awakebutstillinbed - chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger
2023 Rating: B- Tier
2026 Rating: A- Tier⬆
2023 Original Comments:
awakebutstillinbed does not disappoint with their long-awaited second full-length album, though perhaps it isn’t as poignant and inspiring as it could be. Shannon writes and performs as good as anyone in Emo today, fusing elements of Midwest Emo and Screamo, but hasn’t quite had the cohesion and consistency on her LPs as fans would hope, given the band’s position as 5th Wave Emo pioneers. Cutting out 15-20 minutes might have greatly benefited this release.
2026 Addendum:
I'm SO sorry, Shannon! When I first rated this, I was trying to fit this album into what I thought it should be rather than what it actually was. The sheer rawness, the stark volume dynamics and complete emotional vulnerability are just some of the overwhelmingly positive attributes that cement this record as legacy-defining for the band. I also believe we can at least partially attribute awakebutstillinbed, especially on chaos takes the wheel, as the impetus for the recent Second Wave Emo uprising.
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