| The Power of Failing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 28, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | January – October 1995, Music Lane Recording Studios, Austin, Texas | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:01 | |||
| Label | Crank! | |||
| Mineral chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Power of Failing is the debut studio album from the Austin, Texas-based emo band Mineral. Released on January 28, 1997, The Power of Failing was made available on both LP and CD format and has since been acclaimed as an essential album from the 90s emo movement. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
| Kerrang! | [7] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [8] |
| Punknews | [9] |
The Power of Failing received extreme praise for its songwriting and honest lyrics. Writing for Allmusic, Blake Butler declared the record to be "a keystone album from one of the most well-known and revered emo rock bands of the '90s", stating that "although the structure is relatively simple most of the time, it is the essence of the music which overwhelms." [10] Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork said that "Part of what makes The Power of Failing a classic is that its raw feel and execution matches its emotions." [11] Paul Travers of Kerrang! was less positive, criticzing the slowness of "Slower" and "Dolorossa" and comparing the band's "alterna-noise rock" sound unfavourably with Idlewild. [7]
The Power of Failing has been recognized as one of the landmark albums of 1990s emo. It has appeared on various best-of emo album lists by NME , [4] Rolling Stone [12] Similarly, "Gloria" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture . [13] In a retrospective thinkpiece entitled "Mineral's 'The Power of Failing' Dragged Alternative Rock in a More Emotionally Vulnerable Direction", Eddie Cepeda of Noisey stated that "bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Pinback have Mineral to thank for much of their sound." [14]
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Mineral is an American emo band originally from Houston, Texas. Soon after their formation, they relocated to Austin. All four members of Mineral were signed to Interscope Records, but disbanded before a release was made. The band worked on other musical projects after disbanding, including The Gloria Record, Pop Unknown, Zookeeper, and Mountaintime.
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EndSerenading is the second studio album by Mineral, released on August 25, 1998, after the band had broken up.
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Midwest emo refers to the emo scene and/or subgenre that developed in the 1990s Midwestern United States. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies. Midwest emo bands shifted away from the genre's hardcore punk roots and drew on indie rock and math rock approaches. According to the author and critic Andy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music." Midwest emo is sometimes used interchangeably with second-wave emo. Although implied by the name, Midwest emo does not solely refer to bands and artists from the Midwestern United States, and the style is played by outfits across the United States and internationally.
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