Home / Album Reviews / Tonight Alive: The Other Side Review

Tonight Alive: The Other Side Review

_R0P1767_TA_300dpi copyTonight Alive, A band I don’t really listen to, it’s nothing against them I’ve just never have had an affection for female fronts in rock bands.

Well after tonight that might have to change.

I started listening to this album almost backwards, for some reason my computer opened the last song first. I think this is the best thing that could have happened. Granted that listening to an album out of order can throw off the flow of the whole thing but this song is amazing. Maybe it’s that I’m a sucker for a girl with an amazing voice over a piano, or it’s just that the song is pretty powerful, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

The album starts off pretty fast with Oceans, a song that has been released in the UK as the premier single for the album. The base line and melodic guitars really carry this song. Tossed in with a catchy chorus and heartfelt lyrics it makes sense this was chosen as the first single.

Oceans flows nicely into the second song Don’t Wish. Starting a little slower the song picks up as an F you Ballad. Promising to be the anthem of any heartbroken girl this fall, the song delivers a harder side to the band.

Lonely Girl is the first dance track of the album. Up tempo drums and lyrics will get you up and moving from start to finish.

Hell and Back is bit of a come down from the fast paced Lonely Girl and unfortunately there’s nothing that really stands out to me in this song.

The Other Side is a slower song, accompanied by an acoustic guitar a softer base line and drums really show cases vocalists Jenna McDougall’s voice. A friend zone ballad this song may just be the tear jerker on the album. Think if Taylor Swift had guts to do something instead of just whining about it.

The Fire really brings back the punch with an up tempo dance track, I almost popped off my couch and had a living room mosh pit session. This song really features the guitarist’s talents.

Complexes is a pretty good sing along, although that’s probably the best thing about the song, its catchy and poppy. The Bass line and progressing guitars make the song better, but still not on par with the rest of the album.

Come Home is probably the poppiest song on the album; it’s also song I liked least on the album. It honestly seems a bit out of place.

Bathwater is the most “epic” song of the album. Starting off with a slow build both vocally and instrumentally it hits pretty hard and brings everything home with a big catchy chorus.

No Different is an awesome pop punk inspired song. An up tempo beat mixed with deeper vocals and a melodic chorus this song defiantly picks the album back up from the slower paced Bathwater. With hints of inspiration from The Used and the later Blink 182 albums this song is a fun hard hitting sing along track.

Say Please is the balladiest ballad of the album.  The song is lyrically driven relying on the instruments as back up to the vocals. Not to take away from the drums and guitars which are fantastic in this song, but this is a lyrically driven song, even with the strong bass line this song is all about the vocals.

And finally we reach the end of the album and the first song I listened too.

When I first started this review I was a little hesitant, again I’m not really one for female singers in rock bands, however I was pleasantly surprised while listening to it how much I enjoyed most of the album, There were a couple of lulls, namely ‘Hell and Back,’ ‘Complexes’ and ‘Come Home’ but overall the album was good.

The High points of Oceans, Bathwater, No Difference and You Don’t Owe Me Anything really make this album good. Although it may not be something I could listen to all the way through over and over again, I could defiantly listen to most of these songs a few times and not get sick of them.

I guess this is where I’m supposed to give it a rating, and  I guess that’s where I’m stuck So I’m going to go with a 3.5 stars out of 5.

It’s not my favorite album, and I don’t give out many 5 stars to anything… ever… So on my rating scales a 3.5 is pretty good and at the risk of being tarred and feathered I’m going to say this is better than Paramore.

About Music Existence

Check Also

Single Review: “Liberate” by Radhika Vekaria

Radhika Vekaria’s yearning for transcendence comes through every second of her new single “Liberate”. This …