Review Summary: A useless, unnecessary release.
One of the many things that bothered me during the few times I sat and listened to the “Life Gone Wild” EP was the fact that I don’t hate this band. Many people think differently, and while I can see where those people come from, I seem to put Asking Alexandria into my “guilty pleasure” list, simply because I enjoy them. I know they are one of those bands that give the genre a bad name or whatever, but I find their music most of the time to not be all that bad.
“Life Gone Wild” is a completely different story though, it’s a release meant to hold people over until the release of their full length this coming year, but it seems to do a better job of making me question why I ever got into this band. This 6 track EP features two Skid Row covers, three remixes from their previous full length one brand new song. To be completely honest, I only found myself interested in the EP to hear the one brand new track, since I heard some rough live versions and really got myself hyped up about it all.
If you look closely at the cover for the EP, it shows the band standing in what looks like a street, hair all down and around, wearing leather jackets. Maybe their just trying to get into the Skid Row mood? I also question, why Skid Row? Why embarrass such a historic figure in the rock age? Well, at least they didn’t destroy them too much. In fact, the covers are actually not bad when you compare to most of the covers made now a days. The band doesn’t really do anything to call it their own, they just kind of went and re-did them with an updated sound.
One thing that has also been brought to my attention more lately is the whole re-mixing thing, Bring Me the Horizon re-mixed their entire second album, and then released it for people to buy. Who would buy an album full of songs re-mixed, no idea. Bands all over the map are doing it, and Asking Alexandria seems to be just another one of them. Three songs from their debut album “Stand Up and Scream” are mixed and mashed here. The three songs are, ‘A Single Moment of Sincerity’, ‘Not the American Average’, and ‘I Was Once Possible Maybe Perhaps A Cowboy King’. Each song is re-done by someone unknown to me. Well, they do absolutely nothing for the EP or the band. Actually, I’d rather listen to the song then the re-mix, and I guess a lot of people would agree with me on that.
All of this brings me to the final song on the EP, ‘Breathless’, which will be on the upcoming full-length album. To pretty much sum this song up, it’s easiest to say that it’s the average, not so changed Asking Alexandria. The song features a few boring breakdowns, an average chorus and of course, boring instrumentals. In an attempt to “pump” people up for the album, they could have at least tried to make a song which makes the album worth waiting for. Instead, it will just make fans a little more nervous for whats to come. This is how the entire EP feels, like the band is trying to hard. They do covers and re-mixes, which seems like a bleak attempt to blend in with the crowd. In a genre where standing out is a necessity, others choose to hide behind black and white walls.
