*Disclaimer* - So this review, isn't going to be the my usual "yeah this albums great" review. I have got negative outlooks on this review, so if you DO like the new Twin Atlantic album then I would advise you to not read if you don't want to hear anything negative. Its not all negative, but I hope you'll understand my points about the album.
Hello!
Welcome to blog post 29! Today I shall be talking about the new album from Twin Atlantic. Their second album was an absolute masterpiece. A great step forward into the business and I was highly anticipating this album to be just as rocky and fulfilling as the last.
Twin Atlantic are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, who in their last album 'Free', got a lot of success and radio play from Radio 1 and other stations alike. One of the songs was even featured on the video for the highest sky fall that was watched by over 36 million people! Not bad for your second album and now their new album has come around called 'Great Divide'.
Although the two singles were not winning me over to buy the album, I thought I needed to check out the full album in case I was wrong about their new sound for this album. When I first heard their first single 'Heart and Soul', my immediate reaction was "oh no...another rock band going pop, please no!". Their second single wasn't much help either with quite a simple structure and happy chords although the song itself wasn't too bad.
So...let me sum up the first three songs to you in three words. Waste. Of. Time. The first three songs nearly put me off listening to the rest of the album. The use of electronic pads and keys is just plain wrong for this band. Wrong. They use the same producer as the other record too, what was the guy thinking!? This to me just seems like a stunt for popularity which nearly cost them the album to me. Just skip to the song 'Fall Into The Party'...
If you listen to the second album 'Free', you'll notice its hard-driving, heavy and fantastic for the boys to perform. You just know from top to bottom on the album 'Free' that these guys pack a punch. Though this 'punch' seems to have been left behind from this album.
There are some flickers of promise at the start of songs, but they don't follow through for the whole song. For example in 'The Ghost of Eddie' you hear the structure twice and think that's everything they have to give, but then the section where he whispers "everybody scream" into quite possibly the heaviest part of the album is a real treat to the ears of the shear noise. This doesn't happen in the new album.
Don't get me wrong some of the songs on this album are good, but its nothing compared to the previous album. That was their second album...one to work from...one to keep moving forward from. Instead it seems like they have moved backwards, there isn't as much creativity or passion in this album. To me the aim was to get as much coverage on Radio 1 as possible and leave old fans to leave them alone.
Apart from everything else I have mentioned above, I just hope Twin Atlantic can learn from their mistakes from this flop of an album and crank the gears up for album number four to impress all us rockers again.
The tracks I recommend (and could be the only ones) are "Cell Mate", "Fall Into The Party" and "Actions That Echo". Keep to these three and you have a pretty decent EP, how about that!?
I promise the next review will be back to my jolly self! I might do a little discussion post again on Sunday about how a lot of rock bands are turning to mainstream and leaving their whole 'rock persona' behind just for more coverage.
Until next time and thanks for reading
Lewis
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