What It Takes to Move Forward

by Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate)

What It Takes to Move Forward cover art

Serving as a foundational text for the so-called 'emo revival', this debut album meticulously recreates the twinkling, melancholic sound of late-1990s midwest emo acts like Mineral and American Football. The record features incredibly wordy, highly confessional lyricism delivered with a fragile, wavering vocal style over intricate, intertwining clean guitars. It established the band as leaders of the independent, deeply emotional underground punk scene.

Genres

  • Midwest Emo

Tracklist

  1. How to Make Love Stay
  2. Keep What You Have Built Up Here
  3. What Safe Means
  4. It Happened Because You Left
  5. Rally the Troops! Poke Holes in Their Defenses! Line Our Coffers With Their Coffins!
  6. It's a Plague, and You're Invited
  7. Everything Is Connected and Everything Matters (a Temporary Solution to a Permanent Problem)
  8. The Next Step to Regaining Control
  9. With Your Greatest Fears Realized, You Will Not Be Comforted
  10. I Am a Snail, and You Are a Pace I Cannot Match
  11. An Idea Is a Greater Monument Than a Cathedral
  12. Archival Footage
  13. It Was Your Heart That Saved You
  14. So How Many Points Do You Have 'Till You Gain, You Know, the Ultimate Power?
  15. Actually, I'm Just Wearing Your Glasses