Review Summary: There is always room for improvement, but this album is so catchy and easy to sing along with that I seem to forget about the very obvious flaws throughout.
‘What Separates Me From You” marks the fourth full-length release from pop-punk/hardcore group A Day to Remember. The Ocala, Florida boys are back, this time with New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert in the recording chair. The band has come a long way since their debut “And Their Name Was Treason”, one of the major moments being the loss of guitar player Tom Denney to an injury which forced him to leave the band after the recording of “Homesick”. Taking his place is former Four Letter Lie singer/guitarist Kevin Skaff, and this album marks his first with the band.
A Day to Remember has always been labeled as pop-core, to keep it short. This is the combination of pop-punk influenced choruses mixed with hardcore breakdowns. While ADTR has always been good at this, with each and every record the band seems to get a little bit softer. “Homesick” was certainly a little more punk-pop influenced then “For Those Who Have Heart”, but the band kept Jeremy’s screaming vocals a big part right along with the breakdowns. This time around, his screams are heard less and his singing is used more.
The album opens with ’Sticks & Bricks’, one of the three heavier tracks on the record. The song is designed for fans of their older, heavier material. The song features fast verses, a catchy chorus and a hard hitting breakdown, but it’s such a misleading track. After hearing this track, it kind of gave me hope that this would be what the rest of the album is like. Right away that furiousness goes away with ‘All I Want’, the first single off of the album. Tracks like ‘All I Want’, ‘It’s Complicated’ and ‘Better Off This Way’ feature choruses that are easy to sing along with and are undeniably catchy, but besides the catchiness of a chorus or two, the songs are easily forgettable.
‘This is the House That Doubt Built’ does the best job at combining the heavier and softer side of the band, while it has a heavy sound to it and shows both the screaming and singing talents of Jeremy, the chorus is slower and bigger than anything else on the record. ’2nd Sucks’ is the second song on the album that could be considered as heavy, it is the only song in the history of A Day to Remember to feature absolutely no clean vocals at all. It’s the perfect sound for the band, the song never lets up from start to finish and features a breakdown that could only be described as awesome. ‘You be Tails, I’ll be Sonic’ is the last chance on the album to hear the heavier side of the band, and even though it features the same basic premise as the other two heavier tracks, it’s still a great song which brings back that old school ADTR feeling.
The ending of the album seems to lose all energy that was built up throughout, while ‘All Signs Point to Lauderdale’ is easy to sing along to, it’s so basic and predictable. The same goes for ‘Out of Time’ and ‘If I Leave’. This is the main problem with both this band at this point and this album, they create catchy music that’s fun to listen to, but it’s so simple and sadly generic at times it’s pretty disappointing. A Day to Remember is one of those bands that need to realize who they are and what sound they’re going for, and stick with that. They seem to do better with the heavier stuff.
“What Separates Me From You’ is one of the most complicated albums to rate for me. Simply because I have so much fun listening to it, and love singing along right with it, yet it doesn’t feel like A Day to Remember. It’s disappointing, that’s a fact, but it features some very fun and catchy songs which makes up for all the flaws heard throughout. A Day to Remember has hit the low point in their career, it’s time for them to wake up and realize who they are before they get left behind like the towns they sing about in their songs.
