A Conversation Between Two Music Lovers On The New Say Anything Album.

If you know me you know how much I love Max Bemis. I pretty much worship the ground he walks on because he is so relatable to me with being bi-polar, depression and anxiety. Now he might be in a better place and not suffering from such ailments anymore but I know he did and he still writes about it, you just have to look. In my case interpret his lyrics in a way where I can relate. It’s what we all do with music, hear what we need to hear, that’s how music saves us.

Now what brings me to this topic well it’s simple the release of the new Say Anything Album ‘Anarchy, My Dear” and how people are going to hate it like they have been hating SA and Max ever since “In Defense Of The Genre” came out.

People want “…Is A Real Boy” and “…Was A Real Boy” pt.2 they don’t want to hear the progression in the song writing. They want the same thing with no change, because they connected to that sound. But artists evolve and Max has come a long way since those albums. You can hear it in his song writing. He has become masterful at his craft.

Now this is what sparked the reason for this entry. I post a status update quoting “Ahhh… Men” from SA. The specific lyric was “Can I lie with you in your grave?”. This prompted my friend, whom I harbor no ill will, replied with this:

“Just listened to the new album, and liked nothing about it :-/”

Now me being the fan that I am of Say Anything and of Max made me reply with this:

“See you can't be an elitist like that (I mean that in the most non negative way possible because I love you)

Max has matured not only as a person but a songwriter. He is married, clean and sober and not in a negative place where he was when he wrote ISARB and WARB.

I know where you are coming from though I wish Anthony Raneri (Bayside) could write songs like he did on their S/T. He didn't write the lyrics for Sirens And Condolences (the album before that). Both albums were darker with much more of a personal touch. Bayside just doesn't have that anymore.

With Max though he still delivers great Pop-Rock records with unique delivery and lyrics. Listen to the album a few more times you will like it. Songs like "Peace Out", "So Good" and "Anarchy, My Dear" show him at his best and most diverse.

He has mastered the pop formula he can write a golden pop-rock song in his sleep. He went above and beyond my expectations. I LOVED the album on first listen, but I have been reading that it has taken people a few listens to really get behind it. Please try and spin it a few more times and get back to me man.

Sorry for the rant, the guy is one of my heroes and one of my most influential writers. So I go a little overboard.”

See Max saved my life with the song “An Insult To The Dead” many times so the most I can do is try to get someone who didn’t initially like the album to re-listen to it.

After a but my friend gave his rebuttal:

“hahaha I know, I know, I know... and usually I'm pretty good about combating that elitist mentality (and no worries about offending me - which you didn't, nothing but bro-love, sir!) Look at my favorite band, against me! where every album sounds completely different.

Everything you're saying about Max is totally true, the man knows how to write a great song. I've heard it again and again. I idolized him as soon as I heard ISARB for the first time because I had never heard songwriting like that before.

I think my feeling toward Say Anything is the same as yours toward Bayside, where you know you used to identify with the music and the lyrics a lot more than you can now. Its a combination of change between the artists and the individual.

I'll definitely give it a couple more listens, and see if my opinion of it changes for sure.

And no worries for the rant, I'd have done the same thing if it had been the other way around :-D”

This is rare when two people can have an honest conversation and be civil with one another. Especially when it comes to music because besides politics and religion people are very opinionated. He and I both can understand where eachother is coming from, we both have artists in our lives who have changes over the years.

Like he said his favorite artists is Against Me! And they catch a lot of shit for changing their sound and not sticking with the “Reinventing Axl Rose” and “As The Eternal Cowboy” sound because it was so different. My favorite band is Linkin Park and needless to say I have caught a lot of shit because of it but they are another band that has drastically changed their sound.

People don’t understand that artists grow with each album and things change. As an artist you want to experiment with different thing so you can express yourself in the best way possible. Though some just do it for the money…

It was just nice to finally talk to someone about music without someone getting offended. We both understood eachother and that was pretty awesome. I had to document it.

Love,
Steven
(You always have me, I'm here for you.)

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