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Album Review, Wunderbar by The Living End
I would like to get this out of the way early. My choice to write a review for this album has nothing to do with the fact that it came with chocolate when I bought it.
Introduction
For those who don’t know. The Living End are an Australian rock band formed in the mid to late 90s.
They found success in Australia with the release of the song Prisoner of Society and since have released 8 studio albums the latest of which is called Wunderbar.
Wunderbar: Released September 28th 2018.
First thoughts
I came in to this album pretty mixed on what to expect. I had heard 2 songs off it the first 2 singles. They were both something interesting but together didn’t really give me an idea of what to expect.
I should also point out I preordered this album and my preorder arrived 4 days late but came with a football and a bar of chocolate. Now I am not saying stuff like that makes me like your music more but I am totally saying that.
With just 11 songs and 36 minutes of content this isn’t a long album but there is allot to get through. So we will jump in to a track by track break down.
Track by Track
01 – Don’t Lose It:
An interesting choice for an opening song seemingly all about keeping yourself under control. This is probably not the strongest track on the album for an opening but it works to set up what is to come.
02 – Not Like The Other Boys:
This is one of the slower tracks on the album. A little more stripped back and with less of that rock sound you would expect from The Living End. But lyrically it is a powerful song about fitting in especially in modern society.
03 – Other Side:
Is the grass always greener? I mean that topic is the subject of countless songs. But this song has a fun feel and a catchy chorus and a fun guitar solo too.
04 – Death Of The American Dream:
The living end were very political in early songs so it is unsurprising the way the world is at the moment that a song about the American political climate can be found on there 2018 album. An interesting song however I don’t really care for the fact this song drops from a rocking track to a pore quality acoustic track mid way through.
05 – Drop The Needle:
This song fills more like filler than anything else. It isn’t a bad song but it isn’t grate. It is just a smooth mid way track.
06 – Love Won’t Wait:
I don’t have any real issue with this song. Lyrically it isn’t to bad and it is some what interesting musically. However after listening to the album several times this song has failed to leave any real impression on me.
07 – Proton Pill:
The heaviest song on this album this stands out just for being something different. It is a fun rocking track that fills like a modern take on an 80s rock track. To add to the 80s feel it is about drugs. OK it is more about how any problem you have there is a pill you can take for it.
08 – Amsterdam:
This is my favourite song on the hole album. It is a stripped back song that is just a guitar and vocals. It is lyrically powerful and a fine song over all.
09 – To Young To Die:
A pretty simple song with a very direct message. This is a song about the effects of war and about the young people that die fighting in war torn areas. Simple but powerful.
10 – Wake Up The Vampires:
I’ll be honest I don’t really care for this song. I can’t quite work out what the song is meant to be about. The actual mix of the song is slightly different to the rest of the album and it just does not sit right with me.
11 – Rat In A Trap:
Now this is a song that fits the ending of an album. It has a real stadium rock feel. The song it self isn’t as deep as some of the other songs on the album but has the feeling of a time is up so lets go out with a bang.
The album in full
This album has a real mixed feel to it. It has your faster paced songs like Proton Pill than slows right down with Amsterdam.
The wide variety of topics discussed on the album also make it quite heavy at times while being some what simplistic in places.
However all of this works together to make this one hell of an album.
The Living End have taken the way they view the world at this time and laid it out over 36 minutes and even at its lowest point this album is pretty dam good.
Rating
I really enjoyed this album and hope maybe some one out in this wide world might enjoy learning about a new band or album from this review.
8.5 out of 10.
Conclusion
This was a fantastic album so I will leave you with a couple of my favourite tracks to check out.
Click here to listen to Amsterdam.