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Audio CD
Publisher: Drive-Thru
Like that attention-getting title, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, this Huntington Beach quartet brings on the musical exclamation points. Following a self-titled EP in 2004, Hellogoodbye debuts with a sugary dose of synth-pop. Then, once you think you've got the foursome figured out, they put Jesse Kurvink's hyperactive keyboard playing aside for mandolin-bedecked ballad "Oh, It Is Love" ("Baby, It's Fact" is another rare mid-tempo tune). The group is rounded out by Marcus Cole (bass), Chris Profeta (drums), and Forrest Kline (vocals, guitar). According to the liner notes, all songs were written by Mr. Kline... and his dog. And those songs include lyrics like "Oh girl it's true; I can never be away from you / It's like you gloss your lips with glue / Oh we kiss and I am stuck to you" ("Stuck to You") and "Present for a presentation presented presently" ("Figures A and B"). In album closer "Two Weeks in Hawaii," he even uses the word "rad." Twice. Okay, so Kline isn't Cole Porter, but his yearning tenor and playful tales of puppy love are a perfect match for Hellogoodbye's pep rally anthems. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| The Mash That Is The Mess Of Genius And WTH? |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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When I first heard "Here In Your Arms," I was blown away, it was a beyond amazing modern love song that was filled with genius. After taking a look at the quirky album cover, I thought, what could go wrong? The answer? Much goes wrong, but much goes right.
First off, the highs, as I have said before, "Here In Your Arms" is a must-listen, and an amazing song that's as sweet and catchy as it is brilliant and original. "All Time Lows" is a quirky jam of pop-rock shiny happiness that for the most part stays with this album. This song is so full of the energy of love, it sometimes loses it's place, but eventually gets back on track with. "Oh It's Love" is a Hawaiian style tune of love that only needs a pineapple to complete its mood. "Figures A & B" also seems to pull off its thing quite nicely, towards the end, with the beginning lagging quite a bit.
The rest of the album however, is just, eh. Nothing special, nothing to write home about, in fact they are completely and utterly forgettable. "All Your Love," "Stuck To You," "I Saw It On Your Keyboard," and especially, "Two Weeks In Hawaii" are not only not catchy, but you can hardly think of the tune by the end of the album. There's just nothing special about them, and nothing to make them really stand out. Sure there's the electonic voice, but that's more of a Hellogoodbye thing. "Homewreaker" has nice opening chords before completely losing it by the end of the song. "Baby, It's Fact" is random gibberish brought on by happy sunshine bursts of love. It's not only weird, but a bit awkward.
The sad part is all the letdowns didn't have to be that way. Every song could be brought to greatness, if only given the chance, some work, and a very good producer. Forest Kline definitely is one of the greatest minds in the pop-rock genre today, but you only see it in short spurts here. So does the band just need to grow? Or is it the producer's fault?
In either case, over half the songs are not worth listening to more than once. So you might just be better off buying a few tracks, not the whole album. Not to say it's a bad album by any means. It's just not nearly as good as it could have been. While most will still see the album as a complete mess, some might see it as a brilliantly creative mess. In either case, I can't wait to see what Hellogoodbye does on their next album. Just make the album longer, please!
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| I agree, this album has taken us |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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to a new level of SUCK. Don't be fooled amazon requires to rate the cd at least by 1 star so no stars!
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| What a cool surprise! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I heard "Here in your arms" on a random internet radio station and went looking for the band. The track samples sounded really promising and I got the album - it's been a long time since I was actually able to say having an entire CD wasn't a waste of money, but this one was just track after track of stuff I have been enjoying the heck out of.
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| FUN CD |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This CD is a combination of really fun and some sweet songs. I'd recommend it! The style of music is unique.
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| Hello to Hellogoodbye! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Hellogoodbye are a synth dance/rock act from the US, despite sounding very British, and "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!" is their full-length debut CD. It came out in the US last August, but only last month in the UK.
Opening cut "All of our love" (which reminds me a bit of UK group Bloc Party) perfectly captures their sound; a synth driven stomper, with vocodered vocals, digital bleeps and tweets, and ultra catchy hooks. In a similar vein are "Here (in your arms") (US top 20, currently in the UK top 5), and "Touchdown Turnaround (Don't Give Up On Me)".
Deviating from this template are straight ahead electro rockers "All time lows", "Stuck to you", "Homewrecker", the frenetic paced, "Figures A And B (Means You And Me)" with pulsing synths, and the sunny electro pop of "I saw it on your keyboard".
The ballad "Two weeks in Hawaii" wouldn't sound out of place on a My Chemical Romance album, with its gentle-to-raging-chorus style.
My favourite track is the Beatles-esque piano driven "Baby it's a fact", a charming midtempo sing-a-long with lovely harmonies, and lead vocalist Forrest Kline declaring puppy love in a charming innocent-like voice.
The UK edition of the album comes with 3 bonus tracks; live versions of "All of our love" and "Baby it's a fact", and the rocker "Shimmy shimmy quarter turn".
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All Of Your Love
Here (In Your Arms)
All Time Lows
Stuck To You
Homewrecker
Oh, It Is Love
Baby, It's Fact
Figures A and B (Means You And Me)
I Was It On Your Keyboard
Touchdown Turnaround (Don't Give Up On Me)
Two Weeks In Hawaii
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