Home Tours Videos Interviews Reviews Photography Featured Artist Contact THEME

Review: Tonight Alive - Limitless (#2)

image

Limitless is the fourth full-length album from Fearless Records’ Tonight Alive. A release that sees the band moving away from their pop-punk and alternative rock-based sound in favour of one heavily influenced by pop and electronica, it’s an interesting move and one that may or may not have worked in their favour.

From the first listen, it’s evident that Tonight Alive went into Limitless with no intention of recreating their previous records. As frontwoman Jenna McDougall has stated in interviews, the band wanted to branch out and create something new - and that something new is quite apparent. Throughout the 38 minute duration, there are few instances that are reminiscent of the “old” Tonight Alive, with “How Does It Feel?” utilizing the alternative rock vibe that defined 2013′s The Other Side and “To Be Free” bringing in heavier elements that bring to mind the style one would associate with the band.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album sees Tonight Alive moving toward a pop sound that more often than not falls to the generic. The band offer up a sound that alternates between real instruments (”Human Interaction”) to computer-generated ones (”Drive”), and it sometimes feels a bit disorganized. It’s a sound one wouldn’t normally associate with Tonight Alive, with the band sometimes sounding like carbon-copies of Avril Lavigne or Metric, and it leaves you feeling a bit confused.

However, there are some standouts on Limitless. Lead single “Human Interaction” is Alanis Morissette-esque and allows listeners to hear the diversity Tonight Alive are capable of bringing, whilst “Waves” - a heavy pop track - is the best showcase of McDougall’s lyrical and vocal ability. The song utilizes light piano to elevate McDougall’s vocals and pairs nicely with such lyrics as “Don’t you ever wonder what it feels like? / Underwater feeling low / Until you see white / Never knowing if we’re drifting away / Your love comes in waves”.

The overall strong lyrical ability of Limitless is also present in closing track “The Greatest”, which sees the band discussing the idea of strength and harnessing it from within to become an overall stronger person, a prime example of the message Tonight Alive aims to spread with their music.

However, as aforementioned, the album does lack in areas. Single “Drive” is one of Limitless’ weakest offerings, featuring computer-generated instruments in place of real ones, which lends to its generic sound. Lyrically, the track falls short when compared to the rest. Similar issues can be found with “Everywhere”- where the instrumentation falls short - and “Oxygen”, which doesn’t live up to the rest of the hype the album brings.

Overall, Limitless is a hit-and-miss release for Tonight Alive. While lyrically, it’s without a doubt the band’s strongest album to date, the overall sound and instrumentation fall short in places, leaving a sense of disappointment and a yearning for the band to return to the sound they built their career on. There’s a feeling that we’ve lost what makes Tonight Alive unique in the alternative scene, and whilst there are many tracks that could easily be played on mainstream radio, it’s feared that older fans might feel a bit isolated.

By Clare Fitzgerald

*I understand that Legendary Kids Press has already published a review of Limitless. I had many opinions on the album and had no where else to share them, so I thought I might as well publish the review here.

  1. legendarykidspress posted this