The Maine – Pioneer

Pionner – The Maine
Album Review by Jessica Klinner

Pioneer: a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.

Being a fan of The Maine, I was more excited than most for the release of their third debut album, Pioneer. From the first few seconds of the opening track, Identify, until the hidden track at the end of Waiting For My Sun To Shine, I was captivated by the sound and essence of the album. Lead singer John O’Callaghan’s raspy voice adds a sort of roughness to every track.  The album has a nice flow to it with the end of most tracks leading into the beginning of the next. Lyrically, this album is the most mature of The Maine’s releases. It can be seen that O’Callaghan really put his heart and soul into every word. Some lyrics may even seem familiar if you own or are familiar with O’Callaghan’s collaborative book, Exaltation, with photographer Dirk Mai. O’Callaghan incorporated some lines from his poetry into several of the songs on the album.

If you have followed the band for the past 4 years, you know that this album sounds entirely different than their previous releases.  Each record was recorded and released on different labels.  Their first release Can’t Stop Won’t Stop was a product of Fearless Records. Black and White, The Maine’s second full length, was released on Warner Bros.  While The Maine remains signed with Warner Bros, Pioneer was not released by them. The band self funded and produced this record and it was released independently on Action Theory Records. This, in my opinion, is the reason why Pioneer stands out from The Maine’s other records.  The band did not feel any outside pressure while producing the album which allowed them to let loose and make their most intimate and honest record to date. Even if you are not a fan of The Maine, you can’t help but give them a high five for “sticking it to the man” and making the music they wanted to make.

From strong guitar leads in songs like Misery and My Heroine, shredded out by lead guitarist Jared Monaco, to the piano driven track Thinking of You, Pioneer shows hints of Petty inspired rock and roll. I feel like most fans are pleased with the direction The Maine has chosen to take their music. It seems that the band is much happier with their new songs than their old ones mainly because they were able to create music that they themselves would listen to. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter if this album goes gold or not. The Maine has created an album for themselves and mostly for the fans. That right there says so much about the character of each of the members. I can’t think of many bands that would have the guts to give a middle finger to their record label after being rejected and self fund an album.

The Maine is the only band from the pop punk outbreak of 07 that has continually grown and matured in their music.  Each of their albums shows great progression from the one before. This album is very easy to relate to.  Each song triggers some type of emotion.  You can almost feel O’Callaghan’s pain in the song Misery or reminisce with him when listening to Like We Did (Windows Down). One of the most personal songs on the album is one that O’Callaghan wrote for his mother, Jenny. He says that every time his mother hears this song, she cries. And who could blame her? If my son ever wrote a song that beautiful for me, I would sob every time it was played.

Pioneer has definitely lived up to its name. It has created a completely new path for The Maine to travel down and if you’re anything like me, you will be joining them on this new journey. If I were Warner Bros, I would step back, see the success of this album, and beg The Maine to forgive them for not believing in the demos that would eventually turn into the masterpiece of Pioneer. 

Overall Rating: 5/5
Website: http://www.wearethemaine.net/home
Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/themaine