all the times we ever tried

Sure, emo is easy to make fun of, it's even a blast if done right. But few movements in music are entirely failures, there will always be members who excel undeniably regardless of how much their associates tediously wail away. Such is the case for Elliot, whose majestic album False Cathedrals proves their ability to take a pidgeon-holed form of music and get it to rise above such status and exist as simply essential music. This, the song featured today which led me to the purchase of this album was first presented to me in a compilation back in 2000, about the time of the release. As soon as I could find the album and buy it, I did, and honestly I was a little disappointed at first. "Drive On To Me" is everyone's favorite song, almost uncanny in it's beautiful melody that barrels along taking your ears with it. The rest of the album seemed flat in comparison. This was one of my first experiences with a totally different kind of album. Previously, I fed myself on mainly punk and hardcore compilations, albums with easily definable attributes and spoon-fed hooks. False Cathedrals played hard to get, but when I did get it, it was worth it. Soaring is probably a correct word to use in description of the album, regardless of how trite it sounds. Anyways, it was a transitional album for me in terms of listening to more challenging music. If you think emo is best relegated to clever Shadows Fall shirts and hilarious button pins at Hot Topic, then at least give this a try. If you like it, get the whole album and you won't regret it.

Elliot - Drive On To Me