Astray

I'm a punk fan. I hate emo. And Samiam is one of my all-time favorite bands, if not the favorite. I like everything from Minor Threat to Green Day and from Fugazi to Lagwagon, Nomeansno to Victim's Family you name it. But I hate emo. And I hate the typical droll that gets radio play and is called "punk."Samiam always seems to get bunched in with the "emo" sing/scream bands, and I have no idea why. They are quite distinct from the typical emo garbage that I cannot stand. Perhaps it is just the difficulty of trying to classify them... we are always trying to classify things. Just listen to the sound samples.Their lyrics are definitely heartfelt and poetic, but don't let that scare you away. They do have a lot of pop ingredients in their music, but it's only the good kind. The music is just friggin amazing, and the vocalist is one of the best ever in all of rock. I dare say that the vocalist is more talented and more distinctive than Glenn Danzig, famous vocalist for another of my all-time favorite bands and one of the top 5 rock vocalists of all time.A lot of punks are what I would call "meatheads" and would dismiss this as too soft or not punk enough. They only listen to bands that are always hard, all the time. If you fall into this category then you probably hate Fugazi and Jawbreaker, or you might like them only because your friends do (too meatheaded to make up your own mind). This band is way friggin harder than most bands that "sound" harder at first listen. This band is hard as steel.The main point of this review is to convey personal taste, which is so important and so unstable when it comes to evaluating punk music. If you read the reviews for bands like Saves the Day and [stuff] like that, you'd just go buy it... but you NEED to put their comments into context. I can tell you this band is incredibly talented in every respect (and they are), but how is the music and how does it grab you? There's plenty of very talented bands that make me want to....The better the music is, the more difficult it becomes to convey the true feeling it can inspire... and matters of personal taste just compound this problem. I have been desperately searching for more bands like Samiam, but they are perhaps too unique a gem... I always end up with disappointing lameness by comparison. Once you see how great this music is, everything else will sound [bad] ... and I hope I've been able to frame my personal taste so that if you find it is similar to yours, you will also find this music to be to your liking.If you like this album, "You Are Freaking Me Out" and "Soar" are also great albums... the former is unfortunately out of print but IMHO their best. "Clumsy" is also a great album similar to "Astray" and "You are Freaking," but my least favorite among those three. "Billy" is a good album but quite a bit different than anything else they put out (perhaps their "punkest" album, but definitely not their best... my least favorite), and their earliest stuff is also excellent but a bit raw (I happen to like that however).

Astray is my favorite album from Samiam. It's very easy to start singing along to the powerful and introspective lyrics and get caught up in the catchy tunes. These guys were ahead of their time and deserve more credit then they get. If you are into heavy rock that isn't afraid to show it's emotional side it's worth every penny.

This is a suprisingly good melodic punk album and is a vast improvment on 'you are freaking me out' the album starts off with a indie punk feel which continues throughout. I really like the lyrics on Mexico it's just very emotive and you can picture whats going on as though it's right infront of you. I decided to find out a little more about samiam after hearing the thirty second song on short music for short people so if a thirty second song can impress you imagine what a full album can do. Below are the songs from astray ranked out of 5.1.sunshine 4/52.wisconsin 4.5/53.super brava 3/54.mud hill 5/55.paraffin 4.5/56.calloused 5/57.mexico 5/58.dull 5/59.curbside 5/510.bird bath 5/511.how long 5/512.why do we 2.5/5Dull, curbside, mexico and calloused are the main tracks that make astray stand out, this is the first samiam release i decided to get hold of and it's pretty good i heard 'you are feking me out' when i borrowed it which was'nt really bad but it was nothing in comparison to this, well buy it if you want real melodic punk with the emotion in the right place. The album should perhaps get 5 stars but for a few songs not living up to the rest such as 'why do we' which is a pretty poor end to a good album really. Samiam seem to be a pretty angst ridden punk band in a hostile environment over things such as relationships and looking deep into life which i feel gives them that drive that really makes them pull it off so if thats also your scene then this is the ideal album for you.

I just love this record. The music and lyrics are great and the sound quality and production are great too. I think that Samiam are one of the greatest bands ever. I was so happy when they came back with "Whatever's got you down" in 2006. I never want this band to go away. I still have not seen them live so hopefully I will get to do that soon. Standout tracks on this record, well they are all good so I don't know. I really like "Sunshine" and "Mud Hill" a lot, but I like all of the songs on this. Go buy this record, you will love it. Cool cover art and a neat fold out inside with pictures of the band. Really cool.

I got into these guys after Billy came out and they've never let me down. Much of this album has a very youthful feel, but for the most part deals with very mature subjects. Jason's lyrics have always been pretty basic while still maintaining a sense of depth and slight mystery at the same time. A few tracks on this album explore a slightly mellow side as where others are more in your face then anything off of their previous two albums. I'm not even into this kind of music anymore, but they are one of those bands that I would never leave behind. There was something more to them than most punk bands, yet trying to label that would take the fun out of it. They will always be one of my favorite bands. Nostalgia treats me well and these guys bring it out.standout tracks:MexicoCallousedDull

You cannot go wrong really with any Samiam album. This may very well be my favorite though. Which is really kind of sad that a band that was still making great music after several albums had to break-up. These guys sometimes get that "emocore" label, but that kind of makes me think of some kind of whiney kids music. This is well played music with some excellent lyrics. Jason Beebout (vocals) is one of my favorite lyricists. I hope he finds himself a new band one of these days. If you are interested in Samiam, this is probably as good as any album to start with. Just emotionally charged well played rock/punk without being whiney or superficial.

Fast shipping, great vinyl, accurate rating on vinyl!

Quello che provo per questo gruppo è molto simile al sentimento che si può provare per un'amante. Le liriche incantano come le parole sussurrate nelle orecchie dell'amata (o dell'amato), la musica lambisce la pelle provocando brividi di piacere, musica che assomiglia al soffio caldo che fuoriesce dalle labbra e scorre sulla schiena. I colori, i pensieri, le immagini, le vibrazioni che si liberano nell'ascolto di Mudhill, Sunshine, Mexico, Why do We, How Long e Paraffin, sono momenti di puro piacere, come annusare i capelli della persona cara, accarezzarne le forma, sussurrargli parole.Sono andato sino a Parigi per questo, per gustarmi "fisicamente" il suono dei Samiam ... ma hanno annullato il concerto. L'amante che non si presenta all'appuntamento ... fa niente, prima o poi riuscirò a vederli. Per ora ascolto i loro album, incondizionatamente.

Sehr geile Band. Durch und durch super Songs. Die ganze Bandbreite wird abgedeckt. Meine Favoriten sind Sunshine und Mexico. Einfach zu empfehlen.