Overall Score: 9/10 Songs: 9/10 Guest Stars: 8/10 lasting Appeal: 9/10 Pros: Takes the sound of the band and raises it up several levels Cons: virtually nothing
I fell in love with Tonight Alive the minute I heard them. They are a band that changes with every album, and even though I wasn’t as keen on Limitless, their previous album as many were, I still appreciated the artistry that went into it. It was with great anticipation and a tiny bit of trepidation i waited see what they would do next.
Well, the answer is here in the form of Underworld, Tonight Alive’s fourth full length album and perhaps the best of their career. Underworld is an airtight album full of the kinds of glorious pop rock anthems that No Doubt perfected so well in the 90’s.
The opening three tracks alone are enough to get you hooked. The storming Book of Love is an instant anthem that pounces on you from the get go, it sounds not only huge but provides the album with its first colossal chorus from minute one, leading into the album’s first single Temple, a bouncy dance floor filler with a lovely crunching riff that will get asses moving when it’s rolled out live. Disappear featuring PVRIS frontwoman Lynn Gunn sounds exactly how you would expect, its a harmonious melding of both bands sensibilities that will burrow into your head and take up a residency, good luck getting it to leave.
For You and Crack my Heart show the sheer scope of what they are trying to achieve here. Massive sweeping hooks teamed with vulnerable lyrics create an atmospheric, rock solid middle section for Underworld to lay its foundation on. Waiting For The End is a defiant anthem about standing up for what you believe in and making the most of your life while you are living it, its not only a stand out track on an album full of them, but is also one of my personal favourites.
One of the big talking points on the album is the inclusion of Corey Taylor on the album’s closing track My Underworld. This is one of the albums more introspective and mellow moments. It provides the listener with a few spine tingling moments, Jenna McDougall and Corey Taylor work well together as a duet and their vocals inject the song with a beautiful sense of emotion that gives it another layer that may have otherwise been missing. It gives the album the perfect ending and showcases yet another side of not only Tonight Alive, but also Corey Taylor.
Underworld is an album full of ambition, emotion and some of the catchiest most uplifting songs ever committed to tape. This is Tonight Alive taking everything that has got them this far, turning it on its head and managing to reinvent themselves after the experiement of Limitless. If there is any justice in the world then this will be the album that make Tonight Alive superstars.
Underworld is released today, 12th January 2018, on Hopeless Records.
