Control

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (124 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 40:26

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Turning point for Pedro

ZebraHerder

David Bazan's Pedro the Lion experienced something of an apex with Control; not creatively, but thematically. Prior to Control, listeners were treated to various concept-style albums and EPs that tended to toy with themes of religious faith, redemption, loss, and fear, but never did Bazan reveal the nagging voice inside his head. He seemed to sing in rhymes and riddles, but shied away from real controversy. The difference with Control is that Bazan carried his concept style to its ultimate conclusion. He stopped coyly questioning God's divine providence and flat-out stated, "[M]ost everything turns to shit."

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The Sound of Christian Commercial Suicide

chickenfoof

It starts bad (“I could never divorce you / Not without a good reason”), and only gets worse from there — i.e., they’re already doing it by the second song, “Rapture,” the very deliberate spiritual and lustful confusion of which were the final CCM straw: "This is how we multiply / Pity that it’s not my wife… Oh, my sweet rapture / I hear Jesus and the angels singing Hallelujah / Calling me to enter / The Promised Land." You can practically hear the faithin' bedsprings squeaking along to the lyrics. By the album’s end, the protagonist is settling for “Second Best,” and wrapped up tidily if depressingly in the again-this-is-Pedro inevitable “Priests and Paramedics”: "We're all gonna die / Could be twenty years, could be tonight / And lately I / Have been wondering why / We go to so much trouble /To postpone the unavoidable / And prolong the pain of being alive.” Happy stuff. :)

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amazing...

jcshenanigans

This album changed my life. Best drums ever! Options is amazing! Download it!

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They Say All Media Guide

Christian indie rock? It had to happen, what with Christian metal and punk rock having been around for a decade or longer. Singer/songwriter David Bazan of Pedro the Lion is surely devout, but rather than preach a clean lifestyle or dedicate his music to Jesus, his songs are about believing in, questioning, and challenging his faith. His fans are more indie than Christian, digging his lilting whine of a voice and his downbeat, somber tunes, which occasionally rock but more often drone. Control is in no way a departure from his other albums. Bazan, who plays guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards on Control and often handles all the instruments on his records, is joined this time by Casey Foubert on bass, percussion, and keyboards. Bazan is a fine guitarist and his tunes are strong but he’s no Elliott Smith yet. Perhaps if he expands his songwriting and subject matter, he could be a future heir to the tragically vacated indie rock confessional throne Smith occupied. – Adam Bregman

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