Mayday Parade’s self titled album came out on October 4 and it does everything I hoped it would. Mayday Parade, for me, evokes numerous emotions in just a few songs. They are capable of making you feel happiness, sadness, anger, etc. I like them as a band because I can relate to most of their songs. It’s always interesting to see when an artist you like and have related to before, comes out with a new album and you are able to see what has changed in your life and what has stayed the same, and the new songs that relate to your life. Mayday is not an easy listen; listening and thinking are required. They do not have a much different sound in their new album, but that works for them and makes them who they are as musicians.
The quintet (five-member band), recently toured over the summer with All Time Low and The Starting Line, and will be part of their headlining tour “The Noise Tour” this fall, with There for Tomorrow. They had been touring pretty steadily. They were on the Van’s Warped Tour last year in 2010 and continued touring during that year. They obviously found some time in between to record their album, which their fans are happy to see.
The album begins with their single that they released earlier this summer, “Oh Well, Oh Well.” It’s about moving on from the past, and being strong moving forward. Just brush things off and relax, basically, “oh well.” It starts off slowly, and continues with an upbeat tempo. “I took one straight through the heart, and it’s not easy to talk about,” is a line that stands out.
The second track is “No Heroes Allowed,” which is a typical Mayday song. Upbeat, with a nice guitar part, complimented by violin parts, that truthfully makes me very happy. I love how they use strings in their songs. More and more artists are realizing they have a lot of different options and interesting sounds they can create and add to a piece by using string instruments (i.e. violin, viola, etc.). The lyrics are kind of depressing, if you listen. The third track is “When You See My Friends.” This song is also sad and kind of depressing. I really like these two songs though; they are two of my favorites on the album. Love the guitar parts…They really have wonderful guitarists.
“You’re Dead Wrong” is softer and wonderful. The first minute is my favorite part of the song. Their lyrics are endearing and really make you want to keep listening. They have stories to tell and they do it well through their songs. It is about love not being easy and not to jump to conclusions about people. If it’s meant to happen it will happen. “Priceless” is about the girl he would do anything for. “You’ll be the reason, I’ll be uneven.” Everyone makes mistakes, he is going to figure it out, but he is going crazy while he is doing it.
“Stay” is probably my favorite song on the album. It’s sad, but uplifting at the same time (at least to me). There is an amazing string and drum piece in it. “Call Me Hopeless, But Not Romantic” is another album favorite of mine. They are depressing sometimes, but the music draws you in and the lyrics make you stay. Their lyrics are gripping, I think. You can tell they’ve had some pretty bad situations, but what is the best remedy? Music. “Don’t show emotion, let this go.”
“A Shot Across the Bow” livens up the slowness with its upbeat tempo. But of course, listen through the catchy tempo and you will hear intense lyrics. “Everything’s An Illusion” says not to worry if we are not together because we will be together soon. Most likely about being away from home/on tour and not being with their love. The next song’s title just says it all, “I’d Rather Make Mistakes Than Nothing At All.” It’s better to do something, then nothing at all. “Tell me what it takes to move on,” is a good line. “Without the Bitter the Sweet Isn’t As Sweet” is so sad, but so good. “You don’t get lucky twice, and that’s the truth,” is a fantastic and true line. The last song,“Happy Endings Are Stories That Haven’t Ended Yet,” has a different sound. The guitar part makes it sound like Queen a little bit. Acoustic versions of both “When You See My Friends” and “Oh Well, Oh Well,” are also included. I love Mayday’s acoustic guitar abilities. They are amazing at what they do for sure.
The majority of this album is softer and not a lot of completely up-beat songs. Some songs start slow then become upbeat. All of the lyrics are sad and attempting to try to get over someone. The album is like a relationship that keeps going back and forth between I’ll let you go, and it will be okay, and then we will find each other again someday, I love you. I would have liked to hear more string parts in more songs. They put out an EP and it was filled with string parts, and it was beautiful. This has been a highly anticipated album for their fans and I feel that they delivered for their fans. They will be able to bring the songs to life this fall on tour too.
Amelia Walters
Pierce Arrow Blogger , Arts & Entertainment Editor
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