Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue : a review

I own far too many cds, am currently going through them and finally get onto ripping the good tracks and getting rid of some of them (then I get to do the fun thing of reorganising/finding self room for the ones I've kept - yay) I've been meaning to do this ages so I'm going to be blogging reviews/observations of some of them either here or elsewhere (ones that fit may possible end up getting fleshed out enough to go in the/a zine)

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue.

I got this album free as a reward from Promosquad (good site,  until it became US only - covered some  unknown to Britain bands and fell in love with The Dropkick Murphys thanks to it.)

Overall opinion: whiney pop-punk that's only with added violins (good) and (possible post 9/11 sentimentality) moping about dead people with a pos religious flavour.
If it wasn't for some of the music and the violins making this sound more than just the usual angstdrama I wouldn't've somehow been convinced this was good and would've got rid of this cd a lot sooner.

Tracks:
Way Away = Linkin Parkish angst rock, good but bit dull really - no violins.

Breathing = classic genuinely pop-punk - they seem to have remembered that the 'punk' bit of pop punk isn't meant to be inaudible. Near rap metal (in a good way) fiddling.

Ocean Avenue = good genuinely pop-punk about the nostalgia for the title track and the joys of staying up all night with your then best friend.

Empty Apartment = half good and half mushy as fuck. being an angry obsessed  stalker type is a good thing ? *confused*

Life Of A Salesman = I love my daddy and want to grow up to be just you, nice music but puke making sentiment.

Only One = loses the pop and remembers the shoutyness before becoming more  ballade. Still angry/upset/screaming his lungs out about that girl that doesn't fancy him.

One Year, Six Months = totally poppy ballad about loss love/friendship/relatives but it totally works and the violin fits.

Miles Apart is a keeper, Twentythree = I'm almost 23 and my life is over already because you don't love me or something.

View From Heaven = boo hoo hoo your dead, life stuck down here on earth is shit / sucks plus the fact that dead people don't usually come back again is apparently a previously unknown concept.

Inside Out the next track is still angsty but at least with energetic guitar and fiddling/violin playing plus the buzz of Blink182 etc at their best

Believe = ooh fidlelly - shouldn't work but mixes perfectly with the rock, oh this is the one with the 9/11 heroic firefighters dying for us all lyrics complete with George Bush(?) tribute sample and how "everything thing is going to be alright" if you just believe it hard enough. Very religious overtones about "wanting to make your sacrifice worthwhile". If only this song had different lyrics it'll be great. Maybe if it was 2002 and I was (a certain type of) American this would be the most inspirational song ever.  Two questions - was this deliberately and the 11th song on the album and is the backing singer near the end singing the chorus of Toto's Africa for no reason what so ever?

One Year, Six Months = totally poppy ballad about loss love/friendship/relatives but it totally works and the violin fits.

Back Home = everything is great but it's not really because everything is shit
mopeish but good though, nice folk violin (shame about the mental image of The Cors)
and like 2 genuinely pop-punk.