Review Summary: The pop punk gems can't compensate for the lack of originality.
A Day To Remember is a band that comes from the dead-end down of Ocala, Florida, the birth place of other hardcore acts such as UnderOATH. With their first CD, "And Their Name Was Treason", they showed a potential to become a terrific band. It was a rough debut, but it showcased their now common poppy metalcore sound that would become perfected (and copied by every "new" band to come out in the last 18 months) on their sophomore album, "For Those Who Have Heart". "Homesick" was without a doubt one of the most hyped-up and anticipated albums of 2009. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.
On their last record, ADTR structured their songs with hard hitting metal verses and catchy, clean choruses and bridges. Every so often they'd throw in a pop punk gem that featured a breakdown, such as "Monument" or "Here's To the Past". Rather than playing it safe and taking the same path for "Homesick", they decided to switch it up a little bit, this time using half the album for metalcore and the other half for their melodic pop punk.
The album opens with the band chanting a breakdown rhythm. Slightly humorous, but it's been done before. The breakdown that follows and opens the song "The Downfall Of Us All" is alright at best, saved by the chord progression. The song is catchy, sure, but nothing beyond average. They completely overuse the gang vocals, and fans of their old material will be disappointed by the lack of screaming. Unfortunately, things don't get much better from here.
The next song, "My Life For Hire", sounds rather like the previous song, but less memorable. The breakdown is a throwback to their last record, as vocalist Jeremy McKinnon screams "This is a battleground!" over the slightly complex chugging of downtuned guitars. Listen to the full album, and you'll hear this idea repeated. Over, and over. The -core half of the CD is honestly terrible. They follow the same structure for every one of the heavy songs.
It is as follows:
Chugging intro
Breakdown / thrash verse
Clean, upbeat chorus
Verse
Chorus
Chugging build up
Vocal / Keyboard solo ("You Already Know What You Are")
Breakdown
Chorus
Outro
And so on. For half of the album. Needless to say, it starts to get old. Take a listen to the metal stuff once, then ignore it. "You Already Know What You Are" and "Holdin' It Down For The Underground" are completely unmemorable. "Welcome To The Family" is the most generic thing the band has done to date. "Mr. Highway's Thinking About The End" has a slower, melodic chorus, and is a decent song, but nothing more. Oh, and if you haven't noticed by now, ADTR is now going the Devil Wears Prada way of ridiculous song titles. Speaking of TDWP, Mike Hranica does guest vocals for "I'm Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?". Surprisingly, this song is the black sheep of the metalcore section. The song sounds like what the whole album should be: Their sophomore record, but more advanced.
Now for the pop punk side of this album. The first real, straight-up pop punk song heard is "NJ Legion Iced Tea". The song is pretty good, building off of a melodic guitar line. The verses show that the band was indeed once heavy, and the chorus shows off Tom Denny and Neil Westfall's ability to write hooks. This, as well has "Have Faith In Me" are probably the best you'll hear on the album. The latter has a massive, epic chorus and a beautiful opening guitar line.
The other pop punk songs, "Another Song About The Weekend" and "Homesick" are hit and miss. The title track is the better of the two, but is a little too New Found Glory then the band should be. (It should be noted that Chad Gilbert produced this record.) The former, and penultimate track, starts off promising, but ends up slightly forgettable. The chorus is catchy enough, and the group shouts are nicely placed, but the song is really more of a filler.
"Homesick" ends with an acouctic duo between Jeremy and Seirra Of VersaEmerge. The song makes the album go from average to good, as it really shows off the guitarists' abilties to write melodies and Jeremy's ability to sing. It ends with the drums, electric guitar, and (Possibly) bass coming back in for the last 30 seconds. Jeremy pours his heart out, singing "if you can wait until I get home, then I swear we can make this last" as group vocals of la la la's echo in the background, similar to the end of their fan favorite "You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance".
The song ends the album on a good note, but no matter how good the song is, it doesn't save the album from being what it really is: another boring hot topic trend.
