Madina Lake
World War III

Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

World War III is the third album by Madina Lake and concludes the story arch the band started on their debut release, “The Disappearance of Adalia”. The band sets its music in a fictional town from the 1950s isolated from the rest of the world that's been turned upside-down with the mysterious disappearance of their most famous socialite, Adalia. The music provides an outlet for the band's views on politics, culture, and the media's obsession with celebrity status.

Previously the band has put out two EP’s, two albums and one live album. From my perspective it’s an impressive discography. Wherein their debut “From Them, Through Us, to You” is one of my all-time favorite albums. In 2010 however the band put out a six track EP called “The Dresden Codex”. This was from my perspective a bit of a bump in the road for the Chicago based post-hardcore/pop punk outfit. The EP was average at best and had few memorable songs. The lack of quality in the songs might have something to do with the band leaving Roadrunner Records and putting out a self-released EP, I don’t know. The only thing I know is that it wasn’t a particularly good release. In ways same can be said about their second album “Attics to Eden” which was much more commercial pop inspired album which includes if not one too many fillers. I enjoy the album, but when being critical, it has it’s obvious flaws and doesn’t live up to their debut.

But, seeing how they are one of my favorite artist, and even though they’d put out a bad EP and a poppy second record, I was excited to hear the new one. I’m going to be honest, I prejudged this whole album, mostly due to, The Dresden Codex, but also the albums opener “Howdy Neighbor!". It is one of the weaker tracks on the album. I personally think the opener should be a powerful track that gives you a taste of what’s to come. “Howdy Neighbor!” falls short in every way. It doesn’t impress nor does it give you high hopes about the album. It doesn’t sound finished and is plain boring. Fortunately, the album catches up on the second track “Imagineer” which is everything “Howdy Neighbor!” isn’t. It’s heavy, it’s catchy, it’s groovy, and it has a chorus that will stick to your mind for a while.

Madina Lake’s previous albums “From Them, Through Us, to You” and “Attics to Eden” both followed a certain pattern in their sound. Where “From Them…” is an intense and in your face record, while “Attics” is an up-beat and catchy record. With that said, it doesn’t mean every song on their each respected albums always was intense or up-beat, but you can clearly without a single problem tell from which album they come from. In “World War III”, Madina Lake’s sound is all over the ***ing place. In cases like their 2010 EP “The Dresden Codex” this would be a bad thing, but Madina Lake have truly stepped up their game and made a record that stands out from what they’ve given out previously. You have tracks that have a similar sound to “From Them…” like the album’s second single “Imagineer”. You also have tracks that have a similar sound to “Attics” like the up-beat and relaxing “Take Me or Leave”. That is except for the rapping part by Dave Casy, I didn’t really see that one coming. Hell, you even have some flat-out metalcore worship on the track “The Great Divide”. And yes, there are also songs that have a similar sound to “The Dresden Codex”, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise seeing how “They’re Coming for Me”, “Heroine” and “Hey, Superstar!” all are taken directly from the EP. Thankfully, these were also the bests tracks on the EP.

World War III truly features some of the bands heaviest songs like the in your face “Blood Red Flags”, but also some of their poppiest, like the dance song “Fireworks”. That one really sounds like some mainstream song you’d always hear in the clubs… ‘Til this point I’ve mostly given the album praise, but that’s not to say that the album only has good songs, because we also have songs like “What It is to Wonder”, and oh my God that track is horrible. It’s a shame, because it builds up as if something cool is going to happen, but then the worst chorus every written by Madina Lake kicks in. It’s full of energy and is simple and straight forward and boring. Live however, due to its intensity I can imagine it being a more pleasant experience. We also got slow and emotional tracks like “We Got This”. At first listen this song will be a pleasant joy, probably the second time around as well. It’s simple and sweet, but after a couple of listens this is one of the tracks you probably will be ending up skipping. I’m not saying it’s a bad song, because it’s not. I enjoy it quite much, it just isn’t memorable compared to songs like the up-beat and catchy “Across 5 Oceans”. “Hey, Superstar!” suffers in fact the same way with not being memorable, if not even annoying. I personally can’t stand hearing lead singer Nathan Leone scream out the chorus too many times before I wanting to kill myself.

As songwriters Madina Lake have grown, A LOT. Every member of the band now feels equal, seeing how they all play an important part in the structure of each song, instead of just Nathan Leone (vocals) and Mateo Camargo (guitars) running most of the show. World War III is diverse, yet original and still stays true to the overall “Madina Lake sound”. In ways you could call this a greatest hits album, as it features parts from anything they’ve ever done before, and then some more. It gives the band a fresh breath of life which they have sorely needed ever since “Attics to Eden”. I hands down never imagined “World War III” being this good.

Recommended tracks:
“Across 5 Oceans”, “Imagineer” & “Heroine”

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2.6 average

Rank: #0 for 2011