Review Summary: In an attempt at maturing, Hollywood Undead releases an inconsistent pile of muddied ideas.
Hollywood Undead. Five albums deep into their career, which is crazy to think about actually. I remember hearing 'Undead' about ten years ago and thinking it was the coolest thing ever, and about two years later, Swan Songs would even be the first CD I had bought with my own money. I fell off with the band around two years ago, when 'Day Of The Dead' came out, and haven't really looked back since.
Years, months pass by, and I hear the lead single from their fifth album, not so cleverly titled 'Five', and I feel absolutely nothing. 'California Dreaming' isn't a sign of growth, but rather a kick in the balls for anyone that thinks that after ten years the band would move past cringe inducing nu-metal "anthems". And other than that what else did the band do? Party anthems of course. Though, thankfully, this album is almost devoid of any party songs. In the forefront is self-loathing, straight up hip-hop songs, the aforementioned nu-metal anthems, and occasionally dubstep because that's what's hip in 2017 right?
Self-loathing has never been a strong point for Hollywood Undead, even middle schooler me knew this. It's definitely not a strong point here either, though noticeably improved from their previous efforts. I'm sorry, but "It's like I should give up because I'm not legit" doesn't work as a good lyric for your fans to connect with, nobody says "legit" anymore, let alone in a demeaning way. The hip-hop tracks stand on their own pretty well, not groundbreaking in any way but somewhat enjoyable and in the long-term, is the style they should stick with. Dubstep on the other hand? The genre's never sounded more dated than it does here.
In the end, 'Five' leaves me utterly confused. It looks and acts like an act of maturity, but then you listen to songs like 'Cash Out' and 'Bang Bang' and you just kind of wonder if they even want to mature.
Though, to be honest, four years ago I would've eaten this up, maybe I'm not the demographic Hollywood Undead is aiming for.
