ALL - Breaking Things

Breaking Things was one of those great achievements of a band firing on all cylinders. It has been my opinion that ALL albums tend to possess handfuls of throwaway songs that I'd rather skip and forget about but Breaking Things has no such instances. Looking back, ALL was the perfect band for my teenage sensibilities; able to weave heartfelt tunes about love and loss seamlessly with scathing indictments of politics and culture. While most of my early teen years was spent listening to bands with a 'simpler-is-better' policy, ALL had no qualms about showing everyone that their musical chops were above and beyond most of their contemporaries. Whether it is Stephen Egerton, who jumps with ease between crisp guitar melodies and discordant offensiveness; Bill Stevenson, who's solid surf inspired drumming is layered with years of punk influence; or Karl Alvarez who commands his bass to dance with a fury underneath it all, the group stands with few in their willingness to play to the height of their ability. Breaking Things also marks the first appearance of vocalist Chad Price, who's gruff voice was perfectly suited for the much more aggressive vibe displayed on the record.
Breaking Things was released when I was in 7th grade and was the second ALL album that I purchased. Its greatest attribute is the fact that it is played with much more passion and conviction than on all effort before and since; even the tunes that could be deemed 'slow songs' sound absolutely gigantic. As such, when heavier songs do appear, the group sounds to be a much more dangerous band than they actually are. It was such a refreshing album for the teenage me; the songs about girls and pain and loss were much more loud and cathartic than most power pop and the songs of rebellion and aggression were even more so. I know of few bands who could pull of the desperation of 'Shreen' and the rage of 'Politics' on the same record. Breaking Things will always be close to my heart because as a child, it enticed me both ends: the boy who craved the emotion of indie rock and the cynic who craved the antagonism of hardcore.