Rewind: An 8-Track Beauty

Good day everyone and welcome to another edition of Rewind! In this edition of Rewind, we will look at the most recent album of one of my favorite OPM bands, Silent Sanctuary. That's right, ladies and folks, we will be doing an album review of Silent Sanctuary's Monodramatic!

The Album:

Artist: Silent Sanctuary
Year Released: 2013
Track List:

1. Bumalik Ka Na Sa’kin  
2. Meron Nang Iba 
3. Abot Langit 
4. Sama-Sama 
5. Masanay Ka Muna 
6. Sa’yo 
7. Sa’yo (Orchestral Version) *Bonus Track 
8. Meron Nang Iba *Bonus Track

Monodramatic is the latest Silent Sanctuary album, being the fourth studio album that the band released. It includes songs that experienced commercial success in Bumalik Ka Na Sa'kin and Sayo, among others. This is the third album that the band released under their current line-up, following the release of Mistaken for Granted in 2009, finally ending a four year wait for the fans of the band, and of OPM in general.


The Eargasms (a.k.a. The Good Stuff)

All songs in the album are quality songs. True to vintage Silent Sanctuary fashion, most of the songs talk about hearth aches and other matters of the heart, both in upbeat songs and in slow dramatic songs. I also liked that somehow, it felt like the album has one central theme, that being relationships and distances.

Now let's talk about the individual songs, well, at least some of them. Let's start with arguably the most recognizable song in the album, Bumalik Ka Na Sa'kin.

Let me start this off with how the song started, those drum beats. I absolutely love that part. And that part alone already made me like this song. An upbeat song about two lovers who seemingly had a disagreement, and now the man is wooing her back. Who hasn't been in such a similar situation?

Next on, Sa'yo.

Contrary to Bumalik Ka Na Sa'kin, Sa'yo is a much much MUCH more mellow song, in both versions if I may add, chronicling the unclear status between two people. Again, who have not been or at least seen such a situation? Silent Sanctuary at their best, ladies and gentlemen.


The Nails-on-the-Chalkboard (a.k.a. The Not-So-Good Stuff)

I've said this before, and I've said it a lot, but really, just eight tracks? I mean, I love Silent Sanctuary, but a full track album with just eight tracks, with two of them being 'bonus' tracks as they are alternate versions of songs already in the same album. I had EPs before that were 5-6 songs longs, and now we get an eight-song-album (but I still bought the original copy of the album, so I guess it ain't that much of a factor).

Then again, if you are just going to have 6/8 songs in your album, better make sure that all of them are quality songs. And in my opinion, Silent Sanctuary did just that.


Coda (a.k.a. Conclusion)

Eight tracks or not, Silent Sanctuary has yet again churned another solid, if not better than solid, album in Monodramatic. While the second album (Fushiang Pag-ibig) still remains as my favorite Silent Sanctuary album, Monodramatic is slowly going up my all-time favorite chart. Heck, I think it's such a strong album that all of the songs in it are good songs, i.e. walang patapon. It would be an album that you could just play while on a drive and not worry about skipping any tracks. All in all, in my own unprofessional verdict, I give it four out of five cassette tapes!

Guys, let's keep supporting OPM!