Review Summary: Don't know how you did it other than you did.
The thought of reviewing a Taking Back Sunday album this day and age is a rather silly one. While most bands have a number of ups and downs throughout their career, the depressing truth about Taking Back Sunday is that prior to 2014, their albums got progressively worse and worse each album, which reached its peak with 2011's bland and gimmicky self titled album, an album that just screamed "we may be 40 but we're going to try our best to pretend that we're not!" Despite these criticisms, this review isn't about their failures, it's about what TBS sounds like when they're done pretending to be something they're not, resulting in one of the strongest albums in their discography.
The general sound of this album was unexpected to say the least, and to an extent, rather questionable. Happiness is was without a doubt the band's most accomplished album, both musically and lyrically, but it still left a small amount of desire for more, which Tidal Wave had the perfect opportunity to fulfill, which makes the sudden stylistic change all the more questionable. Happiness is was their Deja Entendu, and Tidal wave had the potential to become their Devil and God, but instead opts to be their Daisy, about the same in quality despite quite different sounds, but never quite living up to the opus it could be. That being said, the new clear influences being worn on their sleeves is impressively well executed for the most part. The '59 sound era Gaslight Anthem influence is surprisingly well suited for Adam Lazarra's admittedly aged wail of a voice, and since they've never musically been the most distinct sounding band, the new sound doesn't often sound false or unsuiting.
Tidal Wave is nothing short of Taking Back Sunday's most diverse album to date. For the first time, they aren't afraid to embrace their softer leanings, exemplified in the acoustic led Fences, and the soothingly calm I felt it too. With the track list containing 12 tracks for the first time in their discography, and not one but TWO songs clocking in at over 5 minutes it's clear that they're more open to straying from their terribly beaten path. All Excess, arguably the strongest track on the album, presenting something never before seen in a TBS album: it sounds nice. While always being a musically competent bunch, they have a tendency to place all emphasis on the vocal melodies and hooks, and Tidal Wave does improve upon the nice atmospheres only hinted at in its predecessor.
Now despite the positives this album has going for it, it isn't without fault. The main glaring issue is the track placement, with the first three tracks being previously released as singles months prior to the album's release, entirely disrupting the flow of the album. Another issue with the singles is that the title track isn't very representative of the album as a whole. While being undeniably fun and ridiculously catchy, it brings an Against Me aping sound that isn't nearly as present in the rest of the album, and sounds more like Taking Back Sunday trying to BE Against Me, rather than use their influence. And of course, both their biggest asset and greatest weakness has always been Adam Lazarra, who's melodramatic vocals can occasionally grow rather tiresome, and his straining to hit notes can sometimes sound forced. Now he's never been an overly gifted vocalist, but it's always been evened out relatively well due to the use of dual vocals, but unfortunately John Nolan rides in the back seat of this album, moreso than ever before, which is disappointing considering how much larger of a role the clearly less talented former member Fred Mascherino. A surprisingly impressive feat is how solid the lyrics are, which despite being nothing out of the box, they've for the most part abandoned their habits of whining to an ill-defined 'you.' Of course the greatest flaw of this album is simply the fact that it's a Taking Back Sunday album. They've always been slightly ahead of the pack, but they're still yet to make a glaringly obvious magnum opus, without the nostalgia induced bias that comes with their back discography.
When it comes down to it, Tidal Wave is really the best we can ask from Taking Back Sunday in 2016. Despite the new influences, the general TBS songwriting process is still very much intact, with several songs building to a bridge and an explosive climatic conclusion that is damn near impossible to avoid shouting along with, and after the uninspired disappointment that was their self titled, I'll take it.
