Judging this album without commenting about 18v's evolution as a band is a pretty difficult task. As it stands, yes this is a very melodic, catchy, and easily accessible recording. Is that necessarily a bad thing? No. Is it as good as Until the Ink Runs Out, The Best of, or even Vanity? Not exactly. But for better or worse, it does show versitility on the band's part. I love heaviness just as much as the next guy, but honestly, it does get tiring to hear the same chug, the same breakdowns, and the same tormented vocals over and over again. Fortunately there still a good bit of all of it thrown into the mix, albeit with more structure and melody.

Frankly, at times the band does, at times, wear it's heart on it's sleeve a bit too much (i.e. 'I should tell you', 'A Pretty Blue, 'The World is Mine'). That's my primary complaint. Unfortunately, because of this, it's very easy to see how this, along with that little thing called melody (gasp! what an blasphemy!) can lead to it being labeled as mainstream, or even corporate. I don't necessarily agree with that. Sure, they got signed to epic, but I've yet to hear a 'mainstream' band with a sound like this. My only other complaint is the incessant Scott Weiland impersonations. I first noticed it when I saw 18v on tour with Hopesfall, prior to the release of Vanity...and now it's quite apparent with this album.

All in all, they've maintained their identity, and separated themselves from an ever-expanding army of faceless hardcore bands. Like it or not, just because a band is signed to an indie label (some of which are subsidiaries of, or are distributed by, major labels) that doesn't make them any less mainstream nowadays.

Give the album a try. You may like it, you may not...but at least give 18v a nod for stepping out on a limb and trying something new.

I love Bleeding Through, Atreyu, Dillinger Escape Plan, Drowning Man, etc. I also like a variety of music. I get bored with just one style of music. I am going to get on my soap box because I just feel that people are not giving this band a fair break. I met these guys at a show and they were cool as hell. They talked to all the fans till the fans were satisfied, they joked around like regular guys, and were able to laugh at themselves. I have toured, met, and interviewed hundreds of bands and these guys rank up at the top. If you hate this kind of music that is cool don't buy the CD. I don't like plenty of bands myself. However, calling 18 visions sell-outs shows just how little you know about the music business. I am here to share my perspective

Yes this record does not sound like 18 Visions previous material. People grow up, tastes change, lives go on and some expand their artistic vision. Gone for the most part is the chug chug that I loved. This CD only faintly sounds like the first two CDs. Fans who have heard the first two CDs will be shocked. However, this is a new band with new material. This is a great rock album. Radio friendly? Maybe a few songs, but what a great world it would be if this were the kind of music that dominated the radio stations instead of Spears, Timberlake, etc.

Many of the whinny hardcore kids are crying sellout. This band has been around for ten years and yet I hear a 16 year old ?fan? saying 18 betrayed him. I doubt if that 16 old listened to 18 visions when he was 6. Most of these kids live with mom and dad in suburbia and will grow to be bankers, lawyers, and doctors. They either mooch off their parents or work at some crap job. Would anyone in the right mind turn down a raise if their boss gave it to them? Sorry Walmart, I want to remain a bag boy because I would be a sell out if I moved up to cashier? I would love to make music for a living. When I signed to a "major" (an indie with some major support) we got next to nothing for recording, ($8,000. Average studios charge $35-100 dollars an hour just to use the basic equipment), no tour support, and no backing. We were still expected to go on tour (we had to buy our own van, trailer, etc), do interviews (we paid for the long distance charges), get a booking agent, etc. It would have been better to not be on the label at all. I now am in serious debt, although I would do it all again.

If you think Trustkill is huge, I doubt that any of their bands have sold 100,000 units. There are over 250 million people in the US. That means less than .0004 percent of US citizens own the record. Whoopee. By the way, since when has making music been about anything but the artist's visions and ideas? Would it not be selling out if the artist only listened to criticisms and worried what everyone thought? Do you think it is that easy to sell 1 million records? You are na?ve if you think it is. I thought hardcore and punk music scenes were about being open minded and against fascist judgmental behavior. It seems the death of hardcore will be fans who will only listen to the same formula as previous bands. Sometimes I wonder how this makes hardcore ?innovative? or different than any other formula music.

As far as pay, the number one way bands make money through records is airplay. You really think 18 Visions is getting played everywhere in the United States? Please! For every record sold they are lucky to get 24 cents. The initial sales money goes to paying back the label for the "loan" to record the CD. Most of these bands make some money on tour (they have to pay for the van/tour bus, manager, lawyer, merch companies, roadies, soundmen etc.) When we played live we were constantly not getting paid. Even if 18 visions sold 100,000 cd's at 25 cents (if they got the money from CD sale one) the money made would be $25,000. Divide that by five guys and I just don't see how you claim sell out.

I know how it is to starve, and if a label actually wants to make sure I don't starve great. Every label, even idie labels try to tell bands how they should sound. We were constantly told be heavier, be more mellow, have shorter songs, write less deep lyrics, don't scream as much, get a new drummer, etc. Every label tries to manage and exploit you. Every label rips you off. That is the music business. Might as well have a roof over your head, because pride will keep you in a dump. Some small labels are the worst when it comes to treating bands poorly. Ask Dillinger about Relapse or Einsturzende Neubauten about several of their deals some day. Talk to Type O or Fear Factory about Roadrunner (that label is still small potatoes). Nightmares! I could go on.

I know how much Trustkill pays bands and it is nothing. I am sure this band is in debt up to their ears. Hell, they still work 9 to 5 jobs after tours. I doubt they are getting much money from Epic because they did not sign to Epic's main parent label but a small development subsidiary. They might have got $40,000 to record the CD (maybe but I doubt it). That money went to the producer, the studio, the mastering, etc. People complain about how new CD recordings sound like crap (Metallica for instance) but when a band goes out and records a great sounding CD people still complain.

Some hardcore fans complain this band only sings about girls. Check out 95% of other new hardcore bands and you will find the same. I think this is a heartfelt CD and if you hate change, want everything to sound the same forever, and are a conservative idiot (yes hardcore fans can be conservative!) you will whine. I think people are just crying over their own insecurities, naivety, and jealousy. This is an awesome CD!!

Like many of you reading this page, I was highly anticipating 18v's new release for months before it ever came it. Having been listening to them since Until The Ink Runs Out, I like a lot of other people was surprised by this one. I'm not going to lie to you. When I first heard this cd, I didn't like it. It wasn't 18v, it wasn't really hardcore, and it just sounded like some weird transition to the Stone Temple Pilots or Velvet Revolver or something. It was a huge dissapointment considering I bought it the day it came out and expected so much more. But like a lot of other cds out there, this one will take a lot of time to grow on you. If you give it a chance I think you will find that this album, while not the same 18v we're accustomed to, offers some good songs and moments for all to hear.

"Obsession", the title track and opening song, is probably the only song on the cd similar to the 18v seen on "Vanity". It has a screaming verse, and a sung chorus, with some haunting melodies throughout the song. Too bad the song is only two minutes, because it's one of the best on the cd. It does lead straight into "I Let Go" which I think is one of the best songs on the cd. The verse is quite good and the chorus, even though the lyrics are quite lame, is very catchy and will be stuck in your head. My favorite part of the entire song is right before the bridge when James screams "I gotta leave it alone!". That makes the whole song. A lot of the songs on this cd follow the same melodic pattern like "Crushed" and "This Time", but most especially the first single "Waiting For The Heavens". When I first heard this song I hated it. I thought it was probably the worst 18v song I had ever heard, even worse than the acoustic song "The Critic" on Vanity. However after listening to this song many times through seeing the video on tv, or playing the cd in my car, I really began to like it. Now I love the song. It's one that takes time to grow on you. "Bleed by Yourself" and " A Long Way Home" are staples of 18v's new style. The thing I like a lot about the record is how they can go from something extremely heavy to something very melodic, like on "Crushed" when James is screaming "You can't save me", and then it transitions right into the soft melodic "why did you give up on me". If you like things like that, then this cd has plenty to offer you. "Tower of Snakes" is by far the best song on the entire cd, mainly because it has the only breakdown on the entire cd. However it's overall song structure and sound is the best of any song found on the cd. So now that the good has been taken care of, this cd isn't without the bad. Making their way onto the cd are some totally lame slow and boring songs "I Should Tell You" and "Said and Done". They definitely aren't something I expected to ever hear on an Eighteen Visions record. "Lost in A Dream" isn't much better. I think the biggest step back on this entire record though is not the melody, It's the lyrics. I remember James for always writing good lyrics and thoughtful songs, but the songs on here do sound like top 100 radio songs. A lot of lines on the record just sound really cliche like on "Tower of Snakes" when James says "But sorry couldn't cut the mustard, and it's absurd". It seems to be more a focus on rhyming effectively, than actually writing thoughtful lyrics. The don't get worse than on the afformentioned "I should Tell You" and "Said and Done".

Put aside the lyrics. I actually do not mind the added melody. To me this is the final transformation of 18v into what they wanted to become I guess. It started with "Vanity" and now "Obsession" has fully embraced the change. I will not tell you this is hardcore. It's not. If you like hardcore, and not a lot of other music styles, you're going to hate this cd. For me this is just a melodic rock cd. 18v is now a melodic rock band. If you liked they're older stuff, and didn't really like the direction they were taking with "Vanity", then you should stick with the older stuff. Don't waste your money on this one. If you liked the more melodic side of Eighteen Visions, or you like melodic hardcore in general, then you should definitely pick this one up. Hey I'm a fan of all the 18v releases and I still like this one, so I'm not saying if you're an older fan you won't like it. However keep an open mind when listening. As to how they play live, I saw them on both the recent Lost Prophets and Killswitch Engage tours, and yes they pretty much played newer stuff. At the LP show the only old one was "Vanity" and at KSE they played "In The Closet" and "Vanity". That's what bands do though. When they release a new cd they tend to focus on playing the new stuff. I'm seeing them in January, and they're headlining so we'll see how their set looks. Also shortly after the release of the cd 18v jumped ship and signed to Epic records. I don't really care about that, but I hope it doesn't further detereorate their style. Good thing I got the Trustkill pressing, before it's re-released by Epic.

Being that I have just caught on to the spectacle that is Eighteen Visions, I can easily give an open and honest opinion of Obsession without comparing it to the bands past releases. This I find important considering that other reviews I have read seem to only contain comparisons that are unnecessary to the work that the band has put out. My favorite bands never put out two albums that sounded alike. If only people would realize that each album is supposed to be a different vision, feeling, and sound than the last then they would not be let down by their want for a sequel to their favorite album. That said, let's move on to the review.

Obsession starts out with a blistering title track that sums up the feelings behind this album in simple easy to understand lyrics: "Obsession, Desire, Depression. Nothing is meant to be. Love never wanted me." The album then becomes the journey that supplies the details within the feelings. The album continues with furious screams, bitter pop melodies, and aggressive attacks that set forth a mood of distrust and deception. Listening to the album, I as a listener sink into a hole of confusion and rebellion. Listening to Obsession takes me back to every painful breakup that I have been through. This album is not just easy to listen to but to sink into and become the subject of the feelings composed into music for the album. I personally love these types of albums that you don't have to work hard to get into; Heavy enough to grab your attention, but yet melodic and catchy enough to keep it.

Also I would like to note that the album comes with a bonus DVD with a documentary of the making of the album and some live stuff. Definitely adds to the value of an already awesome CD.

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I've seen and heard 18V in basically every stage of their "storied" OC hardcore/straight-edge (hardline brah... or is it nardline?) career and can definately say that, although this *is* a departure (as the other reviewers have said) from their "pickin' weeds", corona showcase pit mosh, and snapple "straight edge beer" metal jams of the past, it still is a solid stand-alone effort.

Their STP (admitted) influence definately shows here, and it also sounds like Tim from VOD rubbed off on James' vocal stylings as well...

I could get into most of this album, except for track 6, which just straight up sounds like Incubus... sorry.

The best part of this band is Eric "Worst Guy" Johnson, however. He rules. This is definately the soundtrack to cruise a Newps Del sesh with, or maybe even go nostalgic and get a Loco tofu/mushroom burger, or cruise D-land with Monster Crew!

LSC will meet you there.