THE LIONS ARE AT THE DOOR (Common Dreads - Enter Shikari)

Member Name: Failasaur

Product:	Common Dreads - Enter Shikari
Date:	15/08/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loud, Angry, Powerful, Political and it's Enter Shikari.

Disadvantages: None

Track Listing:
1. "Common Dreads" -2:08
2. "Solidarity" - 3:16
3. "Step Up" - 4:40
4. "Juggernauts" - 4:44
5. "Wall" - 4:29
6. "Zzzonked" - 3:27
7. "Havoc A" - 1:40
8. "No Sleep Tonight" - 4:16
9. "Gap In The Fence" - 4:07
10. "Havoc B" - 2:52
11. "Antwerpen" - 3:15
12. "The Jester" - 3:55
13. "Halcyon" - 0:42
14. "Hectic" - 3:17
15. "Fanfare for the Conscious Man" - 3:45

'Common Dreads' is the follow-on from Enter Shikari's first masterpiece 'Take To The Skies' and has changed, and improved, on many features. The biggest difference people will notice, and like it or not, is the fact that the screaming that became standard with Enter Shikari songs in 'Take To The Skies' has been toned down a huge amount in the new album and in my opinion it's for the best - it is indeed a lyrical masterpiece.

'Common Dreads' often seems like more of a political outcry than an album at times, however this hinders not the quality of the album as it is still, in one way or another, the same old Shikari we know and love. When single 'Antwerpen' was first released I knew from that moment that the rest of the album would be absolutely incredible. I browsed the internet for hours looking at recent live shows to try and find some more new songs and this is where I stumbled across the BRILLIANT songs 'Hectic' and 'Solidarity'.

The first two songs, 'Common Dreads' and 'Solidarity', go very well together (if you listen to 'Solidarity' straight after 'Common Dreads') and is possibly the most energetic and empowering introduction to an album I have ever heard (on par with Slipknot's '.Execute.' -> 'Gematria') as both just make you want to move and 'Common Dreads' also sets the political tone for the album as a spoken word song with the words "We Must Unite" in many different languages, along with other things like "We are clinging onto manufactured crippling constraints" - an incredibly powerful song to sum it up. 'Common Dreads' just gets you so psychologically prepared for the fast paced intro to follow with "Here to unite, through common dreads!" and then 'Solidarity' throws you straight into the pumping up of the rest of the song, with their signature (to this album) synthy breakdown. 'Solidarity' also takes the lyrics "And still we will be here, standing like statues" out of the song 'Enter Shikari' off 'Take To The Skies' and I think this works really well as it, in a way, ties in with the old album and the fans can identify it this way.

'Step Up' - "We have greatness within us" followed by a 'synthy breakdown' - the best part about this song. This song is not one of my favourites because it doesn't have the same impact as many other songs on the album do - as it shows none of the intensity as powerfully, but it's still a good song nevertheless - not one I would rate highly or recommend as a favourite though.

'Juggernauts' is the second single that came off 'Common Dreads' and it is easy to see why. It is very similar to the rest of the album and pretty much sums it up. Spoken word, synthy intro, political lyrics, a chorus you want to sing along to and the same intensity we expect from Shikari.

'Wall' is, lyrically, one of the strangest songs I have ever heard. It is completely different to the rest of the songs on the album as the lyrics are clearly odd from the first few lines. "I'm gonna paste you up, cover you in wallpaper, screw shelves into you and call you a wall" so as you can tell it is by far the most metaphorical song on the album; and somehow it works incredibly well. The band originally created the track just as a dubstep song but the lyrics were then added in and it became even more perfect.

'Zzzonked' is the song on 'Common Dreads' which is probably most similar to the songs off 'Take To The Skies' but at the same time keeping the same very 'synth-filled' and political tendencies of the new album. However, the reason why it is more like 'Take To The Skies' is because it is as 'intense' and 'hardcore' as some of the songs on 'Take To The Skies' by having far more screaming than shouting as opposed to the rest of the album and just generally sounding like it could be on a better produced 'Take To The Skies'.

Havoc A and Havoc B are both intended just to be 'fillers' or interludes for the album and I think this works well for Havoc A, but I think Havoc B starts to sound too much like an actual song on the album - which is okay but not ideal.

The album has two other songs that are distinctly different to the rest the album; these are 'No Sleep Tonight' and 'Gap In The Fence. Both songs bring to the album what 'Adieu' brought to 'Take To The Skies' - just a break from all the intensity that the rest of the album is (although No Sleep Tonight is very powerful). New single 'No Sleep Tonight' is my preferred out of the two although I do really like 'Gap In The Fence' because both are simply a very good change. 'No Sleep Tonight' is about the disgusting actions of 'big businesses' and the amazement of how they sleep at night knowing how they are damaging the world, with the chorus of "You're not getting any sleep tonight!" and the new video they have produced for it which is very good and shows exactly what the song is supposed to mean - both songs give your ears a break from the 'musical pleasure' and slow things down a bit - in one word, brilliant!

'Antwerpen' is the first single released off 'Common Dreads' and set the bar very high for the rest of the album for fans like me. However views from people became very mixed about how the rest of the album would turn out because some thought that Shikari had lost what made them special, although I think this is one of the more similar songs to everything off 'Take To The Skies'. I think they released this first because it is quite unlike the rest of the songs on 'Common Dreads' as it is less politically 'in your face' and is just generally a FUN song!

'The Jester' is easily not my favourite song off the album, or even in the top 5, but around 2:00 minutes in the song the guitars just stop, and a electronic beat builds up, slowly followed by drums and guitars and I absolutely LOVE this - a long awaited musical explosion after the pumping, psyching up of the build up. I cannot wait to see that song live cause it's just so 'cool' and just makes you want to jump around and have a good time. Aside from the middle-end of the song, the start is very strange like 'Wall' - and I think with 'The Jester' it doesn't work AS well so damages my overall opinion of the song.

'Hectic' is not my absolute favourite song on the album, but pretty much everyone I have spoken to about this album will say it's their best; and I really can't blame them. It makes you want to sing and dance and just sounds beautiful - simple as. This was clearly made to just be very fun and I really cannot fault this song at all, it is perfect in every single way.

The song which is possibly the most obviously political song (in the world) is 'Fanfare For The Conscious Man'. Here is one of the lyrics:
"Our gracious queen should grasp her crown, and take a good f*cking swing at Blair and Brown, for leading the country into a legal warfare.."
As well as having very hard-hitting lyrics the song is very good and is a brilliant ending to a brilliant album.

Although it probably sounds ridiculous to some, I think Enter Shikari have been influenced by or at least sound like Pendulum on this album because some of Shikari's new songs have the same effect on me now (they make me want to move and both are similar if you really think about it; with the whole dnb beats and similar vocals in some songs), so they are the only band I can say fans of them will like this album. Also, I think 'The King Blues' have influenced them, not with the type of music, but with the political side of it because they met at the Give It A Name tour, and The King Blues are VERY political, so I think It seems too much of a coincidence that this album gives off the same political messages as The King Blues fight for after meeting with them.

As you can probably tell I have very little to say negatively about this album but should i?

Overall Rating - 9.5/10 - LOVE IT!

Recommended Tracks:
Common Dreads THEN Solidarity
Wall
Zzzonked
No Sleep Tonight
Hectic

For fans of:
Attack Attack! (The US one)
Pendulum
Sky Eats Airplane
Dividing The Line

CATCH THEM ON THEIR OCTOBER UK TOUR WITH THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA!

Summary: Perfect.