Phoenix - Rome

The biggest thing I always liked about Phoenix, or what first really grabbed me about them, was obviously their huge, stadium-sized pop hooks and tremendously monstrous songs. They're like a Muse but a really amazing Muse and that's coming from someone who actually likes Muse. But as time passed by and I was able to delve into their music deeper, their amazing approach to instrumental music really stunned me. I still remember getting a vinyl copy of Wolfgang and getting lost in various different parts because it's all so nice.

So when it came to "Rome," this was yet another example where the music blew me away long before the songwriting did. The guitar is a shining and subtle touch and the way the drums and guitars balance the sound is genius. The imagery on the song is awesome itself because of the way they play on the burning cigarette to symbolize the dying relationship, "ashes til it falls, falls falls." And the way they explain how he goes crazy from being able to see her silhouette in the candlelight. I love how everything comes together until he says "always and forever now" and the music dies down. It's like a kiss-off to an ex lover but knowing that time has long passed, much like the times from old Rome have passed. - Bryan

Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That

If you're vaguely familiar with a band like Phoenix, then you’re well aware that their last album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, was a monster hit. Featuring massive hit singles and filled in with tremendous music that was both catchy and utterly fantastic, it was their ‘breakthrough.’ And they took it in stride, too, profusely thanking fans for coming out to see them as if they were a new band barely getting started.

Well before that album was their 2006 release, It’s Never Been Like That; an album that is equally just as good but often, overlooked and forgotten about. And it’s funny because it follows a very similar formula for success that Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix took too. There are sweeping hits that get everyone to sing along, there are moments where the songs are terrific slices of pop and there are moments where they showcase their musicianship and craft building, flourishing music that is entirely instrumental. Check out the double-punch of “North” and “Sometimes in the Fall.” The former is a minimal, looping drive that carries you all the way until the clashing opening drums of the latter. But later on, you get lost in its tenderness and both are the kind of songs you bliss out too, allowing them to wash over you. – Bryan