Review Summary: Some of the songs sound a bit similar, but its still diverse enough to love it
Note: This is my first review of anything ever so sorry if it’s not that great. But keep in mind its MY review with MY opinions. Though if it needs any format work, notify me, please.
"Love" is Angels and Airwaves at its best. Usually the 1st album of a band is considered the best, but this one rises above all their other albums. A constant thing for AvA is their album set up. They aren't just collections of songs. Each song leads into another, making each album kind of like a story. Out of their 4 stories, "Love" is the most intricate and unique. They sound more futuristic, and might I say trippy, then ever. Also, the lyrics have matured a bit and are very optimistic.
From my least favorite to my favorite (though all of them are great), these 5 songs will be described and reviewed to the best of my ability.
First song is "Hallucinations". This song begins with some soft synths and strings that lead to the clean guitar and drums. To me, this song is pretty plain. The beginning leads it to sound promising, with a really interesting build-up. But it does not pay off. It isn't a horrible song, its just not one worth getting excited for.
The next song is "Shove". This one took a bit of time to like, but once I heard it all the way through, it became one of my favorite. It begins with a delayed guitar that fades out. When the guitar comes in, a feeling of optimism flows out. The lyrics in the verse are great ("Forget the things that you own, and travel almost anywhere you can go") and the lyrics in the chorus are even better. ("She said, show me the world that’s inside your head, show me the world that you see yourself in use some help, because sometimes it comes with a shove when you fall in love") It’s not as unique as hallucinations, but what makes this song great are the lyrics and melodies.
“Some Origins of Fire” is one of my favorite AvA songs. AvA is known for their long intro and spacey riffs/synths. This song has the best of those. A lot of their beginnings are soft, but this packs a punch and is probably one of their most energetic, uplifting, and heaviest songs. Willard hits the drums hard at the beginning, which then leads to a drum roll to the energetic guitar. One can’t help but smile when the song gets into full swing. The chorus is fantastic, with Tom saying “We all are love and love is hard, we are hard to love”, showing that Tom has moved from talking like a teenage boy, to talking more like a philosopher.
My second favorite song off of “Love” is “Epic Holiday”. The beginning of this song is AvA’s most intricate and cool beginning in their music history. This is a head nodding song, but not slow head nod or medium head nod. It is synth heavy in the first bit and the synths go along with the guitar when it comes in, and the guitar kind of reminds me of “Valkyrie Missile”, but better. A fast and simple strum is how it’s played, and with the synths in the background, it truly is epic.
The best song off of the album is “The Moon-Atomic”. It is a softer song then most of the songs off this album. For me, this was an instant like. As soon as I heard the first couple seconds, I knew that this was one of the best songs AvA has ever made. Soft synths play of the guitar with a short, but somewhat heavy drum beat. Tom says before the chorus, “We are all that we are, so terribly sorry” making the song a great song to listen to if you are feeling bad about yourself or something around that nature. When the chorus starts, along with the guitar and synths, a strings section comes in, plucking along and setting the rhythm.
Many of “Love’s” songs are great, bringing much optimism and creativity to the music front. There are many songs on this album that could be listened to fall asleep, but also many are great for blasting out of your car window. This is hands-down Angels and Airwaves best album so far, providing the most variety of sounds and subjects to create an epic story worth hearing.