Transit - Young New England

[The Saint]

People are writing off this album way too soon. At first I was shocked when I heard Listen & Forgive after a release like Keep This To Yourself. I just streamed YNE and really enjoyed it. Certain songs really stuck out to me like Weathered Souls and Lake Q. It's been fun to watch Transit grow to something new with each release. This is a solid record overall. 

[cwhitmuzik]

People are writing off this album way too soon. At first I was shocked when I heard Listen & Forgive after a release like Keep This To Yourself. I just streamed YNE and really enjoyed it. Certain songs really stuck out to me like Weathered Souls and Lake Q. It's been fun to watch Transit grow to something new with each release. This is a solid record overall. 

 

This record would make far more sense if YNE came between L&F and KTTY.

[futures]

I listened to the first half of the record before I left work and I didn't find it to be as bad as some people here are making it out to be.  I still can't fully get behind Weathered Souls.  I think it's because Joe's voice goes a little bit too low for his range, but I'll see what happens after a few more listens.  I'll probably finish up my first listen in a bit.

[wronghometown]

If you delete nothing lasts forever, young new england and hazy, it's a solid one!

[thomasj182]

#GFYTN

 

says everyone on this board when P+P puts out a new release

 

He's not very active around here anymore hahahahaha

[cwhitmuzik]

He's not very active around here anymore hahahahaha

i can't imagine why not, hahahaha.

he and i are buds, at times, so yeah.

[thomasj182]

i can't imagine why not, hahahaha.

he and i are buds, at times, so yeah.

 

You seem to be buds with the entire AP staff! 

[cwhitmuzik]

You seem to be buds with the entire AP staff! 

 

some more than others, eh?!

nah, everyone knows me because i spent way too long posting on there.

[MisSigsFan]

#GFYTN

 

says everyone on this board when P+P puts out a new release

Honestly, he did nothing wrong. He wrote a review with his honest opinion. He didn't like it, and the band responded extremely poorly, as well as numerous fans who all ganged up on him. And you know, I completely agree with him. This album is just...bad. Plain and simple.

[thomasj182]

Honestly, he did nothing wrong. He wrote a review with his honest opinion. He didn't like it, and the band responded extremely poorly, as well as numerous fans who all ganged up on him. And you know, I completely agree with him. This album is just...bad. Plain and simple.

Where was the bands response? Link?

[futures]

Yea I'm interested to read it also.

[soundboard]

Where was the bands response? Link?

You can find responses from him as well as the band in this blog he wrote over @ http://thomasnassiff.tumblr.com/post/47000318581/every-critic-is-every-cynic-who-i-dunno

[soundboard]

Honestly, he did nothing wrong. He wrote a review with his honest opinion. He didn't like it, and the band responded extremely poorly, as well as numerous fans who all ganged up on him. And you know, I completely agree with him. This album is just...bad. Plain and simple.

I don't think he did anything that wrong either. Although if I love a band and hated one of their albums I might be more inclined to let someone review it who did kind of like it. That way I still support the band I love and I don't hurt their album sales. I mean face it if the album sales are bad and the album is reviewed poorly bands can break up, take forever to release a new album, their label can drop them, etc... So Thomas (being a fan of the band but not liking the new album) may be hurting his chances to hear a new album from the band. That's a really outlandish way of looking at it...but it is true to some extent.

 

That being said good and bad reviews always happen no big deal really. I'd guess Ap.net is just a big place they'd like to find a chunk of sales and no doubt terrible reviews on that site hurt album sales.

[jonnywreck]

Funny - he writes a negative review and he's trying to defend it by calling out people for negatively reviewing his negative review? He has every right to post his review, but they have every right to respond to it. If he's going to get all butt-hurt about it, maybe he needs to consider a new job. This calls to mind an instance where Ryan Adams called a critic that gave him a negative review and left him an angry voice mail.

 

But, the real question is... WHO THE FUCK CARES WHAT A REVIEWER ON ABSOLUTEPUNK HAS TO SAY ( I get it, they're big in the scene and whatnot)? It's his own take on the record, though his addition of break-up rumors is pretty poor. Although, that's the kind of garbage that keeps me from going to the site. Let them go jerk off while listening to the newest hype band that still straightens their hair and overproduces the shit out of their vocals. Since I can form my own opinions, I'll keep my new Transit record in rotation because I think it's pretty damn good. Even "Young New England" has grown on me. Like most have said on here, sometimes you have to spend time with a record before you can fully appreciate it.

[thejesseb]

Funny - he writes a negative review and he's trying to defend it by calling out people for negatively reviewing his negative review? He has every right to post his review, but they have every right to respond to it. If he's going to get all butt-hurt about it, maybe he needs to consider a new job. This calls to mind an instance where Ryan Adams called a critic that gave him a negative review and left him an angry voice mail.

 

But, the real question is... WHO THE FUCK CARES WHAT A REVIEWER ON ABSOLUTEPUNK HAS TO SAY ( I get it, they're big in the scene and whatnot)? It's his own take on the record, though his addition of break-up rumors is pretty poor. Although, that's the kind of garbage that keeps me from going to the site. Let them go jerk off while listening to the newest hype band that still straightens their hair and overproduces the shit out of their vocals. Since I can form my own opinions, I'll keep my new Transit record in rotation because I think it's pretty damn good. Even "Young New England" has grown on me. Like most have said on here, sometimes you have to spend time with a record before you can fully appreciate it.

 

I think his angle was more on the personal attacks from the band. They dont have to like it but that doesnt mean they need to attack the reviewer.

[Brock N Roll]

Transit is one of my favorite bands and I think its pretty stupid for people in bands to call out negative reviews and stuff like that. If you can't handle criticism, then you shouldn't be in a band because no matter what you put out and no matter how good you think it is, there will ALWAYS be people out there that doesn't like it.

[futures]

There is always so much drama surrounding Absolute Punk. It kinda drives me crazy. Why can't we just enjoy the music if we enjoy it and not listen to it if we don't? Seems like a much better use of everybody's time rather than bitching about who's telling who to fuck off (which is unprofessional on ALL sides, whether Transit is saying it or Tate or Drew are throwing it around like its nothing -- either way, the phrase sucks and it has no place in a situation like this and other recent arguments with AP).

[cwhitmuzik]

Thomas did absolutely nothing wrong. The band is bitching after a bad review by the biggest website in the scene, something that they need to deal with. Totally unprofessional. Thomas showed his honest opinion, and I would do the same.

[searos]

Thomas wrote a very well written review even if I disagree with the bulk of it. I like the album more and more each listen. At first I thought it was ok but find new things to enjoy each listen (sorta how I felt with L&F). I do wish the band could've been more professional but they seem very proud of their record and don't want people to be scared to listen to it. This sorta backlash could hurt them in the end but at least they released a solid pop rock album.

[TheRareCreature]

Thomas did absolutely nothing wrong. The band is bitching after a bad review by the biggest website in the scene, something that they need to deal with. Totally unprofessional. Thomas showed his honest opinion, and I would do the same.

 

 

Thomas wrote a very well written review even if I disagree with the bulk of it. I like the album more and more each listen. At first I thought it was ok but find new things to enjoy each listen (sorta how I felt with L&F). I do wish the band could've been more professional but they seem very proud of their record and don't want people to be scared to listen to it. This sorta backlash could hurt them in the end but at least they released a solid pop rock album.

 

 

I don't understand the people that say it was a well written review...too much fluff, fours across the board, unnecessarily harsh word selection while pretending to be a fan of the band, rumors of a breakup, the random comparison to Daisy, etc.

 

I've read some of his other reviews and certainly enjoyed them. I'm not in the business of giving reviews, music blogs, or whatever it is that AP does but he should probably try to be a bit more diplomatic in his negative reviews. Some of the commentary seemed a bit disrespectful and if you actually read the review instead of saying "Yeah this record sucks" then it's pretty easy to pick up on those lines. I think that's where the backlash is coming from. However, the band's response is absolutely unforgivable.

 

Good reviewers write bad reviews. I'm not about to write Thomas Nassiff off, and I hope no one else will, either.

[EmoVeganBoy]

I don't understand the people that say it was a well written review...too much fluff, fours across the board, unnecessarily harsh word selection while pretending to be a fan of the band, rumors of a breakup, the random comparison to Daisy, etc.

 

I've read some of his other reviews and certainly enjoyed them. I'm not in the business of giving reviews, music blogs, or whatever it is that AP does but he should probably try to be a bit more diplomatic in his negative reviews. Some of the commentary seemed a bit disrespectful and if you actually read the review instead of saying "Yeah this record sucks" then it's pretty easy to pick up on those lines. I think that's where the backlash is coming from. However, the band's response is absolutely unforgivable.

 

Good reviewers write bad reviews. I'm not about to write Thomas Nassiff off, and I hope no one else will, either.

 

I agree with all of this except for the band's response being unforgivable. I don't know why we hold bands up to such high standards. They are normal people like you and I. They got disrespected and they felt a need to defend themselves. I don't get why it's okay for a reviewer to state his or her opinion and essentially bad mouth a great band, but when a band speaks up and states their opinion on their review it's considered poor form. I can understand arguing that they should have taken the higher road and not stooped to Nassiff's level, but they are only human. Nassiff severely criticized Joe's writing and his voice. I would be hurt and pissed if someone said that about me after writing several amazing albums. Especially given the fact that, while his lyrics may not be AS good and are simpler than before, they are by no means BAD. And his voice in my opinion is just as good it not better than ever.

 

Torri simply tweeted that Tom's review was horrible, which is basically how Tom wen't about his review only spreading it over 5 paragraphs. Tom and others then proceeded to get upset about a band member stating his opinion on the review and continued to bad mouth the band about it, which I believe is what led to #GFYTN. Honestly he brought it on himself.

 

Basically, if a musician or a band truly believes in what they have done and someone completely trashes it especially in such a disrespectful way, I believe said artist or band has every right to state their opinions on the matter and defend themselves.

[cwhitmuzik]

"pretending to be a fan of the band"

 

come on man. i've known thomas for a while and he absolutely adored the band. so don't try and pin that. everything you said was totally reasonably and he did a very good job in his writing. he can be as harsh or as not harsh as he wants. however, with a crummy record like this, i don't know how you can prevent being harsh. I totally slammed my favorite band (at the time) two years ago in a review, and it felt horrible, but I wasn't going to suck their dicks just to make them like me more.

[TheRareCreature]

"pretending to be a fan of the band"

 

come on man. i've known thomas for a while and he absolutely adored the band. so don't try and pin that. everything you said was totally reasonably and he did a very good job in his writing. he can be as harsh or as not harsh as he wants. however, with a crummy record like this, i don't know how you can prevent being harsh. I totally slammed my favorite band (at the time) two years ago in a review, and it felt horrible, but I wasn't going to suck their dicks just to make them like me more.

 

Well I don't know him but I believe you. Like I said, I have enjoyed some other reviews from him. I have no issues with him whatsoever. I actually admire his defense of the review and the way he is handling #GFYTN.  I think  not knowing him makes it easier to see how this review is nowhere near his best.  The responses from a lot of people basically say "Just an opinion from an awesome writer/reviewer." Maybe his shit flows smoothly like a faucet cuz I sure as hell ain't no writer but he definitely should have had a few people review his review before posting it. I honestly could have talked to him for 10 minutes about it before it went up and we would have all avoided this shitstorm. 

 

I just find it hard to believe that any fan of the band or music in general would write about them like that. He probably should have just borrowed my line that compared the title track to Rebecca Black and called it a day. Maybe I'm suffering from the same flaw and now being too harsh in my critique of his critique...Ahh the irony.

 

Edit: For the record i rate Young New England about a 5-6 right now and I take Nassiff's side in the aftermath given the band's response...just so ya'll know where I'm coming from.

[veggiecorecords]

When I called him out for disrespecting the band he stated that his initial review was way more disrespectful and he toned it down since then. Thus proving my point that he set out to disrespect the band. I feel like we're listening to different records and that's where my frustration stems from...I understand every one will have different opinions on the music but to call the production terrible, and the songwriting bad is just poor form. They also couldn't mention specifics when I asked him and Jason Tate to pinpoint the songs with "bad production" and "out of key" vocals.

[cwhitmuzik]

When I called him out for disrespecting the band he stated that his initial review was way more disrespectful and he toned it down since then. Thus proving my point that he set out to disrespect the band. I feel like we're listening to different records and that's where my frustration stems from...I understand every one will have different opinions on the music but to call the production terrible, and the songwriting bad is just poor form. They also couldn't mention specifics when I asked him and Jason Tate to pinpoint the songs with "bad production" and "out of key" vocals.

sometimes that's just the way you feel. totally is the way i do.

i would go back and listen again but damn if i don't want that sense of disappointment again