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#9. Underoath
Define the Great Line
Release Date: June 20, 2006
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With Underoath's third major release (and the follow-up to the underground-famous They’re Only Chasing Safety), the Florida band managed to do a lot more than, as the title says, “define the great line”; they defined what they would sound like for the rest of their pre-hiatus career, and they also defined what true success meant for a band in the hardcore, emo, or Christian rock scenes. Debuting at an unprecedented #2 on the Billboard 200, Define the Great Line revealed that an untold number of teenagers were hungry for the angsty, heavy scream-sing that Underoath specialized in. And now, 12 years later, this set holds up remarkably well as one of the band’s best works — if not the greatest. Every member is at the top of their game here, which was technically the first album fully written and recorded with frontman Spencer Chamberlain; he was brought into the process later in the making of Chasing Safety, which often leaned toward pop punk. Everything became heavier here, with wilder riffs, bigger sounds, harder drums, and weightier ideas. Fans of Aaron Gillespie’s catchy choruses still get plenty to love on songs like “You’re Ever So Inviting” and “Writing on the Walls,” but it’s a song with no singing at all — “Everyone Looks So Good from Here” — that proved Underoath could play metal with the big dogs. In fact, with this album, they became the big dogs.
- Chase Tremaine
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There was a time when everyone in my world couldn’t talk about music without uttering the word "Underoath." Somewhere between my adolescent confusion, Southern & Central Illinois, & the 2000s, I discovered this band; and actually, it seems like everyone did. Underoath was a crazy phenomenon that was almost impossible to understand. Their ability to grow, the reach of their songs, and their live show were all amazing and unmatched. I hit up one of my friends that I consider a genius when it comes to music & production, Micah Kuiper. I asked Micah about his thoughts on the album Define the Great Line:
Micah: “I think, for me, it's just musically one of the most crafted, well-put-together albums I’ve ever heard. Still today. So cohesive from start to finish. It's one of those records that I would always listen front to back and love every second. Also the passion in the lyrics and melody were moving. I didn’t really know what they were talking about, but I didn’t care.”
Micah makes a good point. Define the Great Line showed us the growth of a band at a pace that was just ahead of our own growth. It’s honest and raw. It truly is a work of art. Maybe the coolest thing about this record is that it deserves to be heard in sequence. It doesn’t care about singles; it cares about rock & roll.
- Michael Kuiper of the band Hawk Nelson and Joshua Clifton of the band Ravenhill and Honey Gold Records
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Visit our Underoath page for more information about them...
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John Joseph James 
