All Time Low – Nothing Personal
All Time Low has been a personal favourite of mine, since seeing them in concert last year. They have the look, the swagger and the sound to fit perfectly into the pop rock scheme of things. While I felt some of their songs from So Wrong, It’s Right were a little dry, overall they produced a solid sophomore album. What to expect out of their much anticipated 3rd studio release was anybody’s guess and I was personally hoping for more of the same catchy monster hits that first made them so famous. Singles like Dear Maria, Count Me In and Poppin’ Champagne solidified themselves as a carefree pop band that new how to rock out and have fun. Nothing Personal surprised me by both the development of the music and the maturity of the album. While what remains of All Time Low is still the same fun-loving guys that I remembered, I must say the change was really the next logical progression.
Getting right into the album, Weightless is the first track and the first single to be released, setting the benchmark quite high. What fans will notice most is the refined voice of lead singer Alex Gaskarth. Alex always had a great sound to his voice, but often it was not very neat and could stray in different directions. Now his singing technique is much smoother without sacrificing too much of his natural sound and style. But while that may be the most obvious change, I think the instrumentals took a turn for the better. The melody is outrageously catchy and action packed, with the guitar work taking the brunt of the credit. The guitars start off quite soft and are played aggressively in progression with the vocal melody. Noticeably the theme of the song is quite hopeful and at the same time a serious affair. No longer is ATL all about girls and sex but this song actually talks about being the underdog and other social issues.
Northing Personal follows up Weightless with Break Your Little Heart, Damned If I Do Ya, and Lost In Stereo, all of which are simply amazing pop rock tracks. They’re so catchy, clever and exciting that either one could be an instant hit. The album starts off on an amazing note, because those 4 tracks alone win me over every time I listen to them. ATL also did a phenomenal job with the lyrics, creating catchy chorus lines and clever lyrics throughout. Every song has a different theme, yet all the tracks have the same amazing swagger, a style of epic proportions if you will.
Nothing Personal features a couple more instant hits like Hello Brooklyn and Walls. Hello Brooklyn is a straight up party song, meant for having fun and rocking out. It possesses some simple and affective chorus lines that will have listeners singing along after the first 30 seconds, just a great down to earth track. Walls is more emotional, and treads along the sensitive side of ATL. Themed around girls and romance, Walls still felt very sincere and this is what was previously missing from the band. Some outlier tracks include Too Much which has a different synthetic vibe and a very unusual pace than what I’m used to. It’s different, a little edgy, but still entertaining to say the least. Therapy also takes listeners down a slower path, and is a mellow listen. These two tracks don’t represent the album well but are a nice addition otherwise, in any case every band needs their ballads.
Nothing Personal is definitely the frontrunner this year as far as albums go. Not only is there a large quantity of devastatingly great pop rock tracks, as an album it is very rich and vibrant. While ATL has an original style, the themes and sounds are so varied that this makes for one of their most diverse albums. I loved every song, and memorised a whole lot of lyrics without even meaning too.
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