Mayday Parade - Anywhere but Here

[TERRABITHIA]

Mayday Parade - Anywhere but Here
Record Label: Fearless/Atlantic
Release Date: October 6, 2009

October brings us new releases by many intriguing pop-punk bands of today’s music scene. With the upcoming release of new albums by Relient K, Cartel, Sherwood, A Rocket to the Moon and more, fans of this genre have much to look forward to.

But out of all these bands, pressured the most is Mayday Parade. After they put out A Lesson In Romantics in July 2007, they were hit with a valuable member choosing to depart from the band. Jason Lancaster (lead vocalist/guitarist) left Mayday Parade due to personal reasons and later formed Go Radio. Now, while many say Lancaster is a missing quality from the band that cannot be replaced, it can also be said that the release of Anywhere But Here is an opportunity for Mayday Parade to prove to fans and haters that they are capable of bouncing back and producing a great album without Lancaster.

To begin, let me tell you, if you start listening to this album with high expectations, then you might as well toss it out the window already. While there are not many standouts, I can tell you that Anywhere But Here does not feature anything terrible either. The best word to honestly describe it is “average.” When comparing to Lesson In Romantics, this album lacks emotion, lengthy song titles, and the harmonies that make Mayday Parade Mayday Parade. Say farewell to the back-and-forth singing between Derek Saunders and Lancaster. Say hello to Saunders, who is in the spotlight for Mayday Parade and is ready for whatever comes his way.

Even after losing Lancaster, this album is a solid effort for this band. For example, if a football team were to lose their star running back, they would not score nearly as many points as before. So throw Anywhere But Here in a different league from A Lesson In Romantics, and don’t be surprised when you hear this album and they sound like a new band. They have still scored some points rather than leaving you with a big fat zero on the scoreboard.

The Maine's Can't Stop Won't Stop; Underdogs; We the Kings ; Mellow pop punk ; Short song titles

Check out Mayday Parade on Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/maydayparade).

[dmr55]

And the harmonies are missing and there is no need. The drummer Jake can sing just as well with Derek as Lancaster did. Seen it, heard it in concert. ALex Garcia's guitar work was amazing on Lesson, and almost totally missing here. Average is right. It just doesn;t measure up to Lesson in any way at all. Something is definitely missing that was there for Lesson. Major bummed.

[denissuxx]

I'm a huge fan of 'short' reviews... you've essentially done this here.. although you tend to talk too much about certain things. Mention them, move on. You didn't mention any specific tracks or really back up your points.

Otherwise - good review, and I agree with you!

[Sparticus55667]

boooooooring album

[HometownHero]

Terrible album.

[gr33ndayfr3ak]

Great analogy in the closing paragraph.

[njsuccessstory]

Nice review. You pretty much touched on a lot of the points that are on my review of this album that I recently submitted.

[Memphis]

i'd never expect myself to enjoy these pop punk records, but i do now, a lot...

[piaffeprncess98]

I actually kind of like this, especially "The End". I know it's a little darker/boring, but I can still enjoy it. "Anywhere But Here" reminded me so much of a Hawthorne Heights track, which was odd.

[heythereimbecca]

good review, love the band, the new album lacks a bit and they do def sound like a different band but theyre still mayday and i love them.

[TERRABITHIA]

Great analogy in the closing paragraph.
Thanks! I was hoping someone else would enjoy it as much as I did.

[LessThan3]

I won't totally bash this album, because to be honest, Mayday Parade is (and will always be) one of my all time favorite bands in the world. Period. But I will NOT lie and say that it was the best thing I've ever heard. Or even better than A Lesson In Romantics. Or even AS GOOD AS A Lesson In Romantics. It really does not COMPARE to that amazing album. That was their BEST album. The songs were sung with SO much more emotion and I really felt the songs on that album. But there some songs that did make my heart jump the way they did in ALL of the songs in A Lesson In Romantics. Songs like Still Breathing, Bruised And Scared, and So Far Away did that to me, just like A Lesson In Romantics did.
Now, the ONE thing that I REALLY hated about this album was the single. The Silence. When I heard that song, I almost threw up. Literally. I wanted to punch in the computer I was listening to it on. I was VERY unhappy with that song. And I HATED that it was their single, so a bunch of people are gonna be like "Omg, I LOVE Mayday Parade and their song The Silence." That song was the BIGGEST piece of crap I have EVER heard in my life. God, I HATE that song. And it's weird because the rest of the album is so DIFFERENT from that song. Like that song was LITERALLY from a whole other BAND all together.
But, I guess that's just MY opinion. A Lesson In Romantics > Anywhere But Here. No fucking joke.

[TERRABITHIA]

A Lesson In Romantics > Anywhere But Here. No fucking joke.
I second that

[PureBlueSF]

This album is not nearly as bad as most of the Jason Lancaster fanboys/fangirls make it out to be. Sure, A Lesson in Romantics was better but I still really like this album.

Good review, by the way :D

[Chris92]

This album is not nearly as bad as most of the Jason Lancaster fanboys/fangirls make it out to be. Sure, A Lesson in Romantics was better but I still really like this album.

Good review, by the way :D
You're an idiot. Thia album sucks. And I'm not anyone's fanboy, save maybe Jesse Lacey's or Jesus's.
X-)

[PureBlueSF]

i see what you did there

EDIT: I listened to this album again, now I can't stand it. I liked it at first, but it got old really quickly.

[Nexus Strife]

I actually liked this album a lot. But I avoid certain tracks like hell (I'm looking at you Center of Attention and The Silence). I dunno, although this really isn't that great at all, it's grown to me.