Connect

[Amanda05]

Jessamy, I couldn't agree with you more. You know I've been a fan since the very beginning and have traveled all over the country, seeing them over 50 times. However, for the first time I can say I am disappointed enough to skip the St.Louis show, along with every other date on this tour. The over produced quality of Connect shocks me. The raw emotion of DUAL is gone. It hurts to say it, but I doubt that listening to it any number of times can change the way I feel about it. Like you, I literally felt NOTHING listening to this album.

[Rockiesfan4ever]

Jessamy, I agree that I feel like there is a lot that could have been done with the choruses of each song. Seems like a lot of them are very basic.

[Splasher]

While I do agree with Jessamy in that they tried way too hard in mixing / editing and that some of the choruses could've been better, I still love this album. It's weird, because I'm normally the first person to turn my back on a band for going "mainstream" or changing their style - but this is anything from it. To me it sounds, like Shim said, a mix of DUAL, Tri-Polar and PO, although too clean/polished. I think it comes down to whether or not you only like a band to stick to one specific sound or if your ok with them trying different things (funny because I remember a lot of people on here talking about how Tri-Polar was sh*t and too radio-friendly - and that was a year or two after it was released). I had the same feeling with Green Day after their trilogy because just about all strands of their origins in the punk-scene were gone, but after a while I just had to accept that I'm not going to judge a band's music in comparison to their previous albums. I'm going to judge it in comparison with the rest of my music library. If this was anyone but Sick Puppies I would be after the first listen. But because they've set such a high standard it does feel like they've missed some massive chances on this record.

tl;dr, might not be good as previous SP records but still a much better album than a lot of my other favourite bands could even hope to achieve so I'll still stick by them

Also, I find it weird how so many people loved YGD and War yet so many people hate Gunfight due to the lyrics when Gunfight outclasses both musically and seems a lot less cheesy with the lyrics. And maybe it's just me but I don't see what everyone's saying about Poison sounding like a folk/country song

[rapscallion]

[SickKorny]

Such an amazing album like everything they put out! I have a feeling either Connect or Gunfight will be the new singles, anyone else thing this??

[Carrie]

Ok, I admit I was also a little surprised at the overall "feel" of this record. We all love DUAL, 2 of my all time favorite SP songs are from that album. Tri-Polar was and still is one of the most amazing (complete) albums I have ever heard. But, as Splasher said, it would be unfair of me to try to compare this or any other album to that one because it was so good. If I think back though, I remember skipping over a couple tracks when I first started listening to Tri-Polar and now I absolutely love those songs and wouldn't dream of skipping over them. I'm going to keep an open mind about this one. There is a lot to love about it and I support the pups in every way. They will also be getting a whole new fan base with this record for sure so I'm happy that more people will be introduced to them and will be able to see what amazing musicians they are.


Just another random thought re:Poison. It's also one of my least favorite songs (although as I stated above, this may change) but I get more of an 80's hairband feel from it instead of country. Anyone else?

[Cassie]

[Cody Lee]

[rbell2915]

At the beginning, I really loved the album. I personally think it's really good. BUT, from hearing them before, it leaves a lot to be desired. The emotion of DUAL and Tri-Polar is gone. It's so different. I think everything that Sick Puppies was for, is now gone. I'll still always be a fan, I'll always buy their albums. But this is my least favorite thus far.

-Tri-Polar
-Dressed Up As Life
-Welcome to the Real World
-Connect

All in all, bands do go through changes and that's to be expected. I just hope they go back to their original feel.

Well, now I'm going back to Tri-Polar and DUAL. Maybe Connect will grow on me, just not now.

[Becky]

I'm still getting acquainted with the album, but I don't love it so far. Under a Black Sky is definitely my favorite, followed by The Trick The Devil Did. I feel like it's just a little too over-produced and mainstream poppy. Not bad, but not really my thing. My 11 year old daughter, though, LOVES it. I'm sure more of the songs will grow on me (There's No Going Back did from hearing it on the radio). The beginning of Poison reminds me of Nickelback, so I have a hard time making it past the first 5 seconds.

I miss the raw, 3 piece sound of DUAL.

[blister]

I remember when I first listened to Tri-Polar, I got goosebumps on I Hate You, Riptide, Goin Down and many others at the very first listen! It doesn't happened with Connect. I don't if I was expecting too much, since they released 2 insane albums in a row. But I just don't feel the same with Connect.

The best song in my opinion is WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, it brings the energy and agression I wanted to see, a evolution of their heavy side. It's funny and sad that my favorite is a b-side song.. I like the ballads, and shim's voice fits perfectly in both styles of music, but they're better doing heavy stuff in my opinion.

From the main tracklist my favorites are Walking Away, Gunfight, Poison and The Trick the Devil Did. But like it was said, the last part of TTTDD sounds a bit strange.

I like Die to Save You, love the instrumental, the vocals are great but I can easily imagine more diversity on it, I think the chorus live is more agressive and on point, when I heard the studio version I was a little bit disappointed. I still think this song deserved more work on the vocal line, Shim could experiment more on his agressive vocal and clean vocal in the same song.

Telling Lies didn't changed much comparing to the leaked bootleg version, that's a shame, but is a good track. Where Did the Time Go is good, but nothing special on it, I love the note Shim reaches in 2:07. Anyway I think this one is goin to grow on me. Run sounds overproduced and strange, I don't feel the song, I miss some diversity on it too I don't like the way it returns from the bridge to the chorus, they are waaaay more creative than this song. No Mercy is good, Better Waste of Time didn't reach me, it reminds me that Katy Perry Song , it could be more creative.

To finish, I like Connect and Healing Now, should grow on me. Overall is a good record, but I think we (fans) ALL KNOW they can do WAY BETTER than this record. But I get they want to test something different from everything they did, and I takes some courage to do, I applaud them for that. I hope to hear a better record someday anyway

You guys listened to WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? It's just

[RamsesD]

First of all: greetings from Germany and second: sorry for my bad english......

After hearing Connect for about 50 times, i would say, that the album is more on the commercial way....
I love the straight, hard but melodic style of TriPolar. Music for Fans!
Now we have good melodic songs but not so aggressive (Connect ist very poppy) and aggressive songs with no melodic (gunfight).
And in Songs like Connect and There's no going back i don't like the uhhuus uhhus - nogo
I like the Album - it's cool, but it can't reach TriPolar ore Dessed up......

I will fill up my MegaPuppiesPlaylist with about 6/7 Songs fom Connect and will have verrrryyyyyy biiiiigggg fun with the sickest puppies on earth - like i have since i found them.....

RAMSES

[Dana]

I think we need some positivity. Here's a good review
http://www.infectiousmagazine.com/album ... s-connect/

[blister]

[rapscallion]

Would you shut your mouth when there's something to say?
Would you hear the truth at the end of the day?
Or would you close your eyes and just turn away
Yeah would you?

[Becky]

A lot of songs have grown on me already today. Now to learn the names...

[Konner]

I was reading what everyone else was thinking about the album, and here's my full input on it.

Gunfight, The trick the devil did, under a very black sky, and walking away are my favorites on there, and connect. It is a severely different sound in what I'm used to hearing. I actually really dislike it when there are effects over a vocalist's voice, especially when they are known to have a great voice. I miss the sound from DUAL and also Tri-Polar. I can remember first listening to Tri-Polar all the way through, and I was just so happy about it. I was checking out stuff before DUAL, and I absolutely love the song Fly. Why haven't they brought that back? :C

But back to Connect. I did like the album, I just wasn't really big on the voice effects shim used. Poison was my least favorite, my mom loved it though, but it just sounded really country to me. Connect is not one of my favorite albums, I've listened to nothing but sick puppies since I was able to listen to Connect, and I still cannot get into a few of the songs. Under a very black sky reminds me of a beatles song, or an older song in general. It really grabs my attention, and the lyrics are just too great. "Colors explode under your microscope, but just in my eyes it's all black and white. I lost my mind, under a very black sky" is absolutely a brilliant line. I love everything about this song. I ABSOLUTELY loved the trick the devil did, I wasn't a fan of the vocal effects but it's just so catchy musically, I actually just didn't care and I picked that as my favorite track on the album. Gunfight, I absolutely loved the lyrics. I'm not a very political person, but my dad follows them all the time, and he even liked it, and it's not usually his type of music. The song is brilliant in every way, musically and lyrically. I really liked Walking Away as well. I don't understand it but everytime I hear lyrics "Didn't I love you, wasn't I good enough for you" always hits me. And it brings old relationships to mind. It's not a good feeling, but it's a feeling that I feel with a lot of songs. I cherish things like that since music is my way of showing emotion. And connect. I absolutely enjoyed the lyrics, and I love shims voice in it. "I wanna connect with you" it's just fantastic.

All in all, I actually enjoyed a few of the songs, but I wish vocal effects weren't introduced. Shim is easily one of my favorite vocalists. And it makes me happy to see amazing bands branch out to other sounds, but I really prefer their hard rock sound with Emma's fantastic bass slapping. I feel this album was an experiment to see what everyone though of a newer sound. I still love sick puppies, Shim, Emma, and Mark. It was still well worth the wait for the album, and I'm still just as pumped, if not more pumped up to see the show tomorrow in OKC. Keep rocking guys. Don't ever stop anything from your vision of the band, and I'm excited to see the band play. This is my second time. :3 And I hope to see anyone else there at the concert! (I have really bad anxiety and it makes me not very social, so if you wanna say hello, I'm usually in the back away from most people)

[rbell2915]

[Cody Lee]

2 days later and I still have Healing Now on repeat, not sure what it is.

[Rose]

I was trying to read and the crushing beauty of Under The Black Sky hit me and its been on repeate ever since.