All Time Low - Future Hearts (Album Review)

All Time Low's last album, Don't Panic, was somewhat of a comeback album after a rough relationship with a major label and a lukewarm fan reception to their major label album Dirty Work. Don't Panic really lived up to the title and showed the fans there wasn't a need to panic and that the band had righted the ship. With Future Hearts I think the band needed to show that they not only righted the ship but had found a way to keep it on course.

I think you can tell the band has found their groove from the very first listen. They know what they do and Future Hearts plays to that strength. There are brief flashes of the entire discography in various songs. The album seems like more of a search of refinement opposed to experimentation. I think, at this point in the band's career, that this is probably what I wanted and in that way the album lives up to to what I wanted to hear. The band improved their performance, production, and the bells and whistles on this album. In my opinion everything is on point with this album and the band performs solidly throughout the entire album. Gaskarth's vocals are some of his strongest. John Feldmann produced the album. He's produced more than a few notable albums, but his work with 5 Seconds Of Summer not only shows he understands the "pop/punk" formula in a big way it also shows he knows how to produce the sound for a big stage and a big audience, which he continues to show on this album. The steadfast production and songwriting creates a really even sounding and well flowing album. It might be one of the band's better produced albums as a whole. It's at least one of their most focused sounding albums.

They also have guest features that will give the pop/punk fans of yesteryear more than a moment or two of excitement. Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 fame shows up on "Tidal Waves". His guest vocals fit the song perfectly and are a nice opposing force to Gaskarth's high soaring vocals. It's always exciting when Mark lends his vocals to a song and in most cases it's done pretty well and definitely causes a big excitement factor for listeners. His addition may cause a pretty big buzz with listeners and fans but even without a Mark Hoppus feature "Tidal Waves" would still be a fantastic song that really sticks out on this album. Good Charlotte's Joel Madden shows up on "Bail Me Out", a bit of a somber sounding song. This might be the best song Joel Madden has sung on since the old school Good Charlotte days. It isn't in my top favorite picks from the album but it is a nice fun, breezy song. I think the album starts and finishes exceptionally. The first song on the album "Satellite" just sets the vibe and really builds up the intro in a neat way. On the opposite end "Old Scars, Future Hearts" ends the album with such a heavy punch that it almost feels like the knockout punch showing you this album is something special in their discography. It's a super solid closer and quite possibly the best closer to an album they've ever had. Up until this point I had thought Dirty Work's closing song “Heroes” was maybe their best closer.

If I had to find one thing to nitpick at on this album, it might be the lyrics on the single "Kids In The Dark". I want to stress that I don't necessarily dislike the song. It is catchy, but lyrically it isn't my favorite All Time Low song. I can see the message being good, but as the band heads toward their mid-late twenties the lyrics just don't seem to apply to them in the same way I think a song like this would have worked for the band five or six years ago. However, I can see this song appealing to some of the band's younger fan base. I can also see it being a song that promotes strength amongst young fans who may be going through troubling times, which is positive. It's not a weak song at all, the lyrics just fall a little flat for me. I will say that I think it can be a tough line to straddle when growing up and switching focus from being a youth to an adult. I think the band can get away with a song like this right now, and it really works on this album, but in the next 3-5 years I'm not so sure they will be able to. I do think the way it's sung and the songwriting is really solid. I can definitely hear why this is a single from the album.

This album is full of highlights and honestly those come when ATL does what they do best, deliver solid pop/punk/rock songs like "Runaways", "Cinderblock Garden", and "Old Scars, Future Hearts". Songs like these just prove that the band still has that fire you've always enjoyed and what's even better is that they seem to do it with more and more ease as the band ages. All Time Low is a band I've basically enjoyed since the beginning. They've inherited the prince crown from some of the larger pop/punk bands from the early 2000s like Sum 41, Good Charlotte, and New Found Glory. They have worn it well and continue to do so as they evolve, which they are doing better than how some of those bands did as they grew as their style evolved. I wouldn't classify this album as pop/punk; it's more of a pop/rock album but like any All Time Low album you're always going to hear those pop/punk influences in their songs as they progress. I'm enjoying this album. It will no doubt be a summer listening favorite of mine and will probably find itself pretty high on my albums of the year list this year.