it's not bad, just not as good as the others).

[dont praise me]

i can still see shiny toy guns becoming tourmates with flyleaf with an album like season of poison. and flyleaf is seriously makes the top 3 worst bands i've ever heard in my ****ing life.

[bladeofgrass]

i have yet to listen to the new album yet.
i'm waiting till i get it on CD to officially listen to it.
that way i can obsorbe it all at once, and stuff.

It's nice to hear positive and negative feedback though.
it gives me a nice perspective of what i'm waiting for.

[dont praise me]

i have yet to listen to the new album yet.
i'm waiting till i get it on CD to officially listen to it.
that way i can obsorbe it all at once, and stuff.

It's nice to hear positive and negative feedback though.
it gives me a nice perspective of what i'm waiting for.

i won't deny you'll like it (mostly because it's new music). but i will go ahead and say you'll get over this album far quicker than we are pilots. in fact, i bet you're STILL not tired of we are pilots. that's how good that album is. season of poison will double as a coffee table coaster after a few weeks.

[xkilxkaustic766]

welll if you dont like them

please dont bash em

I love them dearly and their new music I really like

[Enuf3]

i have yet to listen to the new album yet.
i'm waiting till i get it on CD to officially listen to it.
that way i can obsorbe it all at once, and stuff.

It's nice to hear positive and negative feedback though.
it gives me a nice perspective of what i'm waiting for.

i won't deny you'll like it (mostly because it's new music). but i will go ahead and say you'll get over this album far quicker than we are pilots. in fact, i bet you're STILL not tired of we are pilots. that's how good that album is. season of poison will double as a coffee table coaster after a few weeks.

Nah, I think that's going a bit far. Blackout was a table coaster after a week or so.. But Season of Poison? No way. I love it. But I am starting to slip and say WAP is better... But the tracks I really like on SoP are just.. soo good. URG

[bladeofgrass]

i have yet to listen to the new album yet.
i'm waiting till i get it on CD to officially listen to it.
that way i can obsorbe it all at once, and stuff.

It's nice to hear positive and negative feedback though.
it gives me a nice perspective of what i'm waiting for.

i won't deny you'll like it (mostly because it's new music). but i will go ahead and say you'll get over this album far quicker than we are pilots. in fact, i bet you're STILL not tired of we are pilots. that's how good that album is. season of poison will double as a coffee table coaster after a few weeks.

Nah, I think that's going a bit far. Blackout was a table coaster after a week or so.. But Season of Poison? No way. I love it. But I am starting to slip and say WAP is better... But the tracks I really like on SoP are just.. soo good. URG

I am definatly still in love with SoP. For sure. I don't think I can ever get sick of that.

And I know for sure also that it won't be a table coaster.
First, I dont use coasters.
Second, Matty is right. They are just sooo good.

[xkilxkaustic766]

I can't decide which song I like most

all of em are pretty cool

[Natty ♫=♥]

Ok so I'm re-thinking my thoughts on Season Of Poison....it's growing on me a little more and beginning to like songs that I didn't at first. When the songs are available to be played in my car I think I'll have an incredible attachment to them, till then I'm still not 100% satisfied....more like 85% satisfied at the moment. Which is not too bad! Woo two more days to go!!!!!!!!!

[abthomas]

Interestingly, the more I listen to it, the more obsessed I become with it. While I am away from their MySpace page, I am thinking of their songs. I just want them.

[dont praise me]

i have yet to listen to the new album yet.
i'm waiting till i get it on CD to officially listen to it.
that way i can obsorbe it all at once, and stuff.

It's nice to hear positive and negative feedback though.
it gives me a nice perspective of what i'm waiting for.

i won't deny you'll like it (mostly because it's new music). but i will go ahead and say you'll get over this album far quicker than we are pilots. in fact, i bet you're STILL not tired of we are pilots. that's how good that album is. season of poison will double as a coffee table coaster after a few weeks.

Nah, I think that's going a bit far. Blackout was a table coaster after a week or so.. But Season of Poison? No way. I love it. But I am starting to slip and say WAP is better... But the tracks I really like on SoP are just.. soo good. URG

try and think back to when you first heard we are pilots. when the songs were new and unfamiliar to your ears. imagine the feeling you got when you heard le disko for the first time, that 3-part harmonic breakdown of "oooh's and aahh's" and that piercing opening line "hello little boys, little toys." go back to when you first heard rainy monday or don't cry out. imagine the first time you heard chemistry of a car crash or you are the one. we are pilots blew everything away without question. it dominated my ears for years.

season of poison. there is not ONE track that took me back to that feeling. the feeling of goosebumps on my skin and chills. i'm not freaking out over it. i'm not calling my friends up with "you gotta hear this song".

it's only been a week since season of poison and i'm so tired of it. we are pilots kills this album, and i question anyone's taste in music that disagrees.