Send "Asking Alexandria " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 Asking Alexandria took a lot of flack for their first album being what many called generic metalcore/screamo garbage, a retrodden road if you will. I found some value in some of the songs of Stand Up And Scream, where many dismissed them right away. When Asking Alexandria recently released Life Gone Wild I picked up the EP and gave it a listen. I was a little confused as to the inclusion of two Skid Row covers, but I let it slide as I am a fan of the song "18 and Life" in its original form. I feel that EP's are a way for bands to do something different than what they may normally do on a full length, so I took it for what it was and set it on the shelf with the rest of my CD's. When Reckless and Relentless was released, I did kind of look forward to it, but I was not up all night waiting for the release if that makes sense. When I listened to the album I was extremely disappointed. Asking Alexandria have turned into a band with a bit of an identity crisis as of late, and it seems to shine through on the tracks on this album. At times they employ pummeling breakdowns backed by the variation of screamed vocals. Sprinkled in are the clean vocals, and the sound seems not far from Miss May I's latest release. To top it off you can hear the influence of '80s hair metal bands like Motley Crue and the aforementioned Skid Row, not only in the music's sound, but also in the lyrical content. The song "Closure" does not go far in before the lyrics "We've drank the drinks, we've done the drugs, clearly we don't remember we've come so far, we've shown them all, without us you'd fall and fade away." And Danny Worsnop, yes, you have shown us all, with the Seattle debacle. All this identity crisis effects the flow of the album for me, and it makes it fairly difficult to find memorable moments....full text |
| Ultimate-guitar |
| Sound: Being the follow up to Stand Up And Scream, this album certainly held true to Asking Alexandria's aggressive sound. It comes in heavy with another intro like their last album, entitled Welcome. One thing that they have improved on, is the incorporation of piano and synth. Welcome brings in the album with a mellow piano that turns into a heavy breakdown like bridge to the next song, Dear Insanity. One of the biggest things that you will notice is the layering of screams. It walks a fine line between good production, and over production, but on the good side. The new and improved highs are commonly coupled with heart pounding lows and it all turns out very well. For anyone who is a fan of Stand Up And Scream, you will begin to hear a more heavy usage of synth breaks and interludes. Songs such as Reckless and Relentless, Closure, and, A Lesson Never Learned really tie it into the songs to give it a very dark over-tone. Thankfully, Joey Sturgis was careful not to let it anything overpower something else. James Cassells really followed through on drums, setting the pace of the album and really making hooks where it counts. His technicality has improved and he now seems an even better developed drummer. In the middle of the album is, Dedication, which serves as a break and separates the album tone wise. Afterwards AA comes out with the first song they have released without any screams. Seemingly breaking out of comfort zone, but it seems as though they have pulled it off. From there, the album seems to take on an ascent, getting faster paced and aggressive. With songs like, Breathless, and, Reckless and Relentless, they really show uniqueness in sound while tying all instruments and vocals in together quite elegantly. Morte et Dabo sends the album out quite a bang. I may even venture to say it is the heaviest song from this band yet. Simple yet versatile, putting this song on a proving ground of what seems like an endless breakdown. // 9 Lyrics and Singing: The whole album seems to take a dark approach lyrically. Danny Worsnop definitely took into account his battle with alcohol addiction and his struggles to overcome it, providing a sort of hopeful undertone. Some of the lyrics take into account past and future relationships, in such songs as, Dedication, Someone, Somewhere, and Breathless. I certainly hear a lot of release in the words of these songs, aggression taken out through the all of the lyrics. If you are heavily into Stand Up And Scream, you will not be disappointed from this standpoint as many of the same concepts follow through. What has incredibly improved are the skills of Danny Worsnop and Ben Bruce in vocals. The clean vocals sound less produced and more fitting to the music. All the while, the screams have reached a much greater range. The highs are higher and the lows are lower. Simply put. The coupling of the two goes together quite well and really set Asking Alexandria apart from other bands in the metalcore scene. // 9 Impression: I have been avidly awaiting this release and Asking Alexandria did not leave me disappointed. Through this and, Life Gone Wild EP, they have shown that they can really do just about whatever they want. This is a band that has really taken self improvement upon themselves and delivered to fans what they want. I have heard so much these days about how Asking Alexandria just copies every other band out there and they have no skill themselves. Well, why are they so much better then? This band, along with others like, Miss May I and, We Came As Romans have simply done their research, studied, and became good at what they do. The only thing I would like to see more from AA is guitar solos. There are some in the album but there could be more. Otherwise, the fast paced, heart pounding drums of James Cassells, along with the aggressive guitars of Sam Bettley, Ben Bruce, and Cameron Liddel, and Danny Worsnop to set it all off with strong vocals, really makes for a great quintet on the rise...full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Let’s go back one year from today. I was in my junior year of high school, in the height of my “scene” music craze, listening to every breakdown band I could get my hands on. I would play Asking Alexandria’s debut album, Stand Up and Scream, several times a week, and rave to all of my friends about their synth-oriented br00tal-ness. One year later, looking back and feeling like an idiot, I come across their latest release, Reckless and Relentless, and in my newfound elitism and hypocrisy, I decide to check it out. As it turns out, Asking Alexandria managed to abandon a good portion of the gimmicks and monotony that held them back on their debut LP. The album opens as one would expect, with a faux-orchestra and some synthesized drumming, but as opposed to their previous album opener, Alerion, the explosion into screamed vocals is immediately grabbing. So with the intro track, Welcome, down, I already had relatively high hopes for the rest of the album. There was some screaming about AA being “back again” which could have been spared, but on the bright side, that’s one track down without any forced breakdowns. The next track, Dear Insanity, continues to impress. Although it appears at first to have the typical screamed verse-clean chorus song structure, there is a cleverly placed interlude as well as a much less obvious breakdown than the band is used to, and Danny’s layered screams make it work quite well. The album has more than a few standout points, the most noticeable of which being Someone, Somewhere, described by guitarist Ben Bruce as “A straightforward slab of radio rock that’s free of breakdowns, screaming and synth breaks” (AP Mag Interview). The song, although holding on to the power chord chugging that AA is known for, highlights Danny’s cleans and features an old-school guitar solo complete with wah-wah, which is, admittedly unimpressive, but ends up working well. The chorus in the fourth track, A Lesson Never Learned is another highlight of the album, where Danny’s cleans are backed by a very uplifting synth section and some “whoa-ohs”. The Match is another track that stood out with a chugging breakdown reminiscent of something Counterparts would do, complete with artificial harmonics....full text |
Asking Alexandria lyrics Music videoclips
|
| |||||||
