BryanStars
Follow Your Dreams


2.5
average

Review

by Snide USER (30 Reviews)
May 23rd, 2016 | 101 replies


Release Date: 2016 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Average is as average does

Bryanstars has been the talk of the town lately; having established a cult following on YouTube for a combination of admittedly funny interviews, weird v-logs with various other Youtubers, and for having a channel that primarily uploads nothing but local bands. Reactions were polarizing to say the least when he unexpectedly dropped a music video with next to no warning. How does Bryan’s jump into the music world fair; despite some genuine talent and high production values, a multitude of immature factors and boneheaded songwriting blunders drag his debut EP down from being anything other than an average pop punk affair.

Bryan’s skills as a musician and a vocalist aren’t the issue with this EP; he himself is a somewhat talented vocalist with a surprisingly strong falsetto and a consistent vocal tone that doesn’t waver throughout the tracks, and numerous moments on the EP are infectiously catchy. The issue is his attitude with the songwriting, repetition and the lack of sincerity in the music. Lyrically and vocally his efforts are entirely focused around trying to be more “fun” than his contemporaries in the genre, so much so that all substance goes out the window; when he isn’t being overtly bombastic in his writing, they almost seem like they’re random lyrics taken from other popular songs, such as in “Smile” which he takes a little *too* much inspiration from the Goo Goo Dolls’s hit song “Iris.” That isn’t to say that it’s all bad news; EP highlight “Tonight” showcases an innate penchant for creating solid poppy hooks and the title track “Follow Your Dreams” could fit anywhere in Never Shout Never’s discography.

Musically, this album sounds like a cross between one of All Time Low’s earlier works and a Never Shout Never demo. The production emphasizes glittering guitars, Bryan’s voice, and not much else. Mentioning “Tonight” once again, there is potential to create a track like this with solid writing, performances, and a semblance of sincerity there, but it gets lost amidst the mediocrity of the rest of the EP. The drumming is incredibly simple and the bass is almost nonexistent bar to be a neat little instrumental backdrop to a vocal line. When it’s not shooting for happy-go-lucky pop punk, it’s shooting for sappy motivational acoustic territory.

Overall, this EP is frustrating. It shows what happens when someone with a reasonable amount of talent and a solid fan backing to make him successful decides to take the safe route instead of capitalizing on his talents and creating a substantiated effort with not only the catchy and mindless fun that this release occasionally captures, but the ability to delve into serious territory without sounding overtly corny. For now; Bryan has put out an average pop punk release that will no doubt quell the appetite of his fans, but not win him any new converts.



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user ratings (91)
1.1
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other reviews of this album
EmperorPikachu1 (2)
Oh boy....

ShadyTwist (1)
If these are the dreams I need to follow, I'd rather have nightmares....



Comments:Add a Comment 
Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

And here we go.... Critique always welcome.

Oh boy, what have I done.



Tonight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Uh769JS_M

Brett W
May 23rd 2016


375 Comments


Good review, glad to see someone giving him some credit and not just hopelessly shitting on it.

Slex
May 23rd 2016


16552 Comments


man oh man do i hate this guy and his music, but regardless this is a good review so i pos'd

when i have more time i'll try to give you some critiques

Sinternet
Contributing Reviewer
May 23rd 2016


26576 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

Well this album seems like an objectivity boost if there ever was one

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Thanks you guys. When I saw the reception it was getting, I was expecting an absolute shitshow. I got a frustratingly average EP with one great track that shows a lot of potential.

@Sinternet: It's honestly just average pop punk with nothing particularly special about it, not worthy of the rampant 1/5's it's been getting.

Snake.
May 23rd 2016


25255 Comments


he's still probably better than twenty one pilots so idc

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

I do have to agree with Snake I'd take this over Twenty One Pilots any day.

Sinternet
Contributing Reviewer
May 23rd 2016


26576 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

As long as it isnt as bad as the new summer set album i'll give it a listen but i'm not expecting much

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Jam the song "Tonight" that I linked up in the first comment Sinternet; it's the best song on the EP by a mile.

Slex
May 23rd 2016


16552 Comments


hahaha Sinternet @ the objectivity boost. honestly it's tempting to do that, but since this is a good review i'm gonna actually give this a listen

Sinternet
Contributing Reviewer
May 23rd 2016


26576 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

Will do, nice review btw

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

@Freddie: You should, the average is honestly way too low, and being 25 years old isn't that old in this genre, a lot of people are flipping out about quite a bit.

@Sinternet: Thank you! Interested to hear what you think, it's great to be reviewing again.

Nocturnalize
May 23rd 2016


2463 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off

Great review but this album sucks ahrd



It's so fake and you could hear it from miles away, everything I hate about scene music is featured on this ep. Hopefully he(the band) find themselves or just quit because the lack of artistic integrity is on a different level from anything else Ive listen to before

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Thanks for the compliment on the review; but I don't think it's THAT fake. If you've seen Bryan's interviews, the way he talks and / or his vlogs, the lyrics (while ridiculously corny) are basically him in a nutshell. He does try and market it incredibly biased towards his younger audience, but that's because he's basically a 15 year old trapped in a 25 year old's body.

trackbytrackreviews
May 23rd 2016


3469 Comments


I think he might go back to interviews since My Digital Escape broke up

Snide
May 23rd 2016


7050 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Those interviews were fucking hilarious; arguably the only good thing he's done content wise other than the interviews is one of the songs on this EP "Tonight" and the fact that he uses his popularity to support a lot of local bands.

Mutantsnowstorm
May 23rd 2016


514 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off

This guy gives me the creeps, he feels like a Front Porch Step incident waiting to happen all over again.

OrangeTheAdventure
May 23rd 2016


37 Comments


Yeah, i don't automatically think Bryan is a pedophile or anything but the fact that he's a 25 year old who hangs exclusively with high schoolers is a little weird.

AlexKzillion
May 23rd 2016


17170 Comments


Would have been a 1.5 but he just had to add a generic acoustic revision of the same shit song that the EP opens with.

Mutantsnowstorm
May 23rd 2016


514 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0 | Sound Off

Plus there's a song here about him having sex with a 15 year old but since it's about his first time that happened when he was younger then that's totally okay to sing about now apprently



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