Garrett Zablocki: Backing Vocals, Lead Guitar
Heath Saraceno: Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Jason Black: Bass
Dan Trapp: Drums
Produced by Brian McTernan
Produced by Brian McTernan
Tracklist:
1. Fireworks at Dawn – 2:10
2. Lungs Like Gallows – 3:21
3. Garden State – 3:39
4. Family Tradition – 3:34
5. Wolves at the Door – 3:27
6. Hair of the Dog – 3:50
7. Four Years – 4:16
8. Ali for Cody – 4:02
9. Yellow Angels – 3:42
10. Chandelier – 3:41
11. Map the Streets – 3:27
12. Blackout – 4:55
UK Bonus Tracks:
13. Life is Not a Waiting Room – 3:19
14. DB Cooper – 2:59
iTunes Bonus Tracks:
13. DB Cooper – 2:59
14. Coming Up Short – 2:14
Total Runtime: 44:04/50:22/49:17
Life is Not a Waiting Room is the third album by Senses Fail. And boy, what a step up it is from Still Searching. Not that Still Searching is a bad album in any way, but it wasn't exactly a step up from 2004's Let it Enfold You. Plus that album art is hideous. Life is Not a Waiting Room (while not only having a substantial upgrade in the cover art department) is sure to please any Senses Fail fan, unless, like with every band I seem to cover, you're stuck on their first album and think everything afterwards is trash (I'm looking at you, "fans" of Saves the Day).
Life is Not a Waiting Room starts out extremely strong with the slow, somber notes of "Fireworks at Dawn" which bleeds right into the powerhouse that is "Lungs Like Gallows". Nielsen's screaming on "Lungs Like Gallows" sounds perfect, and not even close to as eerily-high-pitched as on "Irony of Dying on Your Birthday" from Let it Enfold You.
Then the album takes a turn for Senses Fail's other strong suit—pop-punk—for "Garden State", which has some awesome guitar work. Continuing with the awesome guitar work is the opening and the rest of "Family Tradition". "Wolves at the Door" and "Hair of the Dog" are good but not much to note from them, besides the lyric "I'm more yellow than my own piss" in "Wolves at the Door" which kinda concerns me. Buddy, if you're reading this, please drink more water.
Then we get the fucking amazing-sounding guitar riff that is the intro and verse for "Four Years", and a great song to boot. "Ali for Cody" is a great follow-up, and then we take a turn for the slow in "Yellow Angels", bringing in some nice piano and repeating the outro of "Four Years": "Wake up, you're sleeping, wake up, you're sleeping behind the wheel".
Again, with the amazing riffs is "Chandelier" which is honestly one of the cooler songs on the album. Bringing back the pop-punk is "Map the Streets" which is another great addition. Closing out the standard CD is "Blackout", which is rather okay, not exactly noteworthy.
On the UK version of Life is Not a Waiting Room, we have two more songs. First, the title track, "Life is Not a Waiting Room", which has a killer guitar intro, which plays throughout most of the song. Second, we have "DB Cooper", a decent song, but nothing that's gonna make anyone buy the UK version.
On the iTunes version, we also have two more songs, first, the aforementioned "DB Cooper", and "Coming Up Short", which is again, just a nice little bonus.
Life is Not a Waiting Room is my personal favorite Senses Fail album, and that's because it's just so good. The album is very cohesive and flows nicely. Nielsen's screaming sounds great and so do his vocals. The guitars sound amazing, and are quite intricate.
Fireworks at Dawn – 9/10
Lungs Like Gallows – 10/10
Garden State – 10/10
Family Tradition – 8/10
Wolves at the Door – 6/10
Hair of the Dog – 7/10
Four Years – 9/10
Ali for Cody – 8/10
Yellow Angels – 8/10
Chandelier – 9/10
Map the Streets – 9/10
Blackout – 7/10
Life is Not a Waiting Room: 9/10
DB Cooper: 7/10
Coming Up Short: 7/10
Subtotal: 100/120 116/140 114/140
Bonus Points:
Killer Choruses: +2
A+ Guitar Work: +2
Total: 104/120 120/140 118/140
Score: 8.7 Excellent (8.6 Excellent) (8.4 Excellent)
Genres: Pop-Punk, Post-Hardcore, Emo
Next Senses Fail Review: The Fire
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