Search - Lawrence Arms :: Greatest Story Ever Told

A breath of fresh air. Best punk album of 2003.

Matthew S Mueller | Redmond, Washington | 04/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the months before this record was released, I had a strange feeling that it was going to be special. I don't know what it was, maybe the vague descriptions on the Lawrence Arm's homepage, or possibly the phenomenal "Presenting the Dancing Machine" from the Fat Music Volume 6 comp. Something told me that this album was going to totally blow everything else released in 2003 right out of the water. The first press review I read for this album promised to be true."This is the record you always hope your buying, but never get"No joke."The Greatest Story Ever Told" is far and away the best record the Lawrence Arms, or any other Brendan Kelly fronted band for that matter, has ever released. From begining to end, this record is a modern classic. I had the good fortune to buy a copy four days before it was released in stores (as I happened to come across the new shipment as the employee at a local record store was processing them) and I haven't stopped listening to it since. In a time when punk rock is becoming increasingly homogenous and repetative, the Lawrence Arms have given us something truely original and different. A breath of fresh air.The Lawrence Arms utilize the two-frontman sound that has become increasingly popular in punk rock over the last several years, but not since Joe Strummer and Mick Jones has a punk duo shined so brightly (the Lawrence Arms aren't on par with the Clash by any means). Bassist Brendan Kelly and guitarist Chris McCaughan have two drastically different voices and deliveries, but both are masters of weaving drunken tales of dispair into almost beautiful poetry. Lyrically, there is no better duo in punk rock today, although one could argue a strong case for their Chicago cohorts in the Alkaline Trio. Kelly and McCaughan compliment each other beautifully on this record, which is remarkable when you compare Kelly's scathing, abraisive delivery to McCaughn's near-soothing, whispy flows. Both singers are at the top of their game on this record, and compliment each other further by lending stunning backing vocals to each other's songs.Musically, this record mops the floor with previous Lawrence Arms recordings. Most punk bands with one guitarist will typically record a second guitar track to fill out their sound, but McCaughan records as many as three, four, five or maybe more on some of these songs, adding glassy open chords and sonically glorious leads over the typical power chord delivery. Kelly's bass playing is as solid as ever, with numerous melodic lines cutting through the wall of guitars throughout the record. Drummer Neil Hennessy provides a solid backbone for the song with his usual thundering percussives, and shines through on his own during the intro for the aptly titled "March of the Elephants".Obscure references to pop-culture, literature, history and otherwise abound throughout the record, with song titles and lyrics aluding to various authors, poets and writings. While some may consider this plagarism, I'd call it a genius approach to song writing that few have ever dared to explore. The mix of obscure citations and the Lawrence Arm's typical drunken poetry makes for a lyrically tantilizing record that no one has come close to equalling in recent history.There isn't a bad song on this record. Every song is fantastic, and most of them stand up with the Lawrence Arm's finest ever. "Chapter 13: The Hero Appears" is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs of all time, and is easily Chris McCaughan's finest work yet. "Alert the Audience!" and "March of the Elephants" are better than any of Brendan Kelly's songs from "Apathy & Exhaustion". "Drunk Mouth Kitchen Smile" and "The Revisionist" are beautiful at the least, and "The Disaster March" stands among the veteran Kelly's best songs ever. Every song is fantastic. This record is obviously a must for Broadways and Slapstick fans, but it's likely that fans of Jawbreaker, Alkaline Trio and The Weakerthans among others would enjoy this record just as much as the veteran Larry Arms fans do. 2003 was a year overflowing with releases from some of recent history's most popular and best punk bands, but not even NOFX, Rancid or Pennywise among dozens upon dozens of others could come anywhere close to releasing anything of this caliber. Simply put, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" is one of the best albums in recent punk rock history, and is an essential addition to the collection of any fan of modern day punk rock, pop-punk, emo or any related genre. This is a phenomenal effort that deserves more recognition. Order it now. Cheers."

Um, amazing?

dancehall hips | Milwaukee, WI | 05/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay so, the first Lawrence Arms album I bought was Apathy & Exhaustion, because I had downloaded songs on it that I liked. What I found was that I really favored the more melodic vocalist over the more shouty aggressive one. A while later I found A Guided Tour of Chicago in a used cd store, so I got it. I was not impressed with it, and I realize that it's considered one of the best punk rock albums like ever but I didn't find anything in it, the vocals were bothersome, and it just left a lot to be desired. So when I heard The Greatest Story Ever Told was getting pseudo-raving reviews from indie zines I was intrigued, but was hesitant to purchase this album.BUT I DID. And it's amazing. This album is the pinnacle of their career, the vocal arrangements are awesome, it flows smoothly and it is exactly the direction I wanted to see them pursue."

I am drunk

The Ricker | Oakland, CA. United States | 09/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album surpassed my expectations of what Lawrence Arms could be, now Chris is a full fledged member of the band and he's getting just as many songs as Brendan and it works with great. The album has a grand theme and it seems like a book rather than an album. the songs are awesome and Brendan is even more aggrsssive in this album. He has like one minute blast songs while Chris has like 4 minute songs that are very mellow. This was probably the best album of 2003 in my opinion."