When I first read about Hopesfall, they were being hailed as music in the vein of Poison the Well. After my first listen, I had to agree, but the later comparison for me went to From Autumn to Ashes. Now I am a huge fan of FATA, and therefore, "The Satellite Years" was something that latched on to me quickly. Unfortunately for them, the Poison the Well comparisons came naturally too, and this is mainly because the music is quite similar. They follow the heavy grinding guitar to acoustic formula. The screaming, emotional vocals to softer, more melodic singing. "The Satellite Years" is a surefire hit for those who are fans of PTW and FATA. Unlike PTW, Hopesfall has a less harsh, more melodic edge. They work in similar guitar riffs that FATA uses so greatly.

"The Satellite Years" starts with an almost 3 minute long instrumental. Guitars a grinding and drums a pounding, it gets a little bit old and now I tend to skip through the first song. A bad sign? Not at all. Hopesfall tears into "Waitress" with insane fury that makes one wonder if they spent some of their lives in Fulsom Prison. You can feel the emotion that is being poured in. "Dana Walker" starts a little bit softer (and by softer I mean less grinding on the guitars) and actually harmony in the vocals, which quickly goes into a more harsh sound all around. This song shows the beauty of Hopesfall which is their ability to freely go between the different elements of their music so flawlessly. They can jump from screaming to singing cleanly. They can go from grinding to acoustic cleanly. The transitions are great, and in my opinion, better than PTW.

"Decoys Like Curves" has some great guitar work, but its overall softer sound didn't really sit as well with me. It is sort of like "Horns and Tails" on Tear From the Red, a big change (although not as drastic).

In the end, "The Satellite Years" is a great album, but I have one major beef with it. FATA's "Too Bad You're Beautiful" has been in my stereo for a while, and although the two retain their differences (Hopesfall uses vocals with harmony more often) "The Satellite Years" lacks the originality that FATA had with their album. However, for fans of PTW and especially FATA, Hopesfall is a great buy. Definitely one of the better albums to come out in 2002.