Abingdon Road

First of all I have to say that I really loved the first album "Abingdon Boys School" but since I visited the concert during their european tour 2009 I am really hyped and had very high expectations for their new release.

So how about "Abingdon Road"?

A.B.S. has not drastically changed over the last two years and every song can clearly be identified as an A.B.S. song but in fact there are some differences. Altogether the sound has become much more rough and edgy. The guitars gained more boost and the drums have been emphasized a lot at the expense of Kishi's turntables, being reduced by far. "PINEAPPLE ARMY", definitely lives for the rhythm and the marching 6/8 beat during the verse of "Siren", feels like climbing a troublesome mountain to the peak, and rushing it down freely and relieved when the refrain begins. Very different, very cool.

Nevertheless there are still songs that retain the familiar A.B.S. sound like "BLADE CHORD" and "Kimi no Uta". "JAP" is just a great happy party song and "Shiosai" reminds me of an uptempo reprise of "Athena".

On the entire album, i consider "From Dusk Till Dawn" to be the most unique song, a wonderful midtempo ballad. It was very clever to put it right in the middle of the album to make the listener's ears calm down and refresh to enjoy the second half of "Abingdon Road" to its fullest.

Unfortunately, I have never been that satisfied with Abingdon's "Sweetest Coma Again" since I absolutely love the amazing original by "Luna Sea", which, in my opinion, cannot be improved any more. I just miss the guitar riff during the refrain. That makes it the weakest track on "Abingdon Road", in my opinion.

Almost at the end of my review I want to reveal the real gem: "STRENGTH." is not only my favorite track on "Abingdon Road" but A.B.S. in general. Both lyrics and sound are pretty melancholic but so powerful at the same time. Listening to this track, which was also the opening song at their concert, makes me shiver every single time.
Many people mentioned "Souen" to be the strongest track on the album, which is without any doubt a great song but cannot win agains "STRENGTH." for me.
Even though it is the first track on the album I kept it back until now, because I don't like the best track to be placed right at the beginning, since it is possible to make me disappointed or feel bored too soon.
Surprisingly on "Abindon Road" it works very well.

Altogether "Abingdon Road" is an awesome album with lots of variety and will surely make it to one of my all-time favorites. Honestly, "Abingdon Boys School" has overwhelmed me a little more, but this time my expectations were a lot higher. Thus 5 of 5 is warranted.