Album Of The Week: Memphis May Fire - Challenger

Challenger is the third album the band from Dallas, Texas has to offer and by far my favourite. I finally got it in the mail last week, stopped listening to any other albums and now I think it's time for me to say something about it. 

The first song, Without Walls, sounds quite mysterious at the beginning, then some people start to shout "This is who we are! These are the roads we paved, the strength we found and the mistakes we made along the way." over and over again, until the instruments join in and only Matty screams until the end. 

The next song, Alive In The Lights, is already one of my favourites of the whole album. The lyrics are directed to all the people who didn't believe in Matty, who don't take his way of living serious. It's directed to the people who think music isn't a solid job, the ones who don't see how many lives Matty and the whole band already saved and will save in the future. Personally I can relate to this song a lot because I can't imagine having a job at an office, leaving the house at 8am and coming back home at 5pm. I want to see the world, connect my passion for music with having a job and to quote this song: "I need to feel alive!"

I have no idea if this will work out in the end, it actually has to because there's no Plan B. Music is all I've got. 

This isn't about me though, so let's move on to the next song: Prove Me Right. The first two lines sound quite general: "We put our lives in the hands of the ones that claimed they truly cared. Come to find it's all just a lie and when we needed them no one was there." and could be about anything but as it moves on, I assume it's directed to record labels and the struggles many bands sometimes have. Furthermore, there's a really fine guitar part in the middle which I always enjoy a lot.

I don't really have much to say about Red In Tooth & Claw apart from the bitter sound it has. I think many of us can relate to it because sooner or later everybody gets hurt by somebody they love.

Vices is one of those songs I could listen to forever without getting tired of it. It's one of those songs which remind me so much of myself that it gives me a really weird feeling in my stomach, especially this part: "And I've been thinking this could be the end of me, who is this person in the mirror I see? And I have come so far, thought I was so strong, the truth is I just fed myself a lie for too long. I never thought this would be me." Looking back at the time I struggled with depression, these are my exact thoughts. 

The next song is the one I listen to when I'm about to give up. Legacy is the perfect boost I need to take a breath and focus on my dreams again because Matty screams: "You'll never know what you can do if you don't try now. Lift up your eyes discouraged one. Keep moving forward until your battles have been won. They say you were created to do great things, 

but words only come to life when you believe. Stop blending in. Start speaking out! Don't miss your opportunity." 

I believe that I have what it takes to work in the music industry, I just haven't found my spot yet. I haven't gotten my chance yet. I also consider getting "Lift up your eyes, discouraged one" tattooed one day. 

Memphis May Fire got a little help from other vocalists on this record, for example from Kellin Quinn, who usually sings for Sleeping With Sirens. Whenever I listen to Miles Away, I get this big lump in my throat because it's about how the guys leave for tour and leave their wives back home alone. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be separated from each other for quite a long time and how it doesn't get easier no matter how often it happens and then there's Matty singing "She needs me but I know they need me, too". That's usually the moment I want to tell him that it's okay, that we'll be fine and he shouldn't leave his wife because I don't want him to be lonely and oh dear, I'm getting emotional again, let's move on. 

Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria sings in Losing Sight what I find very interesting. The whole song is pretty interesting because it deals with the flip side of being a touring musician. I think what we as fans often don't see is how hard being on the road and playing almost every night can be. How exhausting it can be to keep up our expectations and it makes me always so angry when fans are pissed because their idols didn't come out after a show to take pictures or sign stuff. I know how excited you are for getting the chance to meet them but they have their reasons for not doing it, they're only human, too. 

I think this is the longest review I wrote so far so guess you can tell how much I enjoy this album.