Issues: An Album a Day

An Album a Day is posted 5 days a week, Monday-Friday

    Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Justin Timberlake, DJ Lethal and Emmure had a side project together? If so then Issues is your band. Issues is a Nu Metalcore band that incorporate an array of weird influences that include Pop, R&B, Rap, Metalcore, Djent and Nu Metal. While all of these genres should not, under any circumstances work together, they surprisingly do. Certain tracks go back and forth between heavier, harsh vocal driven bits and poppier sections while others have the boy band vocals and harsh vocals laid over top of a metal band with scratching and keyboard.

    At the heart of the mixture of Pop and Metal are co-lead singers Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn. Issues is actually the third band that both Carter and Bohn have sang with, having previously worked as a duo in bands A Path Less Traveled and Woe, Is Me. Their chemistry shows throughout the album as they are able to make the transitions between and layering of Carter’s soft clean vocals and Bohn’s primal snarling work well.

    Life Of A Nine is the track that features the band going through all of the genres they mix at a fairly rapid pace. The song starts off mid-breakdown then picks up tempo as Carter raps the pre chorus and then the chorus goes full pop, complete with shimmering synths around Carter’s clean vocals. One of the things I do have to give these guys is for all of the potential to be a novelty act they take their music seriously, having solid guitar work and generally well written lyrics. Even the bassist and drummer seem to hold their own for most of the album.

    If Life Of A Nine has the most noticeable shifts of genre mid song then The Langdon House might be the most cohesive combination. This track does feel more like a standard Nu Metal track than anything else on the album, but it also mixes in the heavier Djent elements and pop vocals. This track also features some of the best rapping from Carter and even some harsh vocals towards the end of his verse. I give their drummer Josh Manuel a lot of credit here as he manages to pull off some fills in between the vocals on the softer sections without it sounding forced.

    The rest of the album is much the same, seeing how many ways they can mix Rap, Metal and Pop over the course of the album. Late is more of a commercial Rock song throughout and the closing track Disappear features an acapella Gospel choir at the end, but other than that the rest is pretty similar. If you’re wondering where the idea of mixing Top 40 and Metal came from, apparently it was inspired by Nu Metal. Members of the band have said that they want to do with R&B and Top 40 what Nu Metal did with Rap music. So there you go, it’s Linkin Park’s fault again.

    Overall this album is actually really good, there really isn’t a track on this album that I dislike. Despite the novelty of blending Pop and Metal this album is cohesive, certainly more cohesive than it has any right to be. A few of the transitions are jarring, such as Stingray Affliction’s bridge, but even those shifts don’t feel any more out of place than an ambient part of a Periphery song. I found myself enjoying this album way more than I ever thought I would and I’m curious to go listen to their second album Headspace now.

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Coldplay A L I E N S: An Album a Day

An Album a Day is posted 5 days a week, Monday-Friday

    After their latest hit came via collaboration with the reigning kings of pop The Chainsmokers, Coldplay have ventured further back towards their rock roots. Their new single Aliens (stylized
A L I E N S) is a mature and more modern take on Coldplay’s earliest melancholy alternative rock sound. The sound of this track is absolutely beautiful, full of sweeping soundscapes of synths and ambient guitars that are anchored by piano, bass and drums.

    The songs itself tells the story of aliens escaping a monstrous force trying to destroy them on their own planet and desperately finding a new place to live. Chris Martin takes a page straight out of Gene Roddenberry's book by using Sci-Fi motifs to talk about a somewhat touchy issue that people would have a strong reaction to, in this case refugees. Despite various article I’ve read about this song trying to make it specifically about Syrian refugees (imbuing this song with the article writer's political leaning) this track’s purpose is to promote and raise money for the Migrant Offshore Aid Station Foundation.

The MOAS Foundation is a charity organization that conducts search and rescue missions along what they call the deadliest migration routes in the world. With that said, I’m sure Coldplay intended this song as a more general statement on refugees and migrants in need as that fits the mold of their humanistic political stances that generally call for love and understanding of each other. Regardless of political stances on refugees and migrants, MOAS is a good cause and this song is fantastic even at face value.

The song itself features swirling synths and piano that fill out most of the mix, along with Martin’s reverb drenched vocals echoing across the soundscape. A sparse drumbeat, bassline and various guitar licks go the forefront in this spacey (no pun intended) alt rock track. I have always been a huge fan of Chris Martin's natural baritone voice so I couldn't be happier to see him using more of his low register in their newer music.

This song reminds me of a few other artists, containing elements that invoke Muse and even Gorillaz at times. It also strikes me that the sound of this song is the perfect blending of Coldplay's rockier sound with their poppier sound, striking a balance that Maroon 5 has been desperately searching for this entire decade.

Rather you want to delve deep into the metaphorical meaning of the lyrics or just take it as a trippy song about aliens, this music is just gorgeous. Hopefully this sound will be found throughout Coldplay's future releases. Their new EP Kaleidoscope drops next month.
All the money made from this song will go to the MOAS Foundation, if you'd like to find out more about them click here.
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Twenty One Pilots TOPxMM: An Album a Day

An Album a Day is posted 5 days a week, Monday-Friday

While Twenty One Pilots have not released a full album since 2015’s Blurryface, they did release an EP of reimaginings of their songs with MuteMath in late 2016. These renditions of some of their best tracks off of Blurryface are really incredible to hear. The way that Twenty One Pilots and MuteMath mesh on these tracks puts them in a whole new context, adding new elements and filling out the sound of some tracks.

Much like seeing Jack White with a full band after being in The White Stripes it's awesome to see just how much can be added to these songs that were originally from a two piece. It isn't quite so dramatic since Tyler Joseph often layers synths and instruments in the studio, but what is dramatic is hearing other artists bring their own individual styles to these tracks. From the funk disco groove added to Tear In My Heart to the dual drumming on HeavyDirtySoul, the added style from the members of MuteMath makes these tracks come alive in a whole new way.

The first track from this session is Twenty One Pilots’ hit song Heathens from the Suicide Squad soundtrack. The slower more somber pace of this version combined with cello, marimba and synth layers add a darker tone to the song. This version plays up the dark and introspective nature of the lyrics a bit more than the original version, which had some aggression on it.

The next track is the one which is the closest to the original, HeavyDirtySoul. This rendition pretty much just exchanges a few of the synth textures for real instruments and adds a heavy breakdown at the end. This version also features dual drumming in parts with Josh Dun and MuteMath drummer Darren King both playing the frantic drumbeat on this track. They did keep in the main background sample that many fans believe to be the character of Blurryface screaming, which I thought was a nice touch.

This version of ride is slightly different, with the piano rhythm being replaced by an echoey electric guitar and arpeggiated synths. A lot of the synth textures are changed to analog sounding synths straight out of the 80s. The overall feel of the song is a little different but it’s mostly just a bigger reverb filled version of the original.

Tear In My Heart is the biggest departure from the original as it features a funky disco vibe and completely changes the instrumentation. This version also uses Josh Dun’s trumpet playing in a few more spots than the original, such as in funk swing intro. This version also features Darren King playing bongos throughout the bridge, adding to the retro vibe that they’re clearly going for here.

The EP closes out with a version of Lane Boy that isn't much different from the original. The main differences here are the ukulele riff being played on keyboard as well a smattering of echoey guitar fills. Also the tempo is slightly different like with Heathens. The last drop is then replaced by an epic sounding jam session between MuteMath and Josh Dun that closes out the EP perfectly.

If you are a fan of Twenty One Pilots already I absolutely recommend this EP, however if you have never got into them I'd also recommend checking this out. These different takes on the songs might just be the flavor of Twenty One Pilots that’s for you. Either way, I'd urge you to watch the full session video the first time you listen because it really does enhance the experience.

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Imagine Dragons Evolve: An Album a Day

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

    Imagine Dragons are an interesting band to me, like I said when I reviewed X Ambassadors, they get a lot of undue criticism in my opinion. A lot of people trash Imagine Dragons for being a radio rock band, but I’ll take a half decent radio rock band over the garbage EDM and minimalist pop that dominates the radio these days. When I’ve listened to Imagine Dragons before I found that like most pop leaning rock artists I didn’t care for most of their deeper cuts, especially with Imagine Dragons’ tendency to fill their album with boring soft rock.

    I expected their new album Evolve to be much the same; I’d like the lead single, find the second single to be okay and maybe like another 1 or 2 songs off the album. Surprisingly I actually like more songs from Evolve than I dislike. The first couple of songs on this album add some hip hop and r&b elements that I didn’t realize were missing from Imagine Dragons’ sound.

The first track, I Don’t Know Why is basically a Weeknd or Drake song with some 80’s synths and occasional guitar stabs added. The second track, Whatever It Takes is kind of like Imagine Dragons doing a Twenty One Pilots song in the way that it blends rapping on the verses with an alternative rock chorus. The third track and lead single Believer is the perfect blending of these hip hop elements with Imagine Dragons’ typical heavy rhythms and soaring vocals into what is probably the most cohesive track on the album.

    If Believer is the Radioactive of this album than Walking The Wire really wants to be the Demons. To me Walking The Wire is one of the worst tracks on the album as it just sounds like a boring contemporary Christian song, even more so than Demons. The better choice for the lower tempo inspirational single would have been the next song on the record, Rise Up. While Rise Up isn’t anywhere near the best song on the album, it has the calm soft rock sound that Imagine Dragon’s second single usually has, and unlike the previous track Dan Reynolds actually sounds invested.

    The third soft rock track is up next and it’s possibly worse than Walking The Wire, after this we get the strangest track on the album, Yesterday. This song is really hard to describe, but it’s a strange track that calls to mind The Beatles and Panic! At The Disco. Reynolds also sings in a lower register that reminds me of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, but despite the weirdness it is a good track.

    Then we get Mouth Of The River, which is a well written and powerful rock track followed by Thunder, which is a minimalistic hip hop track. Thunder actually works way better than most trap songs that try to make this same rhythm and beat work. The album closes out with two mediocre tracks that don’t really stand out much, although Dancing In The Dark is kind of trippy with it’s glitchy electronic vibe.

    This album has more tracks on it that I like than any other Imagine Dragons’ album I’ve listened to before and some of them are legitimately great songs. Imagine Dragons have greatly reduced the number of terrible soft rock songs on this album and replaced them with more experimental tracks. I also commend them on how they mix in more and more disparate genres and make them work without losing their own sound; that is really what this band does best. I hope they continue to experiment with mixing in the Tron inspired synths and hip hop elements of this album or even some of the string sections from Smoke + Mirrors in the future and drop the crappy soft rock songs entirely.
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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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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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