Even though this album was released in the States this week, you can’t actually legally buy a copy of this record here in the UK until February. And the major labels wonder why physical CD sales are down and illegal downloading is on the way up?! Seriously, there are some absolute morons that work in the industry…
Rant over. AAR are pretty much everyone’s guilty pleasure. They’re more pop than rock but they write such catchy songs that it’s impossible not to lie one or two of their songs. They’re inoffensive enough to appeal top such a broad range of people and it’s no surprise that with the likes of ‘Move Along’ and ‘Dirty Little Secret’ they managed to infiltrate the mainstream. This new album will cement their place in the Top 40 of the singles and album charts. It’s unashamedly a great pop record. ‘Gives You Hell’, the first single, is an absolute belter. It’s a gift-wrapped bundle of joy that sets the tone of the record; one that’s fun, full of catchy moments and doesn’t take itself at all seriously.
The problem ‘When The World Comes Down’ is that there are a couple of real filler songs. While ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘I Wanna’ are great and ‘Breakin” and ‘Back To Me’ both have huge singalongs, ‘Damn Girl’ and ‘Another Heart Calls’ will have you reaching for the skip button. They re-inforce the point that AAR are so much better when they’re quicker, sassier and catchier. The short version of this reviews reads ‘if you liked AAR previously you’ll still like them now’. But I also think there’s enough here, even if it’s just the singles, to tempt even the haters to check them out this time round…