Review Summary: Drop Dead, Gorgeous creates another OK album....
Concept albums have always been a tricky ordeal. Either the band creates a epic masterpiece that is revered by many (Pink Floyd's The Wall or Between the Buried and Me's Colors) or it collapses into a pile of mangled ideas and music (American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown by Green Day). Drop Dead, Gorgeous' first foray into the world of concept albums does not hit either of these level, but instead sits somewhere in the middle.
Worse Then A Fairy Tale is based on a fictional story vocalist Danny Stillman wrote about a serial killer who terrorizes the town of Saylor Lake. At first glance a concept like this could be either an intriguing listen, or a cheesy failure. A story like this also presents a question for he music itself. How does a band effectively portray the delusional ravings of a madman? Drop Dead Gorgeous decided to take the breakdown heavy style from In Vogue, and add some changes so that the music would flow with the story. Gone are the numerous breakdowns, one dimensional song writing and repetitiveness that plagued the last album. In it's place are more keyboard driven, chaotic songs that rely less on breakdowns and more on pure chaos to propel the songs forward. The most important change from In Vogue to Worse Than A Fairy Tale has got to be the vocal delivery.
Vocalist Danny Stillman has replaced his harsh screaming, with a sort of singing/yelling hybrid of vocal style that is all over the map on this album. From his angst ridden vocals right off the bat on Red or White Wine? to the singing chorus of I Want To Master Life and Death, he uses a variety of vocal styles to bring the listener into the crazed mind of the killer. It is hit and miss on whether listeners will see this as a good thing. Fans of In Vogue will mourn the loss of the majority of the harsh screaming, although some of it does occasionally show up, like on tracks such as It Sounded Like an Accident, while other listeners will be intrigued by his newfound vocal delivery. The guitars and other instruments have also departed from what was routine in In Vogue. Although there still are the occasional breakdowns scattered about, the guitars take a step back and provide more of a backing role to the keyboards and vocals. The keyboards are not the focal point musically, as Drop Dead, Gorgeous utilizes a flurry of different keyboard melodies and sounds to add to the atmosphere of Worse Than A Fairy Tale. The circus sounding bit in Red or White Wine? at the 1:04 mark and the beginning of They'll Never Get Me show the keyboards throwing the song in a new direction and helping eliminate the repetitiveness that could plague an album like this. The drums are also notable, mostly for keeping up with the frantic pace and having an interesting fill every once in a while.
But not all is happy and good in the land of Worse Than A Fairy Tale. The vocal delivery will occasionally get grating after a while, as Stillman always seems to be off-key and his whining style gets irritating after a few tracks. The lyrics and concept are also a negative against this album. Although the idea of a concept album about a serial killer may be intriguing, the lyrics are borderline cheesy, and the idea does not always work in cohesion with the music. The band has also virtually eliminated the decent clean vocals that were a part of In Vogue. It would have been nice to hear some quality cleans in contrast to the harsh vocals.
In the end this album rides the line between a good concept album and a poor one. It is not a everday listen for me, but is instead the type of album that I pull out every once in a while to enjoy. Fans of In Vogue will likely not like this at all, but if you found In Vogue was not your style, then I suggest you check out Worse Than A Fairy Tale.
