By: James Southworth
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
This year, I was wanting to do more than just my typical music/movie reviews that are coming out in the year. There are many other albums from past years that I'd like to talk about or revisit. I thought that a great way to do that would be to make a Favorite Albums Series (abbreviated FAS). In this series I will talk about my top 15 favorite albums of all time. I thought this list would be hard to make, but it actually came out pretty naturally. I will be going in backwards order, starting with my fifteenth favorite album of all time. Disciple is my favorite band, so it's really no surprise that they would take more than one spot on my list. "Scars Remain" came out in 2006, and it really marked a significant increase in the band's popularity. This album is easily one of Disciple's best and most intense. It's filled with incredible lyricism, brutal guitar work and drumming, and Kevin Young's vocal performance that's as impassioned as ever. This was one of the first albums I got attached to independently, so I will always hold it in high regard.
This album gets off to a superb start with the beginning track "Regime Change". This song is one of the best starting tracks that Disciple has ever done. Every time I hear the clashing of guitars and drumming that occurs at the beginning, I always get really excited. This song just absolutely unleashes when Kevin screams out "Build it up/Tear it down!", and it goes into a frantic guitar riff that explodes. Everything about this track works. I love its thematic arc of letting go of the negative parts of your mind, letting your old self die. It's a very redemptive and powerful song, and it's one that I still go back to all the time. "Love Hate (On and On)" is one of the band's most angry feeling songs, and I think the anger is justified. Kevin sings about how in this world while there is plenty of love, there is also so much hate. It seems like the dichotomy between these two is a tiresome and ever continuous cycle. The lyrics hauntingly demonstrate how these polar opposites are so hard to reconcile: "A mother's willing to give her life/While another one throws away her child/A son stands and he turns the other cheek/While another one smacks his face right back". These lyrics are very blunt in revealing their truths, but I think that the bluntness is needed. The band effectively shows how in a world with so much hate, God is the only one we can truly turn to. They don't reveal this truth in a forceful way, but instead unfold it very powerfully. This song is helped further by how superb it is musically, with Young shifting between his beautiful singing voice to his brutal screams to verbally illustrate the opposites of love and hate. While "My Hell" isn't one of my favorites on the album, I still like its metal influences as well as the irresistibly catchy chorus.
The title track is one of the most interesting songs Disciple has ever done. I remember that when I first heard it, I was not really sure what to think of it. Now, it is easily one of my favorites on the album because of how musically unpredictable it is. The guitar riffs come in hard and strong throughout the track. They give off an 80s metal feel that works in this song's favor. I love how the song shifts pace throughout, having this almost punk rock feel in its verses before going into a metalcore like breakdown in the pre-chorus, and then having an epic rock chorus. Disciple delights in risk-taking on this song, making it one of their most memorable tracks to date. It also helps to highlight the lyrical message of how the scars of our past can be redeemed. After this track we get what is in my opinion the best song on the album as well as one of my top 3 favorite Disciple songs, "Game On". It might be cliched to say this is one of my favorite tracks by the band, but come on, how can you not like this song? It brings to mind classic Disciple ("This Might Sting a Little", "Back Again") while still feeling timeless. Twelve years later, and this song still feels just as relevant of a fight song. I think this song is more than just a song to pump you up, as there is a legitimate anger in it of fighting against a dangerous force: "When you come against my country/When you come against my family/And try to destroy my people/I can't stand by/I won't stand by". Those lyrics are some of the most incredible that the band has ever penned, and they still have the same feeling of vigor and passion in them today. This song works so well in a live setting, and it's because the band cares so much about the deeper implications of this song. It can be a fun track, but I personally think it's more than that, and that's why I love it so much.
The unrelenting energy of this album continues to hit with "Someone", a very effective follow up to "Game On". This song has some of the best guitar riffs of the whole album. If you aren't headbanging to this song, then there is something wrong with you. I like how this song does a good job at staying intense and accessible at the same time. In fact, that's something that I have appreciated about Disciple in general. They are able to please fans of harder material, while also not turning away those who might be looking for something with clean vocals. This song is a great representation of why Disciple has been so successful in Christian and secular circles. "Dive" brings back the 80s feeling guitar riff, and it once again is simply amazing to hear. I love how inspirational this song is, as Kevin talks about how he will rise above those who might try to turn him against God: "I'll run and not grow weak/Walk and will not faint/Climb the highest mountain to dive off/And I'll fly high on broken wings". I love specifically the mentioning of broken wings, as that is where Kevin subtly acknowledges that he is still a broken human who still has potential to fall. He isn't ignorant to temptation, and just because he's flying high right now doesn't mean he won't fall later. This song is a powerful testament to how lyrically and theologically honest Disciple has always been in their lyrics. "Fight For Love" is a pure pump up song and the most intense track on the album. I love every single second of it. The album starts to wind down with an interesting rock track in "Purpose to Melody", which has an effective slow burn chorus. I like how the song is essentially a personal story about why the band makes music. The album ends off with the beautiful ballad "No End At All". This band almost always makes really good ballads, and this track is no exception. I think it works that this album ends off on a solemn note, just to give you a time to reflect from all the intense material that the rest of it has to offer.
If there was any one track that I have issue with on this overall nearly flawless release, it would have to be "After the World". I think that this might be a combination of it being played on the radio far too often when it came out, and I also think its placement on the album is not effective. I also don't think that Kevin's voice on this one is quite as impassioned on other tracks, as this song was clearly made just to have radio success. Fortunately, Disciple hasn't made another song like this. This one weak moment on "Scars Remain" does not detract from the fact that this continues to be one of my favorite albums of all time. Disciple really showed what they were capable of musically on this album, shifting impressively from hard rock to 80s to even some metalcore. This album also has a powerful arc of overcoming the hateful parts of ourselves and instead looking to find redemption through God. I can't recommend this album enough. Be on the lookout for my fourteenth favorite album of all time, coming soon!
Favorite Songs: "Game On", "Regime Change", "Love Hate (On and On)", "Scars Remain", "Dive", "Fight For Love"
Least Favorite Songs: "After the World"
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