Royal Blood How Did We Get So Dark?: An Album A Day

An Album A Day is published 5 days a week Monday-Friday

    After the near perfect album that was Royal Blood’s debut I was hardly able to wait for How Did We Get So Dark? to release. I literally listened to this album at 12:01 when it became available on Google Play Music and have spun it three more times since. This album is fantastic, although it is a little bit different than what I was expecting from Royal Blood.

    My biggest complaint with this album is that the weakest tracks are all towards the beginning of record. The title track is a legitimately good opener but then Lights Out and I Only Lie When I Love You are the two weakest tracks on the album. Lights Out isn’t bad, it’s just kind of boring to me; after only hearing it a handful of times it already feels like it’s been overplayed. I Only Lie When I Love You has really poppy sounding vocals and production, although  I will admit it gets slightly better everytime I listen to it.

    She’s Creeping is a mixed bag that I’m not really sure what to make of, I think I like it but it doesn’t move me the way some of the later tracks do. The main riff and use of a major scale on the chorus is actually really cool, but it lacks the energy of their other tracks. On top of that they do one of my most hated musical tropes on this track; the fakeout buildup. The bridge is entirely a buildup that after 30 seconds just goes back into the chorus.

    Track 5, Look Like You Know is where the album starts to pick up steam and never slow back down. Look Like You Know has a some really nice melodies over the top of the brutal pounding bass playing, with Kerr’s affected vocals working really well in the context of this song. The next track Where Are You Now reminds me of The Black Keys and The White Stripes, having that really steady punk blues trashy feel both bands are known for. There are a few breaks that bring to mind Muse or Queens of The Stone Age, but even with all of these elements the track is 100% Royal Blood.

    The last 4 tracks are far and away the strongest ones on the album and well worth the wait. Don’t Tell is a powerfully thick stoner rock track that shows what Royal Blood do with a slower song. Kerr’s falsetto vocals on the chorus are of particular mention, especially in contrast to the thick bass riff underneath him. The buildup to the bridge is well executed and gives a smooth transition to the crescendo of the bluesy bass solo that leads back into the final chorus.

    Hook, Line and Sinker is the track that is the most like the songs off of their first album and also one of the strongest on this album. The way that the vocals and the bass follow each other throughout the verses and chorus give the feel of a musician who is fully in sync with his instrument. One of the common threads I’m finding throughout this album is that I really enjoy Kerr’s falsetto vocals, it's likely the contrast against the thick bass riffs and pounding drums that I enjoy so much.

    Hole In Your Heart is probably the coolest track on the album as it features Mike Kerr playing electric piano on the verses before shifting back to bass on the choruses. While he’s just pounding out chords on the piano while he sings over it, the piano adds another layer to the track that I honestly wouldn’t have expected to work this well. A small detail that I applaud them for is closing the track back out with the electric piano as well instead of just going full rocker until the end.

    The closing track Sleep is really the only song that could close this album out as it does the job perfectly. The main bass riff in this song has a neo classical vibe that wouldn’t sound out of place if played by a string section. It’s a very dramatic riff that builds tension behind the vocals. The reason why this track is the perfect closer though is the way that it fades out for the last 40 seconds, with short bass stabs (reminiscent of a cello) as the only accompaniment to Kerr’s vocals as the track fades out.

    Overall this album is great, even with the weaker moments early on. With a band that I know I’ll listen to the whole album I’d prefer the weaker stuff first so that it gets better as I listen, but to anybody who isn’t a fan it could be a deterrent to keep listening. It’s difficult to compare this album to their first one because where it was solid all the way through this one has highs and lows.

    The first album was a pretty steady level of rock all the way through and it was great because of it. This album has songs that are better and worse than a lot of their first album, and by law of averages probably winds up about even. If the entire album sounded like the second half it wouldn’t even be close as to which was better, but tracks 2-4 drag it down to just as good as their debut.

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2. An Out Of Genre Experience

Today on Ain't Talking Bout Pop, Justin and Noah discuss covers that are better...or weirder! than the original.

 note: we incorecctly stated that Godsmack performed the cover of Come Together used in the Justice League trailer when it was actually Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL, our bad.





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Trophii Vitamins and Flowers: An Album A Day

An Album A Day is published 5 days a week Monday-Friday

    After waiting over 4 years for a debut album, Lindsey Pavao’s angry kickstarter backers finally have something to show for their donations. Pavao, one half of the dream pop duo Trophii, was a semifinalist on the NBC singing competition The Voice back in 2012. Pavao was always something of an oddball among the show’s mainstream pop, rock and country artists as she was clearly cut from an indie background. No matter how much dubstep and pop production her coach Christina Aguilera surrounded her with, she retained her unique indie stylings.

    This indie streak likely played a big role in her post Voice approach to making a debut album; kickstarter. Rather than selling out and cutting a pop record hot off the heels of the exposure she gained from The Voice, Pavao decided to go small time and make her music her way; the only snag is that it seems she was unsure of what way that was. Somewhere along the line she joined up with a band before breaking off on her own project with co-conspirator Richie Smith.

    The combination of Pavao and Smith is a strong one; despite the duo’s debut album being weird and often experimental it succeeds on almost every level. As a self described dream pop duo, you could be forgiven for expecting them to sound like a boring and ambient wall of sound with lilty vocals laid over top. On the contrary, most songs feature strong, driving rhythms and interesting melodies on top of the wash of ambient synths and echoey guitars. Even the songs that are mostly mellow and ambient feature prominent melodies that keep the tracks from being dull.

    Pavao’s vocals have not lost a step from her days on the voice, brilliantly going from sweet and soothing on Vitamins and Flowers to creepy and a bit threatening on Raven. I think Raven and Featherway are two of the most interesting tracks on the album as the melodies and interplay between Smith's guitar and Pavao’s vocals create a great combo.

    Surprisingly for such an ambient album there is a lot of tasty guitar work throughout. From the solos on the album opener Itch and second track Trove to the interesting melodies played throughout Raven and Featherway, Smith’s guitar work is superb. What Smith does throughout this album is something far rarer than playing the guitar well, it is playing the guitar in a restrained manner that always serves the song.

    As a huge fan of both Pavao and genuinely good indie music, I absolutely adore this album. While it’s entirely possible that there are a million better indie records out there that I simply do not know about, this album is fantastic. Trophii have done just enough with melody and rhythm to keep the ambient elements of this record from being drowsy or boring, but they do this without overpowering those ambient elements. If this is what dream pop sounds like, then I might have to go listen to some more dream pop.
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Linkin Park One More Light: An Album A Day

An album a day is posted 5 days a week, Monday through Friday



Here's an album that hasn't generated any controversy...

Maybe it's just me, but I really feel like Linkin Park caught way too much hell for this album. Is it the best album they've ever done? No, not by a long shot, but I cannot understand the outrage from some Linkin Park fans. As a longtime fan of Linkin Park myself, I’ve been seeing the same comments about the band being a sellout or needing to go back to their nu-metal roots since A Thousand Suns (and trust me, it goes back further than that.)

The thing is, they did exactly that on their last album The Hunting Party, which is a nu-metal album that is heavier than anything they’ve ever done. And the response to the album was okay, but that was all it was. Where previous albums had brought in new fans or broadened their sound, The Hunting Party was a niche album pandering to fans who would still rather listen to Hybrid Theory on repeat than hear anything new.

And that is why I can understand the frustration that spawned the comments Chester Bennington has made towards fans of the old Linkin Park. The band literally just made an album geared specifically for them and they still wanna call Linkin Park sellouts and say they don’t care about their fans.

Now that all the background is out of the way, how does the actual album hold up? Because regardless of obnoxious “fans” and backstory on the album, the only thing that matters is the music. Honestly, it’s average; some tracks are really good, some tracks are okay and a few tracks are just a boring waste of time.

The best tracks are Good Goodbye, Talking To Myself, Heavy and Sharp Edges. Good Goodbye is the song that I wish more of this album was formatted like, it is the only track to feature rapping and overall has a modern trap feel. This song would fit very well on Living Things with the ambient synths in the background with an aggressive rap beat on top. The guest verses work well with Stormzy’s verse particularly well done.

Talking To Myself features one of the only cases of lead guitar playing on the album and is a strong alternative rock song. The chorus reminds me of Handclap by Fitz And The Tantrums (another rock band to take a dip into pop) and overall this track is what Linkin Park doing pop rock can sound like at their best. This and Heavy are tied for the best overall pop track on the album, with this being more of the Imagine Dragons leaning side of pop rock and Heavy being closer to Kiiara's style mixed with twenty one pilots.

Sharp Edges is the closing track and is one of the weirder moments on this album, but I really enjoy it. It has an indie folk sound similar to Ed Sheeran and at times has an almost country feel. While it is not something I would expect from Linkin Park, I find myself really loving this track for what it is; and that is kind of the best way I can sum up this album.

While there are some real duds (Halfway Right, Battle Symphony) I generally enjoy the album for what it is. Something I learned a while back with Linkin Park is you have to approach each album as its own entity, because after Meteora they have not made two albums with the same style. As a 2010’s pop rock album it’s pretty good, definitely in the top 20 pop albums of the decade.

But as a Linkin Park album this is definitely the worst one they have done. The style of this album is so much weaker than anything they have ever tried before that it simply doesn't match up. When compared to all the other genres Linkin Park has covered on past albums, 2010’s pop rock just can’t stand up.
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1. Chris Cornell Tribute

This episode's playlist was created to commemorate the life and music of Chris Cornell.





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     And

Harry Styles: An Album A Day

An album a day is posted 5 days a week, Monday through Friday

Who would have thought that with all the major rock artists to release albums this year the album I'd be most excited about would be from 1/5 of One Direction. Harry Styles' self titled solo debut is a strong one, drawing inspiration almost entirely from old school soft rock and classic rock. The lead single, Sign of The Times, is a strong radio rock track that despite garnering air play on pop stations is wholly unlike anything on the radio today. The song displays a strong Beatles influence mixed with elements of 80s and 90s soft rock.

One of the things that hit me about both Sign of The Times and the album as a whole, is that Styles has filled every track with real instruments played by superb musicians. Styles has brought in a huge cast of studio musicians and backing vocalists to fill out the mix, rather than relying on samples and multi tracking of his own vocals. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of electric guitar on this album with at least 5 of the 10 tracks having guitar solos as well as legitimate lead guitar playing throughout.

The high points of the album for me are tracks 6 and 7, Only Angel and Kiwi. These two tracks take a detour into hard rock territory before the album closes out with the funky blues driven track Woman and the acoustic ballad From The Dining Table. Only Angel starts with an ambient tone that you expect to lead into another soft rock track before taking a detour at the :54 mark into Rolling Stones esque blues rock.

This hard rock interlude continues with Kiwi, which I consider the best track on the album. Kiwi is a track that mixes classic rock sounds with vocals that evoke Scott Weiland or Chris Cornell at times. This track was Styles coming out moment for me, as he shows with this song that he isn’t just a pretty boy singing love ballads but that he can be a legit rock star if he wants to.

Overall this album is absolutely brilliant with even the more pop oriented tracks having value and not feeling phoned in. By keeping the album to just 10 songs Styles avoids having any of them feel like filler with each track being different enough to not get boring. In a year filled with disappointing pop leaning albums from Linkin Park and Paramore, it is fantastic to see a pop artist put out a legitimately good rock album.

What Bruno Mars did with funk and soul music is what Styles has done here with classic rock and soft rock. I for one hope that he continues to pursue rock music, and that given his popularity others will follow his lead. It is premature to say for sure, but Harry Styles might have just kicked off a rock rebirth in the mainstream music industry.
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