The All-American Rejects - Move Along
Album of the Week
Date - 2005-07-10 00:00:00
Thad said we should review this CD because "we really should review something we don't like". That was our mindset going in to the latest effort from The All-American Rejects. I've left this album with two thoughts: one, so THAT is what people mean when they say generic rock; two, this CD feels like 1999 except Our Lady Peace and Eve 6 did it better already.
I really do not have much more to say. A number of the melodies on this CD sounded like they were pulled straight from Our Lady Peace, and the overall feel was that of a slightly more emo Eve 6. No song stood out as particularly good. A few of the songs, including the title track, have actually managed to stay with me through the day with decent melodies. However, lyrically this album is really lacking. There are no well-drawn images, no songs full of non-cliched emotional content, and nothing really worth quoting in any way at all. Some of the melodies are neat, but instrumentally nothing stands out as daring or interesting.
I guess I do not have much to say about bad CDs and a lot more to say about good ones. I just don't like wasting my time with the boring, drab generic rock provided by The All-American Rejects when there is so much interesting stuff out there that is not worthless. Leave Move Along to the middle school kids who are hearing distorted guitars for the first time and pick up something more interesting instead. Your brain will thank you.
NOTE: I made no pun along the lines of 'moving along' from this album. Except for that one.
I really do not have much more to say. A number of the melodies on this CD sounded like they were pulled straight from Our Lady Peace, and the overall feel was that of a slightly more emo Eve 6. No song stood out as particularly good. A few of the songs, including the title track, have actually managed to stay with me through the day with decent melodies. However, lyrically this album is really lacking. There are no well-drawn images, no songs full of non-cliched emotional content, and nothing really worth quoting in any way at all. Some of the melodies are neat, but instrumentally nothing stands out as daring or interesting.
I guess I do not have much to say about bad CDs and a lot more to say about good ones. I just don't like wasting my time with the boring, drab generic rock provided by The All-American Rejects when there is so much interesting stuff out there that is not worthless. Leave Move Along to the middle school kids who are hearing distorted guitars for the first time and pick up something more interesting instead. Your brain will thank you.
NOTE: I made no pun along the lines of 'moving along' from this album. Except for that one.
Immediately after I started listening to this album I thought two things. The first was that this band really changed its sound and improved a bit. Then I realized that this band was not American Hi-Fi (of 'Flavor of the Week' fame) and was instead the band of 'Swing Swing' fame, and everything made a lot more sense. The second thing I thought was that Niv was probably going to hate this album and that I wouldn't think it was that bad. We'll see shortly if he does indeed hate it (in case you don't know, we write our reviews independently so that we don't affect each others' review).
The reason I thought that I wouldn't think it was that bad (a truly spectacular sentence, thank you) is that generally I'm sort of a sucker for this type of music (i.e. The Used, Taking Back Sunday, etc...). I don't really _like_ it, but I don't not like it, if that makes sense. For me, it's not generally unpleasant to listen to for the most part, but I don't adore it either.
So, getting to the album... well, not too much to say. For me, it's also not unpleasant to listen to, but it's not a good album. By any means. It's extremely typical, moreso even than their last album, where at least they maintained some individuality. There's two ready-to-go-to-radio singles, in 'Dirty Little Secret' and the title track, 'Move Along'. I imagine these two songs will do well. They aren't bad songs, they just aren't anything new or interesting. The chorus of 'Move Along' is pretty catchy, I listened to it on repeat a few times. It works. I caught a hint of a Third Eye Blind influence on that song, in terms of its style (not its sound), but maybe that's just me. But I mean, there's a part in the song where they have like a chorus of kids singing along. Seriously, come on now.
The verdict: 4.5/10
The reason I thought that I wouldn't think it was that bad (a truly spectacular sentence, thank you) is that generally I'm sort of a sucker for this type of music (i.e. The Used, Taking Back Sunday, etc...). I don't really _like_ it, but I don't not like it, if that makes sense. For me, it's not generally unpleasant to listen to for the most part, but I don't adore it either.
So, getting to the album... well, not too much to say. For me, it's also not unpleasant to listen to, but it's not a good album. By any means. It's extremely typical, moreso even than their last album, where at least they maintained some individuality. There's two ready-to-go-to-radio singles, in 'Dirty Little Secret' and the title track, 'Move Along'. I imagine these two songs will do well. They aren't bad songs, they just aren't anything new or interesting. The chorus of 'Move Along' is pretty catchy, I listened to it on repeat a few times. It works. I caught a hint of a Third Eye Blind influence on that song, in terms of its style (not its sound), but maybe that's just me. But I mean, there's a part in the song where they have like a chorus of kids singing along. Seriously, come on now.
The verdict: 4.5/10