I think it's more to do with the fact that LP have since gotten much better with their lyrics so we expect quality on that front now. I personally don't think the lyrics are bad.
Have they really though? Their last album consist of lyrics like "Right to left, left to right. Night to day and day to night" and "Skin to bone, steel to rust. Ash to ashes, dust to dust". I love Skin To Bone, but the lyrics are very uninspired and lazy, luckily I don't care about lyrics at all as long as the song itself is good. I really don't think the band has improved that much lyrically wise for people to expect something better out of them. However, at the same time their lyrics don't bother me in the slightest, maybe that's because I don't expect anything out of them and am instead more focused on Chester's delivery and performance. I'll say it again, if people are listening to the band because of their lyrics then they're listening to the band for the wrong reasons.
'Simple lyrics' do not equal 'bad songwriting'. The question is can you relate to the lyrics? 'Softer sound' does not equal 'mainstream song'. Only when enough people dig it a song becomes mainstream. By the way, playing UIG on the same volume as GATS actually draws more energy from me as a listener so in the end, which one is heavier. 'One softer song does not ruin an album'. My december... nuff said... Still loving UIG more and more!
It is repetitive, but LP did tend to write repetitive lyrics since HT I guess. Maybe that made their songs easy to digest.
The song sounds good and powerful, but a lyric video puts the lyrics in the forefront, hence its scrutiny.
I'm still having a hard time understanding how people can't get lost in the layering in this song. The mix sounds like it's trying to bury the background noises I suppose, but with a good set of headphones you start picking up a different element of instrumentation or background vocals, it's amazing! The lyrics officially suck, not the chorus itself (as cliche as it is) but with that the verse needs to have good material. For instance I think When They Come For Me is a pretty unique track in that the chorus has no words but the verses have some pretty cool sections of lyrics.
Maybe the second will be an instrumental? One can hope. Bets are it's going to be Guilty All The Same though.
After listening to this, the instrumental reminds me more and more of the movie score! Especially during the verses
I wish UIG and GATS did better in the itunes charts. UIG didn't crack the top 30 in itunes. The album didn't touch the top 5 for US.
I just wondered why GATS has no Single CD on the first place? aside from making it as a B-side for UIG. It seems weird.
I have to say, that after couple more listenings, i start to like this song. There are actually many little things, which can be found, when you listen carefully. It's pretty atmospheric and build some tension, especially the part before the refrain. It's for sure not generic like BID for example, because here are couple things to explore / it's not shallow.
I definitely agree that this song is a "grower", especially for me. I wasn't really sure what to think after the first listen. I then began to like the song more with each successive listen. I still think it's a good song in it's own right and can see why it was chosen as a "radio-friendly" single for the album. I'm just relieved that the vast majority of the album will not be so radio-friendly. I say it's time to challenge the norms and mindsets of mainstream radio stations by bringing back an older sound in a new, refreshing way.