Review Summary: How are you holding up, Ronnie?
Ever since ex-Escape The Fate frontman Ronnie Radke formed Falling In Reverse in 2006, people haven't exactly warmed to the band... which is kind of, well, deserved. The band haven't exactly brought anything new to the post-hardcore genre in their seven years as a band, and they haven't made the impact in the way many people would have expected them to, having Ronnie and all. In 2011, FIR released 'The Drug In Me Is You', a failry decent album that lacked originality, character or, well, fun, but still a decent album nonetheles. After three years, Falling In Reverse (Or as many have dubbed them 'Ronnie and the Radke's) have returned with 'Fashionably Late', a brand new Post-hardcore/Rap/Pop Rock/Melodic Metalcore album. Is it any good. Well...kind of.
First off, the album seems to be dealing with a sort of identity crisis. The album doesn't know what it wants to be. The first song off the album, 'Champion', is a somewhat heavy song with heavy riffs and a catchy chorus. Later on the song however, we get a rap verse from Mr RR. himself about the 'haters' and how he's 'Gonna take that spot on the top', topped off with a boring breakdown. Basically this the first warning of rapping on this album, of which there is a lot. But this album isn't a rap album. It's anything but. Songs like 'Fashionably Late' and 'Born To Lead' include some great lyrics and 'Born To Lead' has some pretty decent shredding for almost two minutes of the song. Jacky Vincent does well to add some fun to the album with a good performance on lead. Ryan Seaman (*insert sexual joke here*) does a great job on drums, although some songs have minimal drumming from him. The bass on this album... isn't exactly the noticeable type. Ron Ficarro's bass is unable to be heard for most of the album, and is kind of a disappointment.
Now onto specific songs. After 'Champion' we get 'Bad Girls Club', which, when I first heard it, very loudly yell 'What the serious ***!??!', and proceed to continue listening, hoping it got better. Sadly, and, unsurprisingly, it doesn't. The lyrics may be a tad fun to listen to, but the generic, boring electronic beat that plays for most of the song is, well, boring. 'Rolling Stone' is basically another 'Champion' except with an even more stupid rap verse with another boring DUPSTEP BREAKDOWN. WUB WUB WUB DUB. 'Alone' is a pure rap song, but with an annoying drum beat and stupid lyrics, including the line 'Nothing but win; Charlie Sheen'...Yup. 'Game Over' is a nice if a little generic electronic song about video games, and probably something else, but messages about life isn't this album's strong point. 'Drifter' is a completely unexpected and unnecessary country song. And that's not a typo. The way the songs are organised is very interesting as well. A somewhat heavy song, followed with a 'Pop/Rock' song, followed by another kind-of-heavy-but-not-so-heavy song with a dubstep breakdown.
So although this album suffers from an identity crisis, boring breakdowns and out-of-place rap verses, the album is still okay for what it is. Fans of Falling In Reverse's first album may not like all songs from this album, but will find something to like in this new album. Overall, the album deserves to be listened to once or twice, then forgotten about, although a few songs will stick in your head for a while.
