Unlimited Music

About a week ago, I reviewed the most commonly-known Yellowcard album, Ocean Avenue. Since they released the CD that put the nationwide spotlight on them, the band has released two more CDs. The first sequel they released was Lights and Sounds. With their popularity growing as their new singles continued to hit the radios, Yellowcard faced a major task in repeating their task and continuing to expand their fan base.

When I first heard about Lights and Sounds, it was about the time the first single, also named “Lights and Sounds” hit the airwaves. The song impressed me as much as any song on their previous albums had. It showed maturity and an improved sound while keeping enough intact from their initial sound.

Unfortunately, one of the greatest problems I had with the rest of Lights and Sounds is that it didn’t follow the formula of its opening track. The album tries its best to recreate the magic of Ocean Avenue but fails due to a number of reasons. The first reason is the fact that the band decided to emphasize their violin play less on this album. While sometimes over-the-top on their previous CDs, the violin was what separated Yellowcard from other similar bands. The other main reason this album failed, in my opinion, was the lack of emotional songs. The best songs on Ocean were the extremely emotional ones. The best songs on Lights are the upbeat, fast-paced tracks.

This wasn’t a bad album by any means. The aforementioned “Lights and Sounds” is a great song, as is “Rough Landing Holly” and “Down On My Head.” But if the band was looking for a release on the same level or better than Ocean Avenue, they failed.

Grade - B - A good CD but a disappointing one.

Filed under: Music Reviews