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Review Summary: PSA: Making dubstep-esque riffs and sampling philosopher monologues between alt-metal tracks doesn’t make you a progressive rock band! Nothing More have established themselves over the past decade-plus as one of the most exciting upstart alternative metal bands in recent memory, with their aggressive rhythms, electronic textures, and an energetic and creative live show, spearheaded by charismatic frontman Jonny Hawkins and his impassioned lyrics. Their self-titled release and its follow-up, The Stories We Tell Ourselves, were two of the best mainstream hard rock albums of the previous decade, and their under-the-radar full-length debut The Few Not Fleeting was a strong starting point. Singles such as “This Is the Time (Ballast)” and “Go to War” received active rock radio play, and they’ve had successful tours as an opener and headliner (no, seriously, go watch Nothing More play a headlining set if you get a chance, you won’t regret it). Group these factors with an awareness campaign they’ve created regarding mental health, and it’s easy to see how this hard working band has authentically worked their way from the bottom to get to where they are and have grown their audience despite a relatively infrequent music release history; this new release is only their fourth album since the band released their 2009 debut, and first in five years. That new release is Spirits, and has been long-awaited by most who have been paying attention.
I myself was anticipating this album, albeit with some tempered expectations following a string of disappointing singles. The first of those singles is album opener “TURN IT UP LIKE (Stand in the Fire).” While you could say the track lives up to its fiery title, you could also say this is the worst song Nothing More has released. Behind what is an admittedly thrilling ferocity in the performance of the song, the completely nonsensical nature of the lyrics are an unfortunate microcosm of the rest of the album: a bombastic, aggressive effort that cannot overcome a cliched, lyrical mess. When the lyrics aren’t stupid—the mere phrase “turn it up like…” existing as a means to…hype up the riff drop?—they’re cringey and lazy (“All my friends are dead/They all got ***ed by the internet/Our brains being ***ed by the media/Get outta my head/Put me in a microwave, push all the buttons at the same time”). At the core of the song may be a message worth expressing, and one I would like to hear actually, but the near-incoherent bluntness of the vernacular is comical at best and obnoxious at worst.
When Hawkins isn’t trying to invent derivative, angry, populist socio-political slacktivist slogans with the syntax of a drunken demolition derby super-fan, his usual knack for fundamentally honest and heartfelt lyrics fall flat on nearly every song. “TIRED OF WINNING” displays a vague and uninteresting message of unity and humility, and like most other songs here, the chorus falls completely flat. “THE OTHER F WORD” and “FACE IT” are more just vague, angry songs about calling out the “fake” people or overcoming your fears; the lyrics in all are brimming with cliched wording and tired themes that Nothing More has already touched upon far more earnestly in their much better past work. You like that all the song titles are in all caps? They just need to make sure you know this is an angry album. Maybe if the band put more effort into the lyrics and choruses as opposed to that “personality test” they used as a marketing gimmick (which does almost nothing to enhance the album whatsoever), Spirits might have actually been good.
More frustrating is their continued insistence on the use of Alan Watts’ recordings as segments of the album, as they’ve done on previous releases. It’s not so much that these are always bad (oddly “SHIPS IN THE NIGHT” is one of the better efforts here), but it lends to an air of pseudo-intellectualism that the band has put off in their career, and when you couple that with the anti-intellectual nature of the lyrics, not to mention the searing, blunt anger on this album, it really just doesn’t work this time around. It reeks of a brand of modern masculinity that may narrowly appeal to the Joe Rogan crowd. Nothing More’s previous albums exist on this plane as well to be fair considering their sound being firmly rooted in alternative metal, but the execution was much better and more memorable than they put on display in Spirits, and their lyrics, while by no means ingenious, were certainly far more intelligent and poignant than what we received here. The band was always certainly more engaging than your typical alt-metal act with its cryptic if not somewhat hollow imagery and messaging, and its use of electronics and synthesizers and sounds has always been unpredictable and entertaining, but it only lent credence to what I consider their undeserving sense of enlightenment. They give off a sense that their music is the smartest and most honest rock music out there today, and it simply isn’t.
That’s not to say that there aren’t moments and aspects of Spirits that aren’t deserving of praise. The performance by the band, including by Hawkins’ actual vocals, is at the top of their game, continuing what they’ve established with their previous two albums. The music and vocals are so intense and dramatic that I could surely appreciate them being performed in a live setting as part of a crowd, and the production is excellent. But even the best songs (“DREAM WITH ME,” “VALHALLA (Too Young to See),” “SPIRITS”) are at times uneven, and are closer in quality to the weaker songs on their other albums than anything. There is nothing on this album that is as deep or meaningful as the band thinks it is, and their insistence that they are a progressive rock band really muddies the definition of progressive music; they haven’t done much since the self-titled album to transform their sound, and the song structures are as conventional as always. Take away the Watts ramblings and it’s just a really heavy Papa Roach album. It may be more creative than most comparable bands and draw influences from other styles of music, but this is, at the end of the day, just really heavy, rock radio friendly alternative rock, and you can do better with their other albums.
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Album Rating: 2.5
I want to make it clear that I’m don’t want to just hate in this as I’m otherwise a big fan of their music! I wanted to like this, but the lyrics are just super weak. It looks like a lot of people are enjoying it though so I’m glad for them.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
Damn someone beat me to reviewing this. Neg. /j
But yeah I agree with a lot of what you said here. So much that I hope my review doesn't end up being a rehash. The lyrics are definitely the weakest they've ever been on this. I agree with the hate of Turn it Up Like. That microwave lyric still makes me wanna put my own head in a microwave ffs.The philosopher sections on here aren't as intrusive as they were on Stories, but this has other obnoxious things like the overused electronics/effects and title call outs. Ironically their use of the former on self-titled was honestly some of the best of all time.
Pos
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I actually thought their use of Watts on Stories was decent enough for the most part as they were brief enough and gave an insight to the coming track at least sometimes, I thought their use of his recordings on the self titled album were the weakest aspect of the album, they don’t do anything for me and I always skip them. But the fact they’re continuing the trend onto a third album just is getting really old.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
What is it about Stories that bothered you? It seems a lot of people on this site didn’t like it all that much, I personally loved it.
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Man... "THE OTHER F WORD" is a really hard song to get through when you consider the fact that the man singing it is like... in his 30's. He's definitely one of the more obnoxious front men I've seen in a band.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I definitely enjoyed this more than the last album, this thing is great at least musically
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
Their lyrics were never deep or metaphorical, but on Fleeting and self-titled they were honestly top of the line for mainstream rock. They were catchy and creative, and they flowed well. On this and stories they are kinda lackluster. Moreso on this. Lyrics are def my main gripe with this album. Oddly enough it feels like they get less mature with each album as sad as that is lol.
| | | Album Rating: 2.0
Lol some butthurt connoisseur of shitty music really neg’d this review, which is better written than a lot of staff reviews.
Band is only good if you want to turn your brain off.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
JonWedge on self-titled it was only Gyre and Pyre, and they kinda served as transitions on a 17 song album. So they really weren't intrusive at all. At worst I skip those two tracks. Still leaves 15 more tracks that all hit. Stories was over a third transition tracks. And then another third were mediocre tracks. That only left six good songs, and even those good songs don't hold a candle to most parts of the first two albums. That is my main gripe with Stories at least. It was a total downgrade with basically half of it being filler for me.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
This album only has two transitions again, one of which I don't actually mind (Ships), but the normal songs are riddled with new problems. It's hard to explain, but creatively and energetically the songs on here appear better than most of Stories, which to me felt lacking in both areas, but they ruin themselves with cringe lyrics, poorly used efx, etc. If that stuff were stripped away this album would be far better, but...
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
Lol just by writing this I feel like I need to put Stories and Spirits at a 3.5 or lower. They don't deserve 4s at all.
Fleeting had everything going for it, just it was a bit lacking in maturity as it was a "debut.' Good lyrics, energy, etc was all there.
Self-titled is everything Fleeting was, but longer and more mature.
Stories was half filler and lost a lot of energy, but is otherwise solid. Maturity level of Fleeting.
Spirits has the energy, but bad lyrics and shitty efx ruin it. Less mature than Fleeting
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
@altmjw - I'll own up to it, I neg'd it. And not because I'm a "butthurt connoisseur of shitty music" but because I didn't think the review was well written. A while back there was a user who asked people "what they looked for in music," and I made a comment that people on this site tend to overanalyze music, and with respect to JonWedge, I feel like that's exactly what this review does.
This is a hard rock album, plain and simple. And y'know what, I think it's a ton of fun. Yet the review focuses so much on the "pseduo-intellectualism" of the album instead of the music itself. And even the subject line is just a gatekeeping comment about how "this isn't really progressive rock."
Now if there's some interview out there that I'm unaware of where the members of Nothing More claimed this is something more than just a hard rock album, I'll gladly eat my words. But as far as I'm aware, nobody outside of this site is labeling them as progressive rock, and nobody is looking at this album as if it's Kid A. You don't need to hyperanalyze an album that's just passing as a fun, catchy rock album.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
I'm writing a lot cause I am/was super passionate about this band, but I should probably save it for my review of this. I was so hoping this would be a return to form of sorts, but I think deep down I knew that wouldn't be the case. I fucking hated microwave song when it came out. Tied with Fat Kid for the worst song they've ever made. If NM goes down this path, which they probably will since everyone seems to love this for some reason, the next album will probably be the first one I actually downright don't like.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
Platypus I agree with most of what you said tbh. This is just catchy fun music. And I do think that is all it's trying to be. That's why I would never give it lower than a 7/10. However, I also wouldn't give it higher. If you ignore any prog talk, OPs review is still dead on the nose for the problems this has. The lyrics are the worst they've ever done, the electronics/effects take away from the experience, etc. Music doesn't need to be super complex. Hell there's plenty of shitty complex music. Music needs to be interesting (to actually be even worth listening to opposed to other stuff) and executed well for whatever it is trying to do. This album is sorta interesting, but that is just cause Nothing More has a decently unique sound as it is. But the execution of this sucks.
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I'll admit I was dreading this one since the first single. TSWTO was one of my favorite albums growing up, so I was hoping to hear more of that... but this just missed the mark. The riffs are... fine, I guess? Nothing too special. But the lyrics drag the whole thing down for me. Feels like a TikTokified version of the band. Pos'd.
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“Put me in a microwave, push all the buttons at the same time”
I’m kind of sad thinking about how much difficulty this guy must have when making popcorn
| | | Album Rating: 2.0
You guys are a trip
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"Band is only good if you want to turn your brain off."
Yeah that's pretty much it. Enjoying it a lot for a sweet hard rock record with some catchy songs while managing to not pay much attention to the lyrics. It scratches an itch for me and am enjoying this more than their previous one at least.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Maybe someone can explain better for me but I don’t understand where the dislike comes from the lyrics now more than ever when they’ve never been amazing lyricists. Their older work was especially worse, mainly looking at first punch, the few not fleeting, Matthew effect etc etc. I disagree and id say this is still their strongest album yet considering how filler riddled the other 3 are, but good review nonetheless
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I wouldn't say that the lyrics are any worse here than other albums. I think a lot of the complaints I have regarding this album span across a lot of their music. In general I haven't been really interested in their songs that incorporate political commentary, not because I don't agree with it but because it comes across as half-baked and clunky. I would say that, because this album's message is more political than their S/T (the other one I'm more familiar with), a lot of their songs just turn me off. I can't speak for anyone else, but even their good songs like "Jenny", come across as holier-than-thou in their messaging.
Really that seems like a small complaint, but when the singer is the central focus of the band it really forces the lyrics to step into the spotlight. As people who have enjoyed this album have pointed out, there's a lot to dig here. The singer has chops. The riffs are energy-fueled and get the blood pumping. In many respects this IS just a fun, hard rock album that is going to sell like hotcakes because it sounds so different from a lot the metalcore being played on metal radio stations. If I put this on at the gym and chose not to listen to the lyrics I would probably enjoy it more, and I have plenty of "fun" albums that are going to make my end of the year list, but I can't get past the lead singer telling me to "Call out the fake".
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