Overall Score: 8/10 Vocals : 9/10 Originality: 7/10 Variety: 8/10 Pros: Huge choruses | Enjoyable guest vocalists | Consistently enjoyable throughout Cons: Nothing particularly new or original
Over the last few years All Time Low are one of the modern giants of pop-punk. However they are also a band that many argue over whether they actually have a place in the world of rock. Their roots are definitely in pop-punk but with each release the band have definitely drifted into pop territory on many occasions. This is especially true on Future Hearts, but that is certainly not a bad thing.
The album starts off with a bit of epic stadium rock on “Satellites” showing that their recent transition to playing arenas has certainly affected their music before “Kicking & Screaming” brings things back to the bands pop-punk roots. Following this “Somethings Gotta Give” and “Kids In The Dark” bring the pop elements forward with two of the biggest choruses All Time Low have ever written, “Kids In The Dark” is sure to become a future anthem for the band. All of this will probably sound familiar to All Time Low fans as the band have done very little to change their core sound, instead they’ve just made everything bigger. “Runaways” sounds like My Chemical Romance at their arena filling height delivers everything you could want from an acoustic pop ballad. The album still features plenty of nods to older pop-punk too with guest vocal spots from Mark Hoppus and Joel Madden.
Still none of this debate over whether All Time Low are a rock or pop band would matter if the music wasn’t any good and in the end Future Hearts is just a great album. It’s packed with memorable choruses and vocally Alex Gaskarth shows more range than ever. The rest of the band all do their job but musically things aren’t too memorable, this album is all about those choruses.
Overall, Future Hearts isn’t a massive change for All Time Low and it certainly won’t change anyones mind on them, people will still argue that they do not belong in the world of rock. However Future Hearts is a great album that will no doubt sound brilliant live as All Time Low continue to play and sell out arenas over the next few years.
