A Day To Remember - Bad Vibrations (Album Review)
A Day To Remember’s Sixth Studio Album, Bad Vibrations will be released on September 2nd, 2016 via ADTR Records (Distributed Through Epitaph Records). This is the followup album since their 2013 release of Common Courtesy. Bad Vibrations has 3 hit singles on the album already including the March release of “Paranoia,” The title Track of the album “Bad Vibrations,” and the more recently released “Bullfight,” All of which have their own unique sound and vibe to them. Bad Vibrations is A Day To Remember’s most naturally and organically written record compared to any of their previous work and is the truest representation of the band itself and that shows within this new music. The album has something for every fan to enjoy from A Day To Remember’s signature breakdowns, the heavy music, flawless guitar riffs, and exceptional vocals.
Bad Vibrations, is an album that will definitley launch A Day To Remember to even higher levels of success; With the mixture of heavy hitters like “Paranoia,” “Exposed,” and “Reassemble.” Then the more calm songs like “Same About You,” and “Forgive and Forget.” The album allows frontman Jeremy McKinnon to really shine and show his true vocal abilities within the calmer songs but also show his vocal diversity by going from a heavy scream to a more calm vocal all within one song. Throughout the album there is a raw and more emotional, almost angry vocal delivery from Jeremy McKinnon when he screams. However, In songs like “Same About You” and “Forgive and Forget” McKinnon shows his raw vocal abilities singing without any screams present. The instrumentals of the album coming from Kevin Skaff and Neil Westfall on Guitars, Joshua Woodard on Bass, and Alex Shelnutt on Drums are all really vibrant within this album as each song allows each of the members to shine showing their individual talents and you can hear it in some way with solos, riffs, and heavy hitting drum tempos.
Within Bad Vibrations you can hear A Day To Remember returning to their roots of their 2nd studio album For Those Who Have Heart going back to the heavier sound of the band. This album is a much heavier record than the last few albums combined, but since they were created in a more organic way, they don’t feel forced or repetitive. If you’re looking for a heavy track to listen to choose from “Naivety,” “Bad Vibrations,” or “Paranoia” if you're looking for something calmer to jam to check out “Same About You” or “Forgive and Forget.” If you want something to head bang to with some killer guitar riffs check out “Exposed” or “Justified.” If you wanna hear Alex Shelnutt’s exceptional drumming abilities they are highly present in “Reassemble.” Want something with a more pop-punk sound? Listen to “We Got This,” which was released today. Wanna hear a song with an in your face impact, you definitley want to hear “Turn Off The Radio” or “Bullfight” then. There is a song for every fan to love on this album and your guaranteed to fall in love with the record after listen to the first few songs. The album is full of Chaos in a good way, heavy hitters that are guaranteed to be some fans life anthems as this album was written during a very stressful time in Jeremy McKinnon’s life in which many fans can relate to. As he stated in an interview with Rocksound “The record is called ‘Bad Vibrations’ because that’s what I was feeling at the time – stuck in this weird, high stress mind-set every day. I’ve never had a problem with pushing other people’s expectations aside before, but it became a real issue. Thankfully the other guys stepped in and brought some great stuff to the table.” Overall, Bad Vibrations has the most pleasantly mixed variety of genres thrown just right throughout the album and one of the most unique sounds that A Day To Remember has ever put together, with eleven tracks that are perhaps the bands most well, naturally written, well rounded pieces of music the band has ever created since the beginning of their careers.
Bad Vibrations shows that A Day To Remember is still at the top of their game deserving of the pedestal they’ve been perched upon for quite some time now selling out arenas across the world. Check out the new album Bad Vibrations on iTunes for preorder now! Catch them out on tour right now with Blink-182 all summer long!
"There was definitely an element of returning to our roots, because this is the first record since ‘For Those Who Have Heart’ that we’ve created as a full band, no digital bullshit. Everyone has at least a song on there that they pushed through themselves, so if it goes down well, it’ll open up so many doors. Our band will never be the same again.”
-Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember
