Review Summary: Awful band releases awful album
Let's get this straight right now, if I could give this album a rating of 0, believe me I would. This abomination is worse than awful, it is an incoherent mess that is claimed to be Radke's spiritual successor to "Dying Is Your Latest Fashion" an album with his one time band, Escape The Fate. The most insulting thing about FIR is that they are labeled as "Post-Hardcore" a genre containing bands like The Relapse Symphony, Underoath and Letlive, FIR make nothing but a mockery of the genre that it is borderline comical.
let’s break it down song by song. "Chemical Prisoner" and "God If You Are Above" are songs that don’t offer anything new artistically. Instrumentally they both song like they were B-sides on "The Drug In Me Is You", which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it does feel very stale. Nothing really stands out from either song, albeit the fact that Ronnie overemphasizes the ‘R’ at the end of certain words because why not?
"Sexy Drug" is next and it really killed any shred of credibility this band had left, this isn't just bad, it is "Bad Girls Club" bad. With lyrics like “Sexy girl, come and lay with me, I’m frustrated, and it’s sexually. Like O-M-G, you make me come, come, complete.” Yes you did read that right, Radke did in fact use OMG as legitimate lyrics.
Next is the title track "Just Like You". It sounds and feels very much like "Fashionably Late" but with abhor-able lyrics like “I am aware, that I am an asshole. I really don’t care about all of that though. I’m living my life the way that I want to. And you can’t deny that honestly I’m just like you.” Is it a 15 year old ranting on social media or is it the extent of Radke's songwriting? I honestly can't tell the difference anymore. "Get Me Out" picks up where the title track left off, trying desperatly to appeal to the kid in the skinny jeans with their hoodie up and earphones in. Not gonna lie, I was one of those kids, but even back then I would have avoided this sh*t like the plague.
Next the album takes a turn and tries to be heavy and I'm using that term very loosely here on "Guillotine IV (The Final Chapter)" because nobody was sick of this after "Guillotine III". Ronnie can not do decent harsh vocals to save his life and nowhere is that more painfully obvious than "Guillotine IV". His vocal performance is comically bad, insert another generic stock guitar solo here.
Possibly the biggest spit in the face of "Post-Hardcore" is the song ‘Wait and See’. Not only are the post-hardcore elements simply awful, but it’s made even more unbearable with Radke attempting and failing miserably at rapping on this track too! Because Ronnie obviously didn't learn his lesson on "Fashionably Late". Oh, and to top it all off it’s a political commentary on guns, social media and making sure that we pass our wisdom onto the next generation. No, the irony is not lost on me.
"Brother" is the closing track and honestly the more I listened to it, the less sincere it feels. Brother takes everything wrong with this album and puts it all in one song, a half assed attempt at being serious with pointless guitar solos, angsty kids, sex and drugs. A piano led song just doesn’t make any sense within the context of the album and it was just thrown in for the sake of feeling bad for poor ol' Ronnie. If the following lyrics don't sway you, nothing will:
“I’ve been so lonely for the longest time, they tell me that I’m such a lovable guy. Could it be because I’m on my meds? Or could it be just something I said?”
Also, apparently Danny Worsnop, formerly of Asking Alexandria and current singer of We Are Harlot, did guest vocals on this track. Where you ask? Good question, I have no idea, he is practically non-existent here. Which is very understandable, I wouldn't want to be associated with this trash either.
Album Rating: 0/10
