New Music: Blue October - Any Man in America

I've been away on vacation for a few days before school starts back up, so I haven't had any time to listen to any albums. On top of that while I was away the one album I have been waiting for was released so I have been listening to it as much as I can so that I could give a educated review of it.

So I have listened to this album 4 or 5 times so far and still have some mixed feelings on it. The biggest thing is that it is so raw and painful. It almost feels like I am intruding on someones private conversations or that I am actually living inside Justin's (the lead singer) head. Not that this is a bad thing. It is the thing that I have loved most about Blue October's music. Whether the subject is depression, suicide, anger, or love and happiness, he is never afraid to lay it all out there emotionally. Somehow this time though, it is deeply, deeply personal. He has gone through a messy divorce and battle for his daughter, and lost, so the whole album is an account of his feelings and reactions to this process. These are real life events and real life hurts that, even though I have never gone through what he has and can not relate on that level, tear you up as you listen to them.

There has been some controversy so far on whether or not he should have been this open. Whether he should have aired all his dirty laundry for his fans to hear. Whether or not this will help or hurt his relationship with his daughter as she gets older, and hears some of the horrible things he says about her mother. That is not for us to determine. The songs speak for themselves and Justin, and Justin alone will have to deal with any aftermath that the album has for his relationships. But speech is free and if it helps him heal then it accomplishes what, I'm sure, it was intended to do, and I for one am grateful, because even though I don't relate to these songs I have related to a lot of other songs by them, like thousands of other people have. In the meantime I have an awesome album of music to listen to while I wait for concerts to come and go and hopefully many more CD's by the band. 5/5