TERRABITHIA
11/10/09, 11:09 PM
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk
Record Label: Columbia/Red Ink
Release Date: September 8, 2009
After 4 years without any new material, the Boston pop-punkers Boys Like Girls have resurfaced with sophomore album Love Drunk. But was this album really worth the wait?
While fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this album, it appears Boys Like Girls have imitated the sound of many popular mainstream bands.
When you hear the first track off Love Drunk, you may think that you've left your Bon Jovi CD in the stereo as the guitar effects and vocals of "Heart Heart Heartbreak" sound so similar to Bon Jovi's style. Already unoriginal, we now hear their first single "Love Drunk." Now the guitar chime in the beginning of this song sounds very reminiscent to The Who's "Baba O'Riley" along with the chorus imitating The Killers "Somebody Told Me". Still, the song does hit listeners with a beautiful key change in its chorus towards the end that will keep this an overplayed song on the radio for months to come. Next we hear "She's Got a Boyfriend Now", an addition to the album that shows some good from Boys Like Girls as they have not left their catchy hooks behind. Besides a catchy chorus though, the song is nothing mind-breaking. Now, they settle it down with an acoustic track called "Two Is Better Than One", which features superstar Taylor Swift. Behind lead singer Martin Johnson's singing, Swift's voice appears very indistinguishable, and you may not even notice her singing in the chorus unless you look at the album and see her name featured.
The creativity/originality by Boys Like Girls grows worse as the next song "Contagious", starts out with exactly the same as Bowling For Soup song "High School Never Ends". As usual, they still come back with a catchy chorus, but still continue to keep the album cliché, and a huge letdown for fans. I mean, come on, you should know there's something wrong when you copy off Bowling For Soup. But there are still a few more songs though, so let's move on with it. "Real Thing", is the next song that we hear, and I have say again, how much originality that Boys Like Girls continues to lack on this album. It seems the band is stuck in the '80s as this song sounds like a single that Duran Duran would put out back in the day. The song has overproduction written all over it and I think that is something fans should have expected. But on the next song "Someone Like You", Boys Like Girls display their side of maturity.
Next we hear "Shot Heard Round the World", a song that is so boring and predictable. The song is a great example of how lazy a band can be and also how bad they can be critiqued by not testing their experimental side.
With more bad songs than good, I really don't think there is anything to sit back and smile at after this release. Boys Like Girls have jumped on the list of sell-out bands today such as All Time Low and Fall Out Boy that have overly produced albums with songs that will become ear candy for radio stations. On their first album they proved they had talent, but with the release of Love Drunk, they sound like a boy-band from the 90s. It is often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If this is true, then Boys Like Girls have succeeded.
Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux, All Time Low's Nothing Personal, Overproduced albums, Sell-Outs, Copycats, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees
www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls (http://www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls)
Record Label: Columbia/Red Ink
Release Date: September 8, 2009
After 4 years without any new material, the Boston pop-punkers Boys Like Girls have resurfaced with sophomore album Love Drunk. But was this album really worth the wait?
While fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this album, it appears Boys Like Girls have imitated the sound of many popular mainstream bands.
When you hear the first track off Love Drunk, you may think that you've left your Bon Jovi CD in the stereo as the guitar effects and vocals of "Heart Heart Heartbreak" sound so similar to Bon Jovi's style. Already unoriginal, we now hear their first single "Love Drunk." Now the guitar chime in the beginning of this song sounds very reminiscent to The Who's "Baba O'Riley" along with the chorus imitating The Killers "Somebody Told Me". Still, the song does hit listeners with a beautiful key change in its chorus towards the end that will keep this an overplayed song on the radio for months to come. Next we hear "She's Got a Boyfriend Now", an addition to the album that shows some good from Boys Like Girls as they have not left their catchy hooks behind. Besides a catchy chorus though, the song is nothing mind-breaking. Now, they settle it down with an acoustic track called "Two Is Better Than One", which features superstar Taylor Swift. Behind lead singer Martin Johnson's singing, Swift's voice appears very indistinguishable, and you may not even notice her singing in the chorus unless you look at the album and see her name featured.
The creativity/originality by Boys Like Girls grows worse as the next song "Contagious", starts out with exactly the same as Bowling For Soup song "High School Never Ends". As usual, they still come back with a catchy chorus, but still continue to keep the album cliché, and a huge letdown for fans. I mean, come on, you should know there's something wrong when you copy off Bowling For Soup. But there are still a few more songs though, so let's move on with it. "Real Thing", is the next song that we hear, and I have say again, how much originality that Boys Like Girls continues to lack on this album. It seems the band is stuck in the '80s as this song sounds like a single that Duran Duran would put out back in the day. The song has overproduction written all over it and I think that is something fans should have expected. But on the next song "Someone Like You", Boys Like Girls display their side of maturity.
Next we hear "Shot Heard Round the World", a song that is so boring and predictable. The song is a great example of how lazy a band can be and also how bad they can be critiqued by not testing their experimental side.
With more bad songs than good, I really don't think there is anything to sit back and smile at after this release. Boys Like Girls have jumped on the list of sell-out bands today such as All Time Low and Fall Out Boy that have overly produced albums with songs that will become ear candy for radio stations. On their first album they proved they had talent, but with the release of Love Drunk, they sound like a boy-band from the 90s. It is often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If this is true, then Boys Like Girls have succeeded.
Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux, All Time Low's Nothing Personal, Overproduced albums, Sell-Outs, Copycats, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees
www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls (http://www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls)