1. The Stuggle [3:11]In the opening track to the album, the listener is met with a bunch of spunky guitars and relentless drums, mixing them together you have a strong upbeat rock track that gets seems to get faster, then slows down an
d then continues to speed up. Urie unleashes his vocals as he starts singing quick paced about fighting off "The Struggle" almost as if the Struggle is a diseases that he's suffering from and hes singing his way through it. Quite a depressing track but its quite uplifting song although giving us quite a dark and Gothic sound with ramped up energy giving resulting in a strong sounding alternative rock/goth track
The infectious melody mixed with drums and a repetitive guitar hook that is added with keyboards, followed by the same infectious hook mixed in with Urie's strong yet nasally vocals adds for the perfect rock track. As Urie fights off the "Struggle" which could possibly be his strongest vocal number on the album, as many of the parts of the track calls for a nice long vocal belt that wasnt really present on his previous album and his vocals have seemed to have gotten stronger over the years. If you thought the song was great, the bridge brings us to new heights as the beat and instruments pick up and the beat seems to get stronger along with Urie's voice getting stronger and he surprises us with the signature hard rock scream as he screams out "THE STRUGGLE!!!" seconds before the song ends which could be quite the surprise since that is the first time Urie has ever done the signature scream as the the song comes to a haunting finish.
2. Underdog [3:50]Following the opening track, Urie takes down a slower route when we are introduced to 'Underdog'. The song starts off with a backing beat that is aided with an electric guitar and subtle drum beats. Urie has always been labeled the underdog based on who his brother is, the way he looks and the career he has had. In the song he sings about constantly being labeled as an underdog and then coming to terms with the name and making it his own. He sings the song to full capacity, keeping it subtle with the subtle beat of the track until when the chorus comes blasting with a strong guitar and drum base as he sings "Underdogs always prosper, I'll walk alone, I'll walk alone, the underdog will walk alone" unleashing the memorable chorus. Another big highlight in the song is the guitar solo by James Urie that goes throughout the entire bridge that may have the listener bobbing their head as the pure guitar perfection is heard, followed by the final chorus.
3. Broken ft. Lily [5:00]James begins singing with his captivating, yet melancholy voice sounding almost as if he's possessed. Out of no where, Lily breaks out onto the track with her powerful vocals singing for the beginning a quick, two lines, followed by James's and as the hook, followed by chorus rolls up, the song breaks into an Alternative Rock bliss with a rhythmic drumming loop continuing with the same piano notes with Lily and James going back in forth singing the chorus, singing deeply about being Broken, yet trying your hardest to pull themselves, but still being skeptical and vulnerable at the same time conveyed with thee inspirational yet depressing lyrical content.
We know that James Urie, and Lily have been broken at certain points in their lives and the emotional that is shown throughout the chorus as James sings his lines, and Lily ad-libs, is quite shocking making them a surprisingly, emotionally great pair with their voices mixing well with each other.
Listening to the track, it becomes quite more depressing moving onto verse two, with the backing beat resuming, harder then before and eerie as can be as James channels god, to help him rise but he continues to fall, yet keeps telling himself he can keep pushing forward and keeps pushing. The hook as James & Lily belt out their motives to climb, is pushed to a bigger chorus this time around, as the vocals of both Lily and James sound stronger with the instruments hitting harder once again for the chorus as they sing. Followed by the bridge that cuts down to an eerie breakdown as James sings hard, hunger in his vocals along with Lily making the song that much better as they 'break' there way throughout the rest of the track
4. Anarchy Like This [4:30]Following a track like Broken, it is hard to figure out what track would go after such a depressing, yet big song. The next track is called Anarchy Like This. The track starts off with a slow, electronic rock like beat, with is aided with keyboard notes and as you listen to the beginning intro of the song you can hear the guitars building up and seconds into the song, guitar riffs blast out of no where. More seconds past with the riffs and James Urie starts singing. Anarchy Like this was written in the middle of Urie's depressive state as he writes during the chorus "Look at me, I cant be thinking of Anarchy Like This, I cant be thinking Of Anarchy Like This, I'm scaring myself thinking about Anarchy Like This" not exactly explaining what that "anarchy is". The haunting beat that is now aided with drums during the chorus and the bridge. He sings about his empty soul that cannot be filled with happiness and the joys of life. He sings: Look at me, what have I become, my empty soul cannot be filled with the lies of joy and happiness. Something that lasts only a short time, I rather take the other route.. I rather take the other route, followed by the unleashing chorus that speeds up. The bridge is also a standout part of the song as all the instruments seem to stop soon as the bridge emerges. As a scary effect is added to Urie's voice, which has him sounding quite distorted with just light keyboard keys as he continues singing slowly and as if he's possessed with this effect. The bridge eventually brings us to the last chorus, which is stronger then the one before as he sings the memorable chorus. Which may have the listener thinking "What type of Anarchy was Urie singing about?". This strong chorus comes to an end as Urie does his surprising punk rock screaming much like in the opening track of the album.
5. King Of Heartbreak [3:20]The 5th track off of the single a much more laid back song then Anarchy Like This takes a different turn for the album as James opens up about love for the first and only time on the album and for the first time since debuting as an artist. In the song he sings about not being able to find this girl that he loves and will always remain the King Of Heartbreak. The song is laid back and James's voice turns much more sympathetic as it seems like he's singing to a specific female as he sings "Your the reason why I'll always be the King Of Heartbreak, you leave me when I'm falling down, I didn't mean to pull you down, I'm the King Of Heartbreak" slowly with the repetitive yet catchy beat. Urie reveals that during his Struggling time, he had a special female who left him heartbroken "She left me, you can leave me, I'll love myself, But I cant love myself...I'm the King Of Heartbreak" as he yearns throughout the song and may be one of the more vulnerable tracks on the album
6. Drove Until I Ran Off The Road [4:18]Possibly one of the most saddest tracks on the album, Drove Until I Ran Off The Road, is a serious and heart tugging Piano Rock Ballad. The song starts off with a despairing piano solo that gets more and more dramatic. After seconds pass, Urie starts singing. He channels back to when he had thoughts of suicide as the piano stays at the same pace. Urie sings When the joys of living just ditch me cold, I look in the mirror, my heart is aching, there is no need for me to continue this road.. the piano gets stronger as James's sings more vulnerability then ever "I'm losing this battle between life and death, death wont take me, so I'll just take myself" the piano/rock ballad beat gets even stronger as Urie begins singing throughout the chorus about getting in his car and driving until he runs off the end of a road seemingly ending his hurt, and his life. In an extremely emotional track about ending your life, especially throughout the bridge where he sings Free me, please touch me, Suicide, suicide. Help me end this, Suicide, suicide as he belts his heart away reminiscing about ending his life. As the song comes closer to the ending Urie turns around and comes to terms with his thoughts as the takes full advantage of the last verse as he picks himself up and talks to the listener with the beat continuing with no stop, in a motivating manner. "Through the tears and countless hours of feeling alone, those hours I screamed out and no one heard slowly through that pain and confusion emerged the real me. No longer am I just an image in a mirror, I am a reflection of my life, those hurts, those joys, that hope, that burning passion, that endless love, I see now the true image.. the image of me" a part of the poem made by Deb Montgomery that Urie incorporates into the song to show people that even he was at the depths below and had to come to terms with himself. And that suicide is not the answer.
7. I'm Not Dead [5:20]The song starts off with a light, long and spanned out strum that gives a slightly dramatic beginning that is continued on with James's emotional vocals as he starts the song off with words like "The night I woke up cold, and starting looking ...looking for you baby" a listener may just think this is any emotionally filled rock, love song but things turn when the beat picks up and breaks into a strong, full on range of guitars and drums as Urie sings " I haven't found you, instead I'm looking at myself laying on the ground, dead and down" which finally gives us the synopsis of the song. A ghost of a male, or spirit if you will, who's looking at himself dead.
The song continues on with these strong guitar, drums and organ instruments as James sings about not being able to come to terms with his own death hence continually singing "I'm Not Dead" as the song keeps going in and out of either the, slow and beautiful drums, or the full on monstrous repertoire of the electric guitar and haunting drums.
If you thought the song was great, a real treat comes to you as James blasts out with his own electric guitar solo which goes on for quite a while as us listeners completely drown into the song, listening to the deep words and perfect placement of the instruments which could be credited to the producer of the song, Vin Peters.
The song continues with the great instruments played by James and his backing band and features uncredited vocals by up and coming wonderful talent Amanda Rose Murphy who's incredible vocals play as the angel in the song James is hearing as she belts out notes in the track that goes on for about 5:00 with a nice dramatic ending, having James And Murphy finish the song off with a long note. What happens next?
8. Alcoholic Shadow [4:39]The 8th track, Alcoholic Shadow opens up another page in the journey Urie has gone through to find himself through his dark time. This time through the alcoholism. People who often go through a depressive state usually turn to alcohol to take away their pain and from the track Alcoholic Shadow it was no different for Urie. In the track which starts off with an eerie beat pounding onto the track, Urie starts singing as if he's tired, or as some listeners would say "drunk" as he slugs some of his words further getting across the "alcoholic" part of the song. He sings about turning to Alcohol to get away from his hurt. The song stays with haunting beat until the chorus where it breaks into a classical/orchestral/rock type beat that might just catch you off guard as Urie sings "Alcohol Shadow take away my pain, take away my shame, fill my emptiness, shadow my hurt Alcoholic Shadow take me awaaaaaay as he belts out a large note following every chorus along with the dramatic chorus. Throughout the track he sings as if the alcoholic shadow is a friend of his especially when he sings "Alcoholic Shadow can you occupy my mind?". The bridge is also a great standout of the song as the dramatic beats are let go and the only thing present is James's voice and the acoustic guitar as he begins to find himself he sings "Alcoholic Shadow you've done nothing for me, and I cant live like thisssss" as he belts out the last word followed by the chorus once more to finally ending off the song. A song incorporating different types of music along with acoustic rock and Urie opening up about his alcoholism adventures calls for a standout in the album.
9. A Different Breed Of Mistakes [3:30]In the ninth track, Different Breed Of Mistakes, it returns back to the deep depressive songs and A Different Breed Of Mistakes gets that point across. This track is about making mistakes that you will eventually regret eventually. James Urie, who sings with the songs strong electric guitar and drums right behind him knows exactly what it is to make mistakes as he sings eerily about the mistakes you make in life that would instead make another breed of mistakes and so in return you end up with nothing. He encourages to his listener to choose wisely and think before choosing to do something because it might just be a mistake, and you could end up where he was, at the bottom where he tumbled and fell into his own sadness. He sings with the beat getting stronger "Don't end up where I am, climbing my way back up, all because I chose something that opened up into a different breed of mistakes". Its a slow song that could get a listener thinking about certain choices they might make.
10. 6 Feet Under [3:49]The final track off of the album and most uplifting sounding song of the entire album entitled 6 Feet Under is a very inspirational track as Urie finally lets go of the sadness he has gone through and says good by to The Struggle. He sings about burying away his hurt, his struggling 6 feet Under to never come back again in this alternative rock track. He belts throughout the chorus about fighting through the lowest times in his life and that is it nothing but a learning experience and finally letting go of all the sadness that he though he would never be able to do. A song full of emotion that finds Urie giving his all in the last track as he sings loudly with the strong and inspirational lyrics and loud guitar and drum beats that come left and right with Urie's voice. It sounds like a finale, and serves as the biggest and final track on the album. The hurt is buried 6 Feet Under. Ending off Tales From The Struggle.
