Review Summary: All things are bright, but not really beautiful.
Allow me to begin this review by saying that I am a fan of Owl City. I am not a "hater" of Adam Young or Owl City in general; in fact, I approved of his first major-label debut, Ocean Eyes (which was released in 2009). The idea of a "home-grown" musician producing music out of his parents' basement was a notion that was appealing. Therefore, when I heard that he would be releasing a new album in June of 2011, I was intrigued. Hopefully, Young would hone his lyrical skills (as well as his musical skills) and fashion a truly great record out of all of the new resources available to him.
Needless to say, I was disappointed.
As a preface to the album, I'll discuss each of the singles briefly. The first is called "Alligator Sky," a bizarre homage to exploration and discovery. The title alone caused my eyebrows to raise, and they only descended in disgust upon listening to the track itself. The lyrical content is dodgy to say the least. "Alligator Sky" is highly reminiscent of "Fireflies" from 2009 (the track that rocketed Owl City to the public spotlight). Now, when I mean similar, I don't just mean the vocal delivery. The entire song is almost a carbon-copy! It runs at 90 BPM, features a very similar string section, and is almost identical in key (D, as opposed to "Fireflies'" D#). Heck, if someone removed the abysmal rapping part and substituted verses by Young, it'd be almost completely identical! This song really struck a sour note with me, to say the least.
The second single is named "Galaxies." I actually quite enjoy the instrumental section of this song; the icy pads that kick in during the choruses add a certain "dance-y" element to the song, and the synthesized blips keep the song moving with a 1/4 delay effect (likely used from Ableton Live). The true downfall of this song, however, is the vocal section. Young's crooning, heavily auto-tuned voice makes the whole thing lose any maturity it could have tried to achieve. The constant references to God and the Challenger Disaster (as referenced to in the previous track, "January 28, 1986") are a nice attempt at creating meaning, but the effect is crippled by poor word choice. Also, the Challenger Disaster was an odd choice to base a dance song about. His brightness just does not lend itself well to the seriousness of the event, and it seems to be related more to God and religion than the actual tragedy (in his eyes).
The final single is "Deer in the Headlights." This sounds similar to Alvin and the Chipmunks, honestly. The power chords of the guitar just don't mesh with the synth lines well, and the mix is too bright and high up to really anchor itself in an auditory sense. Again, the lyrics are cheap and cheesy ("Met a girl in the parking lot/All I did was say hello/Her pepper spray made it rather hard for me to walk her home?" Really?), and don't really have much meaning. It's like corny comedy, and an iffy attempt at it. Being that this song is the second track on the album, it really should be more bombastic (seeing as how the first track, "The Real World," is simply too sleepy to grab the attention of a listener). Sadly, I cannot say that it held my attention enough to warrant a good rating.
Now, on to the actual album. The first track, like I said, is very slow and boring. The flam claps in the second verse are cool, but this really just sounds like a "Vanilla Twilight" rip-off (yes, a rip-off of his own song!). Same tempo, same warmth, but worse lyrics. Images of sugar-maple wings, autumn leaves, and other such things are expected to create a picture of utopia, but it fails to have much depth besides the words. What is a sugar-maple wing?
The third track actually has hope for me. "Angels" features power chords, light synthesizers, and a harsher vocal delivery. There are clearly multiple layers in each section to add depth, including a nice piano melody in the verses and a glockenspiel-esque sound as the main driving melodic force. The delayed guitar plucking in the pre-choruses also adds a cool motion to the words Young sings. The lyrics actually seem as if he worked on them; I mean, they're not the best in the world, but at least I can understand his message within them. He declares that angels live everywhere around us on the planet; I don't necessarily believe this, but at least it has more effort behind it than an "Alligator Sky." This is the only track I would really recommend for listeners.
The fourth track, "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust," is yet another "Fireflies" attempt, this time with a beat similar to songs by A Tribe Called Quest. I like the feel of the hip hop drums, but his voice and electronics do not match up with them. It really just feels half-baked. There's potential, but Young should consider a shift in style away from high-pitched crooning if he chooses to use these influences. I'm not even going to mention the lyrical content, as it's just the same as anything else before it; poor.
"Honey and the Bee" really just sounds like a remake of "The Saltwater Room" with an acoustic guitar and talks of crows, bean-fields, and hugs (and it even has BreAnne Duren). Same key signature, as well. Meh.
I had a lot of hope for "Kamikaze" based on the thirty-second preview on YouTube; the synth lead, in conjunction with the strings and big beat, felt almost like the Mushroom Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Catchy. However, upon hearing the actual song, my hopes fell. The instrumentation is great, but the song just seems...unfinished. One can hear influences from Insect Airport and Aquarium in this song (which are two of Young's older projects), but these ideas clash too much. Young's shouting sounds kiddish and superfluous in the song when mixed alongside ambient chords. In an interview, he said that he wanted to bring a harsher edge to "Kamikaze," but it just comes across as annoying and weird. The song could be much better with more time and songwriting effort, but as it stands, it's bland.
After "Galaxies," Young decides to have a softer ballad-type song in "Hospital Flowers." This song is fairly decent, with big drums alongside a gentle piano melody. The vocals didn't bother me as much in this song, and it almost reminds me of a song by Seagull Orchestra called "Sailboats." It's gentle, and a nice "cool-down" after the frenzy of "Galaxies."
The second-to last track, "The Yacht Club," has large synthesizer lines and a guest singer named Lights. It's okay, but the drum beat (and synthesizers, for that matter) sounds like it was ripped right out of "Cave In," the first track off of Ocean Eyes. In fact, the whole song sounds like that and "Tip of the Iceberg." Nothing else really to say here.
Could somebody please give Mr. Young some guidance on how to close an album? "Plant Life" is a waltz-type song that was previewed back in October of 2010 (by Matthew Thiessen, who collaborated on the track). First off, where is Thiessen? I barely hear traces of his contributions to the song! The piano chords are nice, and slightly dark (which are basically the only thing to listen for). The song ends quietly and in an anti-climactic fashion similar to how "Tidal Wave" closed off Ocean Eyes. You'd think that the last song should have a sense of closure, but this song does not have any such energy. Kind of a let-down, but after hearing the rest of the album, whatever.
In conclusion, "All Things Bright and Beautiful" is polished musically, but is severely lacking in the lyrical department. Fans of Ocean Eyes may like this album, but anyone with a critical ear should steer clear. Adam Young should really consider working outside of the comforts of his own home, with other songwriters and producers. Maybe with a different lyricist and a less harsh usage of auto-tune, Young can reach out a wider audience of listeners. Yes, I am a fan of Owl City, but I will not pretend that this album is good, or even decent. It is mediocre at best, and I truly hope that Adam Young decides to do something different in the future. Otherwise, he'll just die off as a Postal-Service sound-alike.
