The first thing I want to say is that this album is good, but not great. If you like Goldfinger, get it. If you are just getting into them, buy their self-titled (most people will agree with me there). I am not sure whether I like this more than "Hang-Ups", but definitely more than "Stomping Ground." It's a good straight-up punk album, it does not seem to be as diverse as their others, especially the first two. It may be the lack of ska, and though I may get some nasty comments for this, I miss it! There is a teeny bit in "It's Your Life," but not much. They were pretty good at ska in my opinion and they should have kept with it since it kept the albums mixed up a bit.

Well, my favorites on this album are "Spokesman" of course, and "January," even though it's kind of cheesy lyrically. I've noticed that quite a few of these songs' lyrics are cheesy- were they like this in past albums and I just did not notice it because I was younger then? I'll have to go examine the earlier CDs. Another song I get a kick out of is "Woodchuck", especially the ending, which reminds me of Thursday. Even though I like Thursday, the gasping for air at the end of "Woodchuck" kills me!

Some of the rhyming in this album gets to me, and I usually don't have a problem with that kind of thing, it just seems a bit overdone at times. Like in "Happy:" " If that was then/ We could pretend/ our differences would be the end, / I take it back/ Full-blown attack/ And now it all just fades to black."

Another thing that bugs me is the political stuff. It's fine that John's vegan, but it is presented in kind of a rude, pushy manner. Even the enhanced CD has a section with pictures to show the horrors of eating meat. I always thought songwriters were supposed to convey their message in, well, a song maybe?

The music on this CD is enjoyable for the most part, and I would suggest picking it up. If you haven't already, take a look at FatTony's review.