Review Summary: This is really an annoying album. Every once in awhile it gets tolerable, mainly the first track and a little in between but mainly just poor. A definite waste of time and a waste of an album, and I don't know why they are so popular.
I settled into the back of my van and threw on my head phones, I was preparing for a 2 hour car ride. To my dismay my mp3 was dead, and my mom was preparing to put on her one and only album, The All American Reject’s “Move Along”. Realizing my doom I sat back, buckled myself in, cried a little bit, and prepared for the worst. What I went through was a very poor, poppy, boring, album. There were very little points during the album where I actually wasn’t wishing the car ride was over. Here and there the songs might have gotten a bit catchy, or something was done well. But those occasions were extremely rare and overall this album is over rated and not very enjoyable to anyone besides a middle school kid who thinks Tyson Ritter (vocals/bass) is hot.
To start at any place, I guess a good place to start would be the okay parts of the album. Catchiness is mainly what the All-American Rejects try to aim for with their sound. Obviously being pop rock they aren’t really going to wow you instrumentally, so they need to make up for that with catchiness. “Dirty Little Secret” is really the only time during the album where the All-American Rejects succeed in adding that catchy factor. The main guitar riff is close to enjoyable, and Ritter’s vocals throughout the choruses go well with the band’s sound. “Dirty Little Secret” is a pretty fun song, and since it’s the first song on the album it gave me some false hope.
The rest of the album was very disappointing, and a huge annoyance. The remainder of the album is where all the negatives lie, which are quite a few. One would be the instrumental aspect of the album. Nothing really stands out besides Ritter’s vocals and the occasionally okay drum work by Chris Gaylor, which both isn’t eye opening either. Next on the list would be the boringness of the album (if boringness is a word). The pace never really goes anywhere, and stays the same for each song never really changing from quick to slow, or slow to fast which leads to the next problem I have with the album. That would be repetitiveness. Due to the lack of raw talent and excitement of the album the All-American Rejects have little to work with, so they focus on attempting catchiness and exploiting Ritter’s vocals which both fail many times throughout the album. Some tracks don’t go anywhere, or change for the better at all; one great example would be “Can’t Take It”. There are no drums, guitars, and quite frankly no good parts in the song whatsoever. It’s also dreadfully repetitive which is just repeating bad music over and over again. Those are the negatives to the album, which greatly outweigh its few positives.
Individually each member of the whole band isn’t too great. Ritter, vocally at least does an okay job, he shows off his vocal range, at times actually changing from louder to softer, and slower to quicker. A good example would be “It Ends Tonight”. The song itself is pretty bad, including a piano solo instead of a guitar solo, and mainly staying on the softer side for a majority of the time and getting repetitive. But Ritter changes his voice from slow, soft, and crisp, to loud, fast, and overpowering during the choruses. Maybe if the guitars didn’t play the same riff over and over, and the bass was heard a bit more the song would be pretty good. That brings me to my next point with Ritter, which is his bass play. The album is mainly drums and vocals, some acoustic guitar and even a little piano play, but rarely the bass is noticeable in the song, let alone standing out at any time. Even in the quicker, and less softer songs the bass is barely heard, a good example would be “Move Along”. The song itself has some good vocal work, a little bit of catchiness, and a pretty good drum beat. Add a rocking bass riff and the song might be good. Ritter’s only real okay bass work would be in “Dance Inside”, where he has a small little riff that stands out during the end, but doesn’t last too long, and there ends his only okay play throughout the entire album.
The next ones in the band to explain would be Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty, who play guitar. They basically are awful during the entire album, and that’s an understatement. Here and there they will have a nice little 2 second solo that isn’t much to speak of and lasts not long at all. Also their riffs are extremely boring and repetitive, failing miserably to add any sort of heaviness to the album. They try, and at times do a mediocre job, but mainly fail. Occasionally they will make things a little bit catchy, but mainly stay in the background and do very little. Also the guitar duo uses a technique most bands like themselves to, they have acoustic guitar as the rhythm and regular electric guitar for the lead. The riffs are always the same, so the technique doesn’t do much good at all, and getting old very quick. Basically instrumentally the guitars are the worst part of the All-American Rejects’ sound, and that’s pretty hard to do.
Gaylor is the drummer for the All-American Rejects, and he isn’t as terrible as the guitarists. His play is the backbone for their sound, and usually decides whether or not their sound is going to be worth while, or the usual terrible. Gaylor does what most average drummers are asked to do, make a catchy drum fill, play hard in the harder songs, and add a catchy soft beat in the softer songs. His best work on the album is in “Move Along”, which includes a very catchy drum beat, and adding a great heavy rock drum beat. Then again Gaylor is a good drummer though he is not an amazing drummer in any way, shape, or form. His play just helps the All-American Rejects sound a little less crappy.
Well that’s the band as a whole, individually, the album’s sound, and my opinion on it. I’d definitely rate this album very poor, and nowhere near great. I’d actually recommend avoiding this album if possible. It’s definitely a waste of time, and not very impressive at all. Maybe a good spot here or there, but really the album is nothing to speak of.
