HAND. CANNOT. ERASE.

This album is the story of our generation. I am a 15 year old and this album exactly represents my life. It shows a lot about our generation, if we were to disappear we wouldn't run away but instead just lock ourselves in our homes and sadly no one cares, this is what the story tells us. When I heard the raven I thought it was almost impossible to better it, but still he won my(and certainly others) hearts.I am gonna do a track by track review(please forgive if it's bad I am a newbie)

1- First Regret: 8.5/10 it is the perfect introduction to the album, at the start you hear the sound of laughter and maybe rain too, that perfectly suits the mood of the album and the title talks about regret so you get the idea of the sad nature of the album from here itself

2. 3 Years Older- 9/10 the guitar at the start of the album is somewhat uplifting yet there's a sadness in the music that speaks for itself you get to understand how brilliant steven truly is.The line 'its complicated' itself describes the situation. Its basically just being locked up and thinking about the events that happend in your life, the anger and the sadness it brought to you and how you are moving towards medics. It asks a simple question, why do people like us still stay in a society that doesn't appreciate us 'life is not some silly game' it says and what a true statement

3. Hand Cannot Erase- 9/10 its a love song, but a complicated simple one, its about missing people in your life, regretting of all those fights you've had and remembering the time you spent with them, how you thought nothing could ever go wrong. But still after all those times even though you aren't together You still love him/her

4. Perfect Life- 9/10 It's.....beautiful...it is about remembering good times and how you had a perfect life but for me it seems its a dream like how you dream of the people you love, holding hands, running here and there, hugging and smiling then suddenly they vanish and you wake up from your dream, and then just wish if they would come back, Steven's voice shows this perfectly at around 2:10 when he starts singing 'we have got a perfect life' in the most uplifting manner, he keeps repeating those lines but in a way you always keep asking for more

P.S happens to me last night

5. Routine- 10/10 Miss N Tayab is a beautiful singer I am glad she is in this album, she's got a voice perfect for this situation(add Steven and the band into the music and just imagine) This song is basically when you're tired of living alone, you wake up, do your work, get bored, go to sleep without anyone to talk to, it represents the desperation of a tortured soul, musically its one of the best pieces on the album, 9 mins in length and pure prog #donteverletgo

Home Invasion- 8/10: the title seems like an alien invasion but for me its about the effect internet has on humans, it's a funky piece and reflects the anger and irritation of a human in a situation like that, when you're fed up doing the same thing again and again, downloading things to help pass your time but yet you're gonna get tired sometime, it has quite angrier lyric than the rest, 'download the ocean and the sky'( funny when you're away from them) when you think why download things that I haven't seen for days, you can't 'download the life you wish you had'... time passes you by and you're here doing nothing

Regret #9 - 9/10 great guitar!! Guthrie you are such a genius, it carries on the angry mood from the past song perfectly yet adds a bit of disappointment and sadness

Transience- 9.5/10 A hidden gem, its the most sentimental piece on the album for me 'a child in a train distressed as it departs' its when you leave everyone, and forced to go away

Ancestral - 10/10 I wish I could give it more than 10, but I can't... that solo around 4 is the best I have heard in years and Theo does his best in this song, actually all the members are at their best in it, its the climax of the album, its realizing you can't change the society the way it is and neither can hide away forever, it's when you give up isolation and are ready to use your wings again to fly high in the sky cause as everything in life it will pass too, Prog at its finest

Happy Returns/ascendant here on - 10/10 : its a sad ending to a beautiful album(happier in terms of the real incident in where she dies) its when you return to normal and then find that you weren't missed at much, it makes you cry, his angelic voice in this song just breaks me

this album shows that if someone wanted to run away they wouldnt escape but go into the middle of the city where each of them are busy with themselves and have no time and compassion for others