Okay, so, detailed review. I'm not going to mention lyrics much because, to be honest, most of them are pretty juvenile and not worth discussing.
Ready to Rumble - 2/10
Don't need to go into this one again. Idiotic track.
Let's Have My Story Told - 6.5/10
The intro sounds like the beginning to an Amaranthe song with the keyboards. Then we get to a repeating theme of this album (and Halos) where the verse is stripped back and relies solely on the vocals to carry everything. Not a big fan of this. The chorus is alright. More Amaranthe sounding guitar/keyboard work which is nice and upbeat, then back to the stripped back verses again. The guitar solo section is actually quite nice here, no issues with that and it flows into the chorus nicely. Some nice guitar work to end the track. I mainly just wish the verses had more energy on this one.
Live a Little - 4/10
It starts with Jake saying his mother told him he was part Lion, so, okay. Lyrics here are quite political, and whilst I don't have a problem with that neccessarily, I'd ask if Jake is actually doing anything himself other than putting out bad music to make his point. The actual song is pretty weak, with wimpy sounding keys and vocals. Guitars are scaled back considerably and the drumming is pretty basic. There just isn't much to this one.
1,000,000 Fahrenheit - 7/10
The beginning is once again very Amaranthe sounding. The keys are a bit cheesy, but I don't necessarily mind. I think it sounds alright. Verses are once again stripped back for the vocals. Chorus is a decent earworm with some nice guitar behind it, but I am not entirely sure what Jake means by spinning a ferris wheel. I'd understand spinning a roulette wheel or something, but a ferris wheel - as in the ones at a theme park? I don't get it. There are some fillter riffs briefly and then some cool guitar work that doesn't last for long enough. Anyhow, the song is okay, my only other complaint would be that Jake's vocals could be a bit more energetic, especially on the chorus. I feel this is a common problem across many of the songs, his vocals sound a bit too soft and lacking power.
Buried Alive - 6/10
The intro riffs remind me a little of the intro to Letters to Myself. Another song with stripped back verses and vocal focus... it's annoying that they keep doing this. It's too predictable. Chorus is okay but in the context of the album doesn't stand out enough to make it distinguishable from the last four songs. Drumming on the verses is quite odd, doesn't really blend with the vocal lines. Overall I just find this track really generic - nothing stands out, although it's a competent enough Cyhra-type song. The "whoaa-ohhh" stuff is annoying, which knocks a little off the rating too.
The Voice You Need to Hear - 8/10
My take on this is probably going to be radically different to everyone else, but I really like this one. It's similar to Inside a Lullaby in terms of general structure, but tries to be a bit more ... epic, I guess? No guitars in this one at all. Jake really flexes his vocals here, going into different registers and hitting higher notes. I appreciate the vocal effort and think he sounds good. As noted previously, to me this sounds like something you'd hear on something like Eurovision. Have to say I wasn't expecting clapping and finger snapping in a Cyhra song, but here it is, and it works fine in the context of the track. It wouldn't surprise me if Jesper had a hand in this one, as he's written pop stuff before. The keys definitely sound like his work. This is Jake and Jesper going pure pop, and IMHO it's a very nice pop song. If you're looking for metal then obviously this one would be a dud.
Life is a Hurricane - 6.5/10
Can't remember if I mentioned it before, but the intro really reminds me of the heavier tracks on Foregone. I'm almost waiting for Anders to come in with a low growl at the beginning. That stupid solo kind of ruins the opening though. The verse vocals have good melody to them, as noted the chorus is actually quite an earworm and probably the best on the album. The final solo is equally redundant, with better solos this one could have been a 7.5, but they definitely knock a point off for me. Anyway I liked this one more than I remembered.
If I - 6/10
Starts fast and heavy, which is quite fine, the verses also don't get stripped down for the vocals, which is nice... but there just isn't much interesting here. Another chorus which is decent enough, but we've heard variations of this kind of chorus many times across this album and NHIH, so it's nothing new. The solo is a little too wild for my taste, reminds me a bit of the Life is a Hurricane solos, although it's not quite that bad. I had this in the garbage section as well, but that was probably too harsh. It's another one that's listenable without being hugely interesting.
Fear of Missing Out - 6/10
Much like with NHIH, there are too many songs on this album that blend together because they sound too similar. This is another one that falls into that trap. Stripped back verses, uninspired guitars, same old chorus. The guitar work about 3/4 in is nice enough, but overall this just feels like filler.
Ashlight - 7.5/10
This is a nice little track. Opening has some haunting keys and whispers from Jake, the verse builds up as it goes on, elements added in instrumentally as Jake builds up some vocal intensity - it then moves into a nice sounding chorus. It's a good flow throughout. All of a sudden at 2:45 the song pivots into a breakdown section, then breaks into a solo that sounds very different to what we've heard before in terms of production and structure. I like this - it's a break from the norm and reminds me of the experimentation on LTM, which is a nice change of pace from the filler tracks. Also a nice switch to high-pitch from Jake at the very end.
Too Old For Fairy Tales - 6/10
Similar to "If I", this one doesn't strip back the verses which is nice. However, it's ultimately just another one of the filler/standard tracks, you simply don't need this many songs that sound the same on one album. Once again some decent guitar work about 3/4 in, but I just don't think this song does enough to differenciate itself from the others on this album that sound very similar.
My average sits at around a 6/10, which I think is fair. It's not an incompetent album, nor is it an album with anything really exciting on it. There's nothing on here that you couldn't get from either LTM or NHIH. I have the same gripes here, more or less, that I had on Halos. Not enough experimentation and too many similar sounding songs playing it safe. it just doesn't sound like the band have enough ideas for an entire album. an EP, sure - as with Halos, you could make a solid enough EP out of this material, but not a whole album. For me it's something like:
Good/Decent tracks
The Voice You Need to Hear
Ashlight
1,000,000 Fahrenheit
Filler tracks - not bad, but not memorable. Combine these into two or three songs and you might have something good
Let's Have my Story Told
Buried Alive
Life is a Hurricane (if not for the solos this could be in the good section)
If I
Fear of Missing Out
Too Old for Fairy Tales
Bad tracks
Ready to Rumble
Live a Little
Most of the album doesn't offend me, there's not really anything here that makes me angry or majorly pisses me off. It's actually probably better than Halos in that regard. There's no stupid "hit hit hit hit me harder" or "bye bye foreverrr" nonsense, outside of Ready to Rumble which is just the drizzling shits.
IMV they fucked up a bit with the singles. I would have gone with Ashlight, Fahrenheit and maybe also Hurricane. Putting out the shittiest song on the alvum followed by two fillers (albeit Hurricane being one of the better fillers) was questionable. I will realistically only listen to Ashlight, The Voice You Need to Hear, Fahrenheit and maybe Hurricane again in future. The rest, much like a significant amount of Halos, will not be listened to by me again.
A final word - I simply can't hear much Jesper on this at all. If he contributed then it must have been limited, or he wasn't trying very hard. You hear much more of his influence in THE than you do on this or Halos.
