Blue SKies At War You Pour The Gasoline I'll Light The Match. Release Date : Original - 2003; Official - August 17, 2004. Label: Curve Music. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. I got my first real 6-string.... oh wait sorry. Blue Skies At War is oh, so emo. The lead vocals are very weird - deep and throaty, quite manly for the genre. When he yells, it booms. In a way, it sounds synthy, but I don't think it is. This album is pretty well cut-and-dry emo with simple but raging guitars and warp-speed drums. It does harbour some really pretty moments, though. The chorus on the opening track, "Etched In Skin," for example, is gut-wrenching. Sometimes that boomy, vicious voice breaks down into a whispery whine. It's darkly inspirational, hold-your-hands-to-the-sky-on-a-mountaintop sort of stuff. But they just don't change much. So many of the bands of this ilk, they're all really good, have a solid sound and some stand-out moments, but they largely all sound the same, don't they? I happen to like the sound a lot of the time, but it's at the point where a lot of the time, I just simply can't tell one band from another. Has emo finally given us all it has to offer? Where will it evolve to from here? There's a nice gentle transition into "Constant Reminder." Later in the disc, the lyrics begin to talk about memories and youth, as if these guys are completely over the hill. Oh well, I feel that way too sometimes. It'd be nice to have recess and summer vacation... In the funniest coincidence I may have ever had, that tune, "Last Call," has a blurb in the middle somewhere that brings up the summer of '69 and playing a 6-string. I swear to all that is holy, that first line of this review was in reference to the opening chords of the first song reminding me strikingly of a chunk of a riff in that very Bryan Adams song that seems to be referenced here. That's hilarious. Song of choice : "Looking Back" takes tops. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Blue Skies At War website Published : April, 2005.