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Tracklisting
1. She's So Sorry
2. Hand Grenade
3. Dying to Live Again
4. Narcissist
5. Bones Shatter (Never Say Never)
6. Old School
7. Been There Done That
8. For the Nights I Cant Remember
9. Brave New World
10. Dear Blank
11. Cant Go Back
I’ve recently found myself enamoured with a new album – no surprise there. The shock value (and yes, there is significant shock value here) comes from the fact that this time around, that album is none-other than Hedley’s newest release, Famous Last Words (2007, Universal).
I stumbled across Hedley through the working of a pure accident nearly a year and a half ago and my first impression of them left much to be desired. I figured they were no more than another alternative/punk/quasi-“emo” band with a front-man that enjoyed channeling (or attempting to channel) Freddy Mercury on stage. Their songs were catch and sometimes emotional (see Gunning from their self-titled debut album, released in 2005), but overall, I concluded that they were seriously lacking that special something that enables a band to push through the crowds of smaller mediocre bands and win the hearts of the world (or their audience at the very least).
This time around, my collision with the band was a little more deliberate and stared with their newly released single “For the Nights I Can’t Remember.” Not only was astonished at the fact that the seemingly childish and over-exuberant Hedley front-man would write something that held both emotion and music intensity, I was literally floored by the musicality present in the song – something that manages to genuinely encourage its listeners to fall in love with it. Shortly after this rather surprising discovery I actively sought out the band’s new album and purposely ignored everything I though I knew about the band’s musical ability.
What I was met with, from the first track of Famous Last Words and carrying on through to the end, was a band that had finally manage to discover how to mix their own individual styles and musicalities to result in a near-perfect combination of harmony, guitars, drums and angsty lyrics. There is an almost brutal amount of honesty present in the songs of this newest release – something that strikes the listener right between the ears and eventually tugs down to settle right over the heart. The sound is generally cleaner with more emphasis places on the messages being delivered behind the music while the songs themselves are beautiful in their simplicity. Apparently Hedley figured out what they were capable of, and rather than attempting to out-do themselves, were happy to slowly test the boundaries of their musical creativity. The level of angry angst previously found in the tonality of every single song on their last creation has been rather effectively reigned back, and the vocal tracks now carry the proper emotional weight – singer Jacob Hoggard has happily learned to control the tone and weight of his rather large voice.
Musically, the new release explores, and successfully makes, the distinction between edgy punk anthems (Bone Shatter or She’s So Sorry) and softer, more melodic ballads (For the Nights I Can’t Remember). The pinnacle and masterpiece of this record, however, likes within the near heart-wrenching track “Old School” where the band rather obviously explores the loss of innocence and the nostalgic yearning for its return that fame brings.
But while Famous Last Words has its obvious strengths, it also carries some rather glaring weaknesses. The ordering and flow of the tracks is still rather juvenile, with no real connecting sense of musicality between the track pauses. While it is rather clearly understood that the band is exploring, and expanding on, their abilities, the shifting the ballads to the edgier songs then back again is so abrupt that any *magic* that might have been induced by the previous track is lost by the time the next one kicks in. This lack of connection actually manages to take away from what is potentially a genuinely good effort of musical creation. Rather than giving listener the sense of a finished and well-polished album, the choppiness in Famous Last Words gives off the impression of being a collection of potential singles all recorded and released on the same CD.
Obviously the band has not yet reached its full potential, but considering that they have managed to win new hearts with their latest effort (and this is the part where I admit to having transferred it on to my iPod), Famous Last Words should be considered a rather large success, and should be given an honest fighting chance by anyone who considers themselves to be an avid fan of music.
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