Straylight Run “Prepare to Be Wrong”

Album Reviews | Oct 4th, 2005

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Record Label: Victory Records
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Straylight Run’s latest release “Prepare To Be Wrong” hit stores on October 4th, just 3 short months after the band reportedly started working on the 6 song EP. If the length of time spent working on an album is any indication of quality, it is pretty clear that Straylight took a sabbatical for the first two and a half months of the process.

The tone of any album is initially set by the first track, so is a mystery as to exactly why Straylight Run decided to open with a song like “I Don’t Want This Anymore”. Sung by singer/guitarist/pianist Michelle Nolan,it is very Madonnaesque in the worst way possible. It is an arduous track to get through, but at least it is equally bad when compared to the rest of the album, as to not provide fans with any false hope. The remainder of the album sports predictable lyrics sung over forced melodies which makes it difficult to believe bassist Shaun Cooper and singer John Nolan were previously contributors to Taking Back Sunday’s “Tell All Your Friends” a lyrically dense album with more intricate musical composition that glows in comparison to Straylight’s style. The exceptionally bad, throaty whining on “A Slow Descent” is followed by “Hands In The Sky (Big Shot)”, a song that actually sounds as if it has some potential. It has a heavier, raw rocking sound that turns out to be absent elsewhere on the album. However, the tone quickly reverts back into the experimental/new age/emo sound that bombards the rest of “Prepare To Be Wrong” in it’s entirety. If message board posts are a credible source, Straylight fans are eating up “Hands In The Sky (Big Shot)” it is a shame the rest of the album does not pack as much punch.

Bottom Line: Straylight Run got away with putting out a bad album that sold over 200,000 copies the first time, maybe they should have quit while they were ahead.
Notable Tracks: “I Don’t Want This Anymore” is notable for sucking.
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