A Modern Way of Living With the Truth * by Exies (The) (CD, Apr-2007, Eleven Seven)

Not sure why this band hasn't had any reviews yet.
I've been a fan of theirs for a while and I must say that this albums totally tops their last one which was also great.

Bluntly, if you're going to buy an Exies album, for God's sake get a different one.
This album is supposedly inspired by the song 'Once in a Lifetime', which they covered. And that sets the trends; the music is sadder than the previous record, and yet retains the majority of the grungey guitars, making for a dull sound that makes you forget how many tracks you've actually listened to as it all blurs into one sludgey mass.
The album's high points are supposed to be in the likes of 'Dose', 'This is the Sound', 'Lay Your Money Down' and so on. But they're not. They simply lack the catchiness that made the last album what it is, and this inability to build on their previous album's good points is what prevents the Exies from getting successful. The Exies for a very long time were my favourite band, and this album has killed that. Not because they changed their sound (as they haven't), but because they failed to produce anything any good.
The only song I quite like on this album is 'Better Now'. This is somewhat tainted though, as I seriously bent my bike wheel and got knocked unconcious while listening to it. Maybe that's God's metaphor for the band's career.
Their self titled album is much less grunge and more radio friendly. Their second is more experimental, quite interesting but lacking much power. And their third is in the same vein of post grunge, but is far far more exciting and explosive. All of these are far superior to this album. (Albeit they're all somewhat musically untechnical, but if you're on this page that obviously doesn't interest you.)