Okay, if you’re not a 5Fe fan, you won’t get how happy this makes me. I’ve been hearing rumors of this and had heard from Roper on another site that this was coming sometime this winter, but I didn’t believe it until now. **
Also, for those interested, if you didn’t get the third BS2 album, do it. It’s not as good as the second, in my opinion, but it is worth owning and is definitely a great compilation of work. Their second album still remains one of my favorites, though, so I may be a bit biased on which of the three is the best.
Screencap from BS2's page (and no, I'm still not on Facebook myself). Brave Saint is neither dead nor dying. And Five Iron has arisen from the ashes...somewhat.
Oh, and Brave Saint Saturn loves you. *grins*
**(And…I can still hope that they get back together, right? I mean, 11 concerts isn’t enough to have attended, right? I would’ve made it a baker’s dozen of 13 shows, but we had car problems for the last two, although Misty and I had tix to them! I’m still hoping to see Brave Saint again sometime in the future. I know they played a few places this past summer, but nothing close enough. Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me. I’m getting old and miss the “good ol’ days.” *winks*)
Freakin awesome, awesome I tell you.
I’ve been waiting for this! It’s about time, eh?
Jeez, this post makes me happy. I love all things Roper, but Brave Saint Saturn will always have a special place in my heart, maybe even above FIF. I agree that The Light of Things Hoped For is the best, though. I enjoyed Anti-Meridian, but there were a few songs that could have been cut, and it didn’t have that epic feeling its predecessor had, or its tear-up ending. Also, I only saw FIF twice
I think my favorite concert of all time (still) was the BS2 concert at Cornerstone. It wasn’t perfect (especially since Roper kept forgetting the dang words, although we didn’t!), but it was almost overwhelming in its “perfectness” in other ways. (I’m a huge Roper fan, too, in case you can’t tell.)
I wonder if part of the Anti-Meridian problem is that they were trying to make it “perfect” and ended up overthinking things a tad (especially since they were label-less on this one). I’ll say this, though, Anti-Meridian does have a couple of songs that would make EXCELLENT worship songs (although the other two do as well). LoTHF seems to be more … the word? raw? I felt the emotion in each song as clearly as if I were standing in front of the writer of the lyrics and he were pantomiming them as he sang. The other two don’t have that complete sense of depth that LoTHF has. I knew it would be hard to top, in my mind, as soon as I heard it. (Here’s hoping Roper isn’t just talking out his rear, though, and they consider a second trilogy… I keep wondering what they could come up with next.)
Nicholas, did you hear the Insyderz are back together and are possibly making another album? Now if only the ‘Tones would find each other again and FIF would come out of retirement, they could all three go on tour. I might have to miss a bit of work for that tour…
I guess the better Reese’s life is the less emotional the songs are. When his fiancee left before they wrote LoTHF, the vitriol he poured into those songs, and the crying out for help was so palpable. Now that his life is going well, the songs are still good, just not as moving. I am guessing he does not mind, though!
I agree with the worship song comment for Anti-Meridian, especially for the last two tracks.
I forgot about the Insyderz! That is great. I was just thinking it is about time for a Supertones reunion, so maybe Insyderz will get them and FIF on the ball for that. These bands need to be together until we are all in our 80s.
Which fiancee, Nicholas? He’s had about six or seven, if I count them correctly, based on something he said once. (Not. kidding.) Which is why the lyrics on “Anastasia” makes me grin a bit at the irony (please, don’t think I’m too mean for admitting this!): “I’m afraid that if I write this song/she might break my whole heart in two.” And then guess what? That’s not who he married either! (And “Enamel” is not about Stacy either, actually, so that was another one who broke his heart. It was a different girl who left him while she was in Mexico. And, dang, when I heard “Enamel” for the first time, the bitterness was palpable! That was definitely one that had tons of emotion poured into it.)
Which reminds me, do you have the unedited versions from LoTHF? If not, email me and I’ll see if I can send them to you. I have unedited versions of both “Enamel” and “Heart Still Beats,” since T&N censored both of those songs on the actual album.
I’m ready for a “Ska Is Not Dead” tour!
I really, really like Brave Saint Saturn. I kind of lost track of Five Iron after their first album, as the second sounded kind of like more punk and ska, and I had a roommate that was more into those than I was. Meaning he had it on a lot, so I had no desire to keep track of it myself. I just heard a bit of the first Brave Saint album while I worked at a Christian bookstore, but didn’t have the cash to get it. I didn’t even know it was put out by a good chunk of Five Iron, either.
I wish I hadn’t lost track of either group, as I really like Five Iron’s later work, and Brave Saint Saturn even more. Five Iron could have some intense meaning and lyrics (Electric Boogaloo is my favorite for these reasons, plus the music), but not as consistently as Brave Saint. Personally, I’m a toss-up for the third and second Brave Saint albums, depending on what I’m in the mood for. There’s some incredible strength and depth to be found in both.
Both “bands” put out some of the best music there has been in the past 10-15 years, and there has been some very good stuff during that time period, despite all the Britneys and Gagas out there, heh.
It’s a good thing you had me come around to put you back on track, eh? *winks* I still think LoTHF is by far the best one (well put together, catches the listener by the heart and doesn’t let go, pulls listener into the music much more quickly, etc.), but Anti-Meridian is very good (especially in comparison to other music being put out currently). There aren’t that many bands that care enough about their band’s personal message enough to pull out from a label and still try to find time to do something like this on their own (even if it takes ten years — okay, I’m exaggerating, but still…), and by that standard (and the obviously love for their work), Anti-Meridian is a wonderful contrast to a lot of albums in the past 10 years AND BS2 is an amazing contrast to pretty much every band out there.
Neal, Electric Boogaloo is definitely my favorite Five Iron album! The first time I listened to it the whole way through I started crying by the time they got to Eulogy. I feel like the slightly bitter, kind of worn-out feeling that enhances that album overtakes the following one and smothers it a little, so I definitely like Electric Boogaloo the best, and it is still the Five Iron album I revisit the most.
And no, Jess, I don’t have the unedited version of those songs, so expect an e-mail.
Here’s to hoping both bands give us more music in the near future.
I vacillate between FIF2:EB and The End Is Near, to be honest. It sometimes depends on my mood, but both have tear-pullers for me and both seem a bit more serious in mood (while still containing some light-hearted ones) than previous albums. I think they are both put together very well (lyrically and musically — I think they were just getting their “new” [i.e., evolved] sound perfected and were blending the horns in to a unique FIF-sound much, much better) and are a definite sign of maturity for the band. “Something Like Laughter,” written, if I’m not mistaken, by Jeff the Girl (who also wrote “Car” and one or two others off the top of my head), really hit home for me when I first heard it (living alone, a bit jaded with what the world had to offer) and still holds a piece of my heart. And “On Distant Shores” always makes me choke up when I try to sing it, no matter what, because I definitely identify with the extreme human-ness of those lyrics. On the other hand with EB, you have…, well…okay, I’m not going to go into the merits of my personal FIF worship song album that I’d create if I had the gumption. *winks* I will say that there was not one FIF concert that didn’t end with me in absolute tears after screaming, “Dear God, increase!” in the last song. No other band has had that lasting effect on my spirit.
If nothing else, FIF definitely knew what it meant to be human and to live life as a fallible person day in and day out, crying out for hope, peace, and increased faith day by day. They wrote about Christians’ greatest abilities to reach out and help others; they wrote about our hugest failures as a nation, our fallibility as Christians, and our deepest fears of failure in attempting to walk in Jesus’ footsteps; and they reminded us that when we do fail, Someone is there to pick us up, dust us off, and set us aright again. How many other bands do all that, remind us we’re “scum of the earth” but that God loves us and wants us to return to Him just the same? Too many only focus on the good, good, good of Christianity, but there is this fear of failure and guilt in our own blatant human frailty that many times is dismissed in the Christian music world. Anyway…excuse the little sermon there….
Right when they hit their stride, they left us in the lurch! From the things I’m hearing (and the album itself), I really think we’ll almost definitely be seeing more BS2, but I can only hope, dream, and keep yelling for more FIF in the future.
Send on, and I’ll see if I can get them attached for you. There’s something added to the bitterness of “Enamel” when you hear the actual deleted word sung.
I think Five Iron has some songs superior to the ones on Electric Boogaloo (but not many, they’re all quite good), but none of their other albums is as consistently good. The End is Near is quite good as well, but it doesn’t get me quite as well as Electric Boogaloo.