Review Summary: Generic is the perfect word for this album.
I remember when I first heard about this band. My friend bought their debut album "Cross Your Fingers" on itunes, and told me that I had to own a copy. So long story short, I got a copy from my friend, listened to it, and I didn't mind it. It was average. Not good, not bad. I could listen to it. But the more I listen to it, the less I like it.
Now Im not going to lie, I got hyped about their next album "outspoken". But its not because of friends or the advertising, it was because of their cover of "You belong to me" by Taylor Swift in "Punk Goes Pop Version 4". It was a very well done cover and it was one of the best covers I have ever heard. It was certainly a lot better than any song off of "Cross your fingers"
So now I was super hyped, the album was finally released, I went to best buy, bought the album, popped in my CD player and!!!
ehhhhhhhh.........
That was my first reaction to this album, generic, average, nothing special at all. But lets take an honest listen, maybe I just need to listen to it one more time.
I first want to talk about the album cover, Now I have a big collection of CDs, and this album cover is by far the worst I have ever seen. What a perfect analogy. Its generic, dull, and unoriginal. I mean look at it, you just want to say "BLAH" to it. It really looks like no effort went into the album cover, because it really looks ugly.
But honestly, the album cover isn't honestly that important right?? Lets take a look at the music!
It starts out with "Outspoken"(AKA the unnecessary Intro). An announcer is announcing the band to an audience. It was fine until the first lyrics of the whole album start.
"STEP UP, OR SHUT THE *** UP".
Ohhhhhhh Myyyyyyy Godddd!! Really!?!?!?! I'm just going to flat out say it. It was really stupid and it completely threw me off track. I could not believe I heard something like that! The first time I heard that, I had to pause the CD just to make sure I actually heard what I heard.
But anyways, one breakdown and some lyrics after, we get the second track in the album "Once A Liar[Always A Fake]. I actually really enjoyed this song. It starts great, and it flows great. Overall its a good song, probably the highlight of the album.
Next we have "Mark my words", its another good song, not as good as "Once A Liar[Always A fake] but still enjoyable.
Then comes "Tell me the Truth" This is where the album takes a little dive. I honestly blame the track listing more than the song itself. Too me, this song sounds like a dumbed down version of "Once a liar[Always a Fake]. Maybe if this song was put someplace else, I would enjoy it more. It really sounds like they are using the same format over and over again.
But thank god they changed the pace with "Follow my voice" Here's another song that I enjoyed, like "Once a Liar[always a Fake]" It flows nicely and its really catchy. Another highlight of this album.
Unfortunately, we are going to take another dive, "Turn Of The Century" is nothing but a bad breakdown festival.
Then we take a deeper dive with "Life on Fire" We have another song that doesn't give any effort to stick out. By the way, the breakdowns are really starting to get annoying. It would be alright if they used them less and if they were better, but they are just boring.
"Love Isn't Real" is a song that is alright, but it feels chiche. The whole "Whoah whoah" refrain feels forced and the awful breakdown feels even more forced. But other than that, not a bad song.
"Never Trust A Dead Man" is one of their heavier songs. Normally I usually like these heavier songs, but their are way too many boring breakdowns for my enjoying. Plus, I swear to god if I hear something like "Get the *** out" or "You've ***ed Up" again, I'm going to go insane.
Now is the point where I had to force myself to listen to the last three songs. "Shaken Not Stirred" sounds like every other song in this album. "One Kiss" sounds like a generic Sleeping With Sirens song. And "Backstabber" seems like it drags on forever. I'm honestly glad the album is over now.
Now, to be fair, the album is not bad, but it is not good either. The main issue I have with this album is that many of the songs sounds the same. It really seems like they use the same formula, and it wore out on me really fast. Another issue I have is that all the lyrics are about some bad breakup with a woman. This pretty much makes this album even more generic because it seems like half the bands around now make songs about breakups. But I do have to give this band credit, Fats does have a lot of talent, but it seems like they squander it.
Overall, Like Cross Your Fingers, "Outspoken" is as average and generic as you can get. If you want to check this album out, I would recommend "Once a liar[Always a fake]" and "Follow My voice".
