Have Heart - The Things We Carry

Rating

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RIYL

Verse
Champion
Guns Up!

Tracklist

1. Life Is Hard Enough
2. Watch Me Sink
3. Armed with a Mind
4. About Face
5. Unbreakable
6. Old Man II (Last Words and Lessons Learned)
7. Song of Shame
8. To Us Fools
9. Something More Than Ink
10. Machinist
11. Watch Me Rise

Users Rating

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2 ratings

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Recent Ratings

The genre that is straight up hardcore has never exactly blew my mind. Bands like Guns Up! and Verse would come up short in my book and I would label them as bland, but there is something special that Bridge 9's shining band, Have Heart, possesses. The songs are very textbook hardcore, but there is a little something more that makes their debut LP The Things We Carry so achieving compared to other bands. These guys are more than just punk beats, gang vocals, and being straight edge.

The first thing you will notice with this album is that it's full of passion. Now you may argue that all hardcore music is full of passion with the positive, uplifting messages and protests, but Have Heart just simply brings all that, but much harder. Songs like "Unbreakable" and "Old Man II" are about a strong father figure in life and the lyrics are outstanding. The way the lyrics are presented is what truly seperates Have Heart from other hardcore bands. Vocalist Patrick Flinn has the most fun and unique voice in the genre. At times his scream can be so strong and at other sections of the song he displays this careless rambling yell that almost sounds like he is running out of air. Suprisingly this comes off quite awesomely.

Tracks like the opener "Life is Hard Enough" and "To Us Fools" are both under a minute long and they both succeed in terms of power. They leave the listener satisfied even though the tracks are extremely short. Other songs like "About Face" and "Machinist" are downright phenomenally written hardcore songs with several changes and build ups. The background chanting in "Machinist" leads perfectly to the climax of the song with the lyrics "I am not machine, I am human being".

As satisfying as The Things We Carry is, I still do wish it was a tad longer. The bass build up in the concluding inspiration track "Watch Me Rise" makes for an incredible album closer, but I still feel like there should be a few more tracks added into the middle of the album. Speaking of bass guitar build ups, there could also have been a decrease of those in the album. Overall, this was a very well written hardcore CD for what it is, and Have Heart have found a place in mine. I also encourage more hardcore bands to find the production stylings on the drums the way Have Heart have done on this record. The kick on the bass drum and the ting of the snare are almost flawless with each drum beat sounding very powerful. If you are a fan of straight up hardcore, you should definetely check out Have Heart because they are the most innovative band in the genre.

--Chris Pandolfo

Author

cloudscollide
Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:54PM

Comments

King4aday
08/31/2006
08:06AM
Age: 25
Location
West Deptford, NJ
backed.

danal
08/31/2006
11:03AM
Age: 25
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Great, great album.

"Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."

MySpace / Facebook

Amazingthemike
08/31/2006
12:28PM
Location
Cleveland, OH
This album is pretty good, kids are just overhyping it like they always do.

Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records

Rick Gebhardt
08/31/2006
12:31PM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
There are WAY too many hardcore bands receiving WAY too much hype recently. Seems like once a week there's a new hardcore band on the scene that is so ridiculously better than all the rest when, in reality, they all sound pretty freakin' similar.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Jayme Barkdoll
08/31/2006
12:32PM
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
i 100% back this. this is such a strong disc.
wearyourwounds
09/02/2006
08:05AM
Location
32210
this cd is excellent!
cloudscollide
09/02/2006
02:01PM
Age: 23
Location
PA
Rick...you sound like you know everything. If that's your opinion then fine. See everyone elses? That's fine too. Obviously you just don't really like or get hardcore. Is the genre supposed to have a score limit? The highest score you can give a hardcore band that Rick doesn't like is a 3. Maybe you should listen to the album again. I even stated that hardcore can be bland and all sound the same. I said what elements about them seperate them from most of the other bands. Listen for them. Or just keep being a prick. It's up to you.

Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)

danal
09/02/2006
02:24PM
Age: 25
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Hey now, let's keep this civil. No need for arguments.

"Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."

MySpace / Facebook

cloudscollide
09/02/2006
02:29PM
Age: 23
Location
PA
danal
Hey now, let's keep this civil. No need for arguments.


I was in a bad mood. I saw Rick's "In Reality" comment and it just pissed me off...it's okay though.

Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)

Rick Gebhardt
09/03/2006
06:15AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
In reality they do sound pretty damn similar. Outside of the obviously bad genres of music (radio rock, top 40 trash, nu-metal etc.) hardcore IS a genre where, because of its nature, doesn't lend itself to much variation. Hell, part of the hardcore "mythos" is not ever growing outside of the pre-established genre limits.

But anyways, my original comment wasn't even directed at the genre as a whole. It was directed at the slew of recent hardcore cds that have all been receiving such high accolades. These bands have all sounded pretty similar and it comes down to a personal frustration with all of the reviews on this site--if a reviewer even remotely likes a band, they cream all over them and give a high rating, regardless of it is really deserving or not. There's a huge lack of attempted objectivism, and you are definitely one of those reviewers (don't even make me bring up your totally contradictory Nights Like These comments), so since you called me out for "being a prick", I'm calling you out for lacking any type of objectivism whatsoever and merely going ape over whatever you think sounds neato to you, regardless of the band's actual talent, contribution to the genre, or overall musical worthiness. All a band needs for you to like them is some "heavy as shit riffs, brootal breakdowns, and vocals that'll knock you into next week".

Find me EVERYWHERE:

cloudscollide
09/03/2006
11:04AM
Age: 23
Location
PA
rmgebhardt
In reality they do sound pretty damn similar. Outside of the obviously bad genres of music (radio rock, top 40 trash, nu-metal etc.) hardcore IS a genre where, because of its nature, doesn't lend itself to much variation. Hell, part of the hardcore "mythos" is not ever growing outside of the pre-established genre limits.

But anyways, my original comment wasn't even directed at the genre as a whole. It was directed at the slew of recent hardcore cds that have all been receiving such high accolades. These bands have all sounded pretty similar and it comes down to a personal frustration with all of the reviews on this site--if a reviewer even remotely likes a band, they cream all over them and give a high rating, regardless of it is really deserving or not. There's a huge lack of attempted objectivism, and you are definitely one of those reviewers (don't even make me bring up your totally contradictory Nights Like These comments), so since you called me out for "being a prick", I'm calling you out for lacking any type of objectivism whatsoever and merely going ape over whatever you think sounds neato to you, regardless of the band's actual talent, contribution to the genre, or overall musical worthiness. All a band needs for you to like them is some "heavy as shit riffs, brootal breakdowns, and vocals that'll knock you into next week".


Yep, yep, yep, because dredg has incredible BRUTAL breakdowns, and so does Sigur Ros, and UpCDownC, and envy. Did I mention I like Radiohead because of their relentless blastbeats?!

I don't feel like typing all that much right now but you're wrong Rick. My top 5 favorite bands are Tool, dredg, kaddisfly, envy, and btbam. Does that ring BRUTAL BREAKDOWNS to you? No. Sorry if I misunderstood your comment. Maybe I should just give high scores if the band is full of superhuman musicians. Then no one will talk.

Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)

I Am Ted Bundy
09/03/2006
11:19AM
Location
NEWJERSEY856
Good Cd. Good Review.

FACTS, NOT FEAR. NOT FEAR.

Rick Gebhardt
09/03/2006
10:59PM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
cloudscollide
Yep, yep, yep, because dredg has incredible BRUTAL breakdowns, and so does Sigur Ros, and UpCDownC, and envy. Did I mention I like Radiohead because of their relentless blastbeats?!

I don't feel like typing all that much right now but you're wrong Rick. My top 5 favorite bands are Tool, dredg, kaddisfly, envy, and btbam. Does that ring BRUTAL BREAKDOWNS to you? No. Sorry if I misunderstood your comment. Maybe I should just give high scores if the band is full of superhuman musicians. Then no one will talk.

Wow, you totally missed the point, because you've never reviewed Dredg... or Sigur Ros... or UpCDownC... look at your list of previous reviews and you'll see 95% of them are for metalcore and hardcore bands. If you're so into all these progressive bands, then why don't you review in those genres? If you know so much about those styles of music, why aren't you covering them? Instead all you do is stick to what you're used to so you can use the same phrases and such over and over again.

Seriously, get over yourself. Go read any review you've written where you give out more than a 3 and you'll see at least one reference to either having huge breakdowns, roaring vocals, passionate and heavy songs, or any one of 100 cliched things to say about the hardcore or metalcore genres. Bitch at me all you want, but until you learn to vary your writing styles and separate opinion from attempted objectivism I can't even start to take what you say seriously.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Jayme Barkdoll
09/04/2006
12:20AM
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
take me seriously...
this disc rules.
and don't bring my reviews into this... i know they suck.
rick, you rule.
Rick Gebhardt
09/04/2006
05:36AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota
Jayme Barkdoll
take me seriously...
this disc rules.

Yeah, this disc isn't bad. Not by any means. It's better than a good portion of other recent hardcore offerings. But it is getting ridiculous that every other hardcore disc that people review around here is somehow the best things since blow jobs.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

cloudscollide
09/04/2006
08:40AM
Age: 23
Location
PA
Well I'm going to be reviewing some other stuff for ya RIck. Belegost - pretty instrumental post rock, Poo On A Stick - Improv grind, and the new Les Claypool. BUT, still most stuff on my lists are metal. I ussually pick stuff that I think no one will review and Adam occasionally asks me to review some metal stuff.

But I don't believe my reviews are bad because I talk about the only aspects that 90% of the metal bands use to write their music. Earth shattering breakdowns, two steps, blast beats, and you know the rest. I apologize. Next time I'll just make shit up to sound intelligent and not talk about the actaul music. But no I do know what you mean and I'll try harder to...not talk about those things. If not then i'm going straight for the obvious things the band displays.

Those other reviews will probably not come for awhile though. Adam has a few things he wants me to do. I still am waiting to get another hard drive for my computer so I can get music and actually listen and review stuff. Until that happens i'm just going to have arguments with Rick. Hahaha. Just kidding.

Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)