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| Threes | 
 enlarge | Artist: Sparta
Label: Hollywood Records
Category: Music
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $2.09
You Save: $12.89 (86%)
New (40) Used (37) Collectible (3) from $2.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 61089
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 162613
UPC: 720616261328
EAN: 0720616261328
ASIN: B000IFRQJA
Release Date: October 24, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Average Used music CD with artwork and case * * We carefully inspected this * Great customer service * Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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| Tracks:
| • | Untreatable Disease | | • | Crawl | | • | Unstitch Your Mouth | | • | Taking Back Control | | • | Erase It Again | | • | Atlas | | • | The Most Vicious Crime | | • | False Start | | • | Weather the Storm | | • | Red. Right. Return (Straight in Our Hands) | | • | Without a Sound | | • | Translations |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Sparta combine the quirky elements of indie rock--unusual start-stop riffs and guitar skwonks--with anthemic choruses and surprisingly uplifting melodies, emerging with an uplifting and intelligent form of arena rock. The band also gets its prog on with the moody "Unstitch Your Mouth," a track that calls to mind The Wall-era Pink Floyd as much as it recalls anything heard in VFW halls and blaring from dorm rooms today, and "Atlas," which could easily be an outtake from Radiohead's OK Computer. That's not to say that Sparta's sound doesn't have a sense of originality. Much of Threes--the sonic maelstrom "Untreatable Disease," the epic "The Most Vicious Crime," and the made-for-the-stage, U2-esque "Weather the Storm"--proves that this is a band to watch, one that other acts will look to in the future for inspiration. Threes isn't a classic album--there are some moments that need trimming on some of the record's latter tracks and the quartet could stand to mask its influences more often--but the 12-song collection does demonstrate that Sparta are in the rock & roll game for the long haul. --Jedd Beaudoin
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Three for Threes November 2, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Here's the sound of passionate rockers turning into professional musicians. The playing is competent and skillful, but the Sparta sound is becoming bland and unmemorable. It has definitely been difficult for Sparta, and especially Jim Ward, to escape the band's history and to build a unique musical vision, but Sparta were well on their way to doing just that - until this album. While it's not quite as dire as some of the most negative reviewers here have claimed, Sparta seem confused about their identity and direction. Wiretap Scars was tentative but strongly emotional aggro-grunge, and then Sparta really took a quantum leap forward with Porcelain, in which excellent songwriting and passionate playing nearly vaulted the band into their own new genre - a more mature and less whiny brand of screamo. Here on Threes, the band certainly sounds more solid. Jim Ward has added some subtlety (or subtracted a lot of screaming) from his vocal style, and new guitarist Keeley Davis delivers smoother accompaniment than the departed Paul Hinojos, who was always a much better bassist than guitarist.
This album does show development in a few places, like the insistent rockers "Taking Back Control" and "The Most Vicious Crime," plus the very effective power ballads "Unstitch Your Mouth" and "Atlas." Unfortunately, the professionalism of this album outweighs the passion by a mile, and other reviewers are correct in making comparisons to late-period U2. This is horrendously evident in "Erase It Again," "False Start," and "Without a Sound" among others. Striving to be as talented and accomplished as your idols is commendable, but Sparta have made a crucial wrong turn in trying to sound like their idols. And overall, this album comes up tragically short on memorable songwriting and passionate playing. Sparta once displayed those strengths in abundance and were ascending toward their own kind of greatness. You really have to hope that the absence of that magic here will only be temporary. [~doomsdayer520~]
No This Is Not At The Drive In But Good Change For The Band October 26, 2006
5 out of 13 found this review helpful
After reading some of the reviews on here I have come to a conclusion that makes people come on here and right bad reviews on this band and The Mars Volta. I am truly sorry to disappoint all of you anxiously awaiting an At The Drive In reunion it is not going to happen anytime soon and probably will never happen in all likely hood. I will agree that I loved Wiretap Scars and I never really liked Porcelain very much not because it had slower songs on it but because I thought the songs were very forgettable. This album has changed things in a lot of ways. The addition of Keeley Davis has revamped and in some ways re-energized them. They are doing some serious changes in their sounds yes but the changes were necessary to make the band move on musically. Jim Ward has improved as a vocalist by not singing at such a high register to where it made him sound very shrill at times. I saw several reviews of this album before it came out and saying that there were songs that sounded like they were U2 in the Joshua Tree era. Erase It Again sounds like a U2 song if someone were playing it on the radio most people would believe that it was U2 even down to the fact that Ward seems to be almost channeling Bono when he is singing this song. Some may not like that about the band I happen to think it is a great song. The standout song on the album though is Taking Back Control the first single of off the album. It sounds like something that could have came off Wiretap Scars except when the organ kicks in it sounds like a glimpse at where this band is influenced by early 80's bands. This album will take time for some of the songs to grow on you but there are enough standouts on the first half of the album to keep you interested to keep listening. They are a band that are still trying to find their sound and where they want to go next Keeley has not been in the band for very long since taking the place Paul Hinojos. I like the direction they are heading and I am anxious to see where they will go from here. By the way, I would like to say that the reason I put my opinion about some of the people's bad reviews is because I am currently reading the book American Hardcore which is about the early 80's bands that created the music we know call hardcore. Many of the reasons people left that type of music is because people only wanted to hear certain songs by those bands and they didn't want the bands to evolve and grow musically and unfortunately I see a lot of that close-mindedness still in bands that came up in the punk scenes they still call people sell outs and turn against them when they are perceived to be doing something that is deemed uncool by the scenesters. I am anxious to see how this album may be seen years from now. I remember when Weezer released Pinkerton it was perceived to be the worst album by the haters. Now it is perceived to be their best album. We'll see where it stands years from now.
 It's over. You may officialy stop looking back fondly. October 25, 2006
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I realy wanted to like this. At first I was very pensive about the move to the same label as Breaking Benjamin and Aly&AJ. But, not wanting to be some kind of snob, I picked up Threes. This album is like running into an old love whom has changed beyond all regognition. Listening to this cd it is impossible for me to grasp how this could even be the the same band who produced Wiretap Scars, much less been a part of At the Drive-In. For the most part they flail about wildly and seem to have no realy grasp of what they wanted to accomplish. With the exception of "Atlas"...provided their intentions were to sound exactly like Coldplay. And with that I would like to officialy announce that it is over. Cedric and Omar are so wacked out on drugs that they think a 12 minute track consisting of crickets chirping and people kicking type-writers down the stairs is a good idea. And the rest have loving crafted the 12 bland, emotionless tracks which make up Threes. Minus Paul...I guess I can respect him for """"hurting his back"""" befor this train-wreck.
Sounds like Sparta to me... November 16, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
...all these things about using piano, sounding like the Beatles, Radiohead, and U2, re-defining their sound, etc.
When was the last time you actually listened to Wiretap Scars? I listened to it yesterday, as well as Porcelain, as well as Threes (went to see them last night so was gearing up for the show) and I must say I think Threes is great. Personally, it feels like an expansion of Wiretap Scars for me - almost a more complete sound. The songwriting seems tighter, the arrangements better, they seem to be better musicians. I guess if you like something more raw and unrefined then you might not like Threes, but I don't think it's good enough to not like something just because it doesn't sound like something you've already heard. If you want to hear Wiretap Scars, listen to Wiretap Scars.
LONG LIVE SPARTA!!
 SPARTA does it again! November 26, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I didn't buy the new Threes album for a while after it came out, I actually bought it yesterday. The reason for this hesitation was from all the negative reviews I read online about it. After listening to it for myself, I can't understand why people are having such a hard time with it. Threes is a GREAT album, and I'm glad to own it. People can't be comparing it to Wiretap Scars or Porcelain, it just isn't those albums. It sounds like Sparta, and it's just a collection of new songs that people don't recognize yet. But only listening for a day or two, I have found many songs that I KNOW I will love. It's a great album. You should own it too! And defiantly see them in concert! Tons of energy and Jim Ward is hilarious!
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