Atrist: Pillar | Album: For the Love of the Game | Music Review

Tracklist:
1. For the Love of the Game

2. Turn it Up

3. Reckless Youth

4. State of Emergency

5. Smiling Down

6. The Runaway

7. Throwdown

8. Get Back

9. I Fade Away

10. Forever Starts Now

Release Date: 02/26/2008 The first thing I'd like to say is, overall I think this is the strongest album Pillar has put out. I don't care much for Above because of all the rap. Fireproof is an awesome single, and there's a couple good songs on the album. Where Do We Go From Here is what got me heavily into Pillar, but the problem was by the end of the album there seemed to be too many filler songs, they were just too similar. The Reckoning most people didn't recieve well, but I appreciate it for what it was...and that was a lot of growth in the band. For The Love Of The Game is like a marriage between Where Do We Go From Here, and The Reckoning. Heavier anthem style songs, that are very well written. I have several of the songs rated with a 9/10, but don't take that as something is at all wrong with them. It's just that I gave my absolute favorites (At the moment) a 10/10. I wouldn't be surprised to see my favorite tracks on the song move around a bit in the future.







For The Love Of The Game - 8/10

This isn't the best song on the album, but it is an awesome song. I would say this was the best choice for Pillar as the album opener, it really sets the pace. There isn't a dull moment in this song, and it has a killer riff.



Turn It Up - 9/10

I absolutely love the intro on this song, it's an awesome teaming of Kalel and Lester. This song I see as an awesome song to do live, because you can really get the crowd involved in it. It still keeps the Pillar edge, but they're going more toward a trend I've noticed starting to come out in The Reckoning album. Part of this obviously has to do with the drummer they have, who's almost a funk/rock style drummer. Kalel also adds to this nicely, and some of it probably has to do with him liking the group Infectious Grooves. I love the almost funk style Pillar is bringing to rock, it's something I've always wanted to hear.



Reckless Youth - 10/10

Talk about a song that'll get stuck in your head. This is a heavy hitting song with meaningful lyrics. Pillar mentioned at the start of this album they were writing more Anthems on this album. I would say this is the Anthem of all anthems on this album. Noah also pulls off an awesome guitar solo in this song. It's great to see a rock band who doesn't care about the common trend being "no guitar solos"...because I think at times they really add an awesome touch to a song. Awesome song



State of Emergency - 10/10

At times this my favorite song on the album, because they pull off a sound they haven't done before. With the light guitar riff, it's almost a U2 sound...but not. Really it's hard to explain, so I'll move on. This song has some of the most powerful lyrics on the album, and they get across a strong message. Between the lyrics and the sound, this is one of my favorites.



Smiling Down - 9/10

Many times ballads don't hold my attention, but Pillar seems to have a gift for writing interesting ballads. They've managed to make me love songs like Further From Myself, Angel In Disguise, and Rewind in the past, and they didn't let me down this time either. Smiling Down is an excellent ballad, and I can just keep listening to it over and over. I also appreciate that Pillar isn't ashamed of their faith, and they wear it on their sleeves...without shoving it down your throat. Well Done



The Runaway - 6/10

In my opinion this is the weak link in the For The Love Of The Game album. There just isn't anything here that struck me as interesting, and it just doesn't hold up with the rest of this album. For me, it was just a filler song.



Throwdown - 8/10

I like to call this the "Hybrid Theory" song, because it reminds me old school Linkin Park a little bit, but it's without a doubt Pillar. So, that would make it a Hybrid . Ok sorry, I thought it was funny .



Get Back - 9/10

This is an extremely catchy song, and I gurantee you that it'll get stuck in your head for hours at a time. What's funny is the intro almost doesn't fit the rest of the song, but it just makes it interesting. It reminds me of something from the 80s...almost like the Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). Not something I expected to ever heard on a Pillar album. As long as they don't do a lot of it, I'm cool with it





I Fade Away - 7/10

This song is pretty decent, and I was impressed that a female singer backing Rob turned out pretty good. It has an interesting sound for the most part...and I really love the drumming in this song. Gotta love Lester



Forever Starts Now - 8/10

This was the song that surprised me most in this album. When I had originally listened to the entire album, I was a little distracted so I didn't really hear what was taking place in this song. Once I got this track on a good sound system, the quality of it really came out. The speakers on my computer honestly suck, so it really helped to hear this one on my stereo. The drumming is heavy, and has a good sound. I love how it starts out heavy, then goes fairly soft...and just keeps building up into the chorus. In that aspect it reminds me a bit of Chasing Shadows at Midnight.



Pros:

Diversity of songs

Drumming in many of the songs

Very well written lyrics



Cons:

Couple of songs that are fillers

No extremely big departure for the band musically