Review Summary: You may want to practice safe social distancing from 'American Love Story'...
Today is May 8th, 2020. The world has, for the most part, stood still due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Millions of people across the globe have been exposed to the virus, and hundreds of thousands have died. Politicians bicker across political aisles while countries remain quarantined, and the line at the digital unemployment office grows longer by the minute. During these events, our Lord & Savior, Butch Walker, has decided to impart to us his politically charged rock opera, American Love Story. Perhaps it’s a good thing record stores aren’t considered ‘Essential Businesses’, because it would be a tragedy, even during these trying times, for anyone to spend a penny on this dumpster fire of an album.
I honestly do not know what has been more of a struggle in terms of stamina and perseverance: having to listen through this record or penning this review, detailing the abomination this record is. For 43 minutes, you will be taken on a journey through the unhinged and ‘persecuted’ landscape of a fictitious world, sold as an artistic metaphor of ‘reality’. Evil men wearing red ballcaps, bigoted homophobes, the story covered through this 13 track disaster resembles more of a mad diary from an idealistic high school freshman who discovered Noam Chomsky the previous week and is a certified 'political expert' on Reddit then an accomplished song writer. There is zero nuance in this tale. Filled with cursing and juvenile dribble, this record sways back and forth between musical plagiarism, with lazy arrangements alluding to recognizable tunes, and political anthems that seem inspired from “Social Justice Warrior-isms for Idiots”.
The few moments of genuine intrigue and musicianship on this is bludgeoned over the head by the abrasive and confronting narrative of inequality and injustice Butch has thrown together.
With past rock operas, such as Green Day’s American Idiot, speaking truth to power and giving voice to a generation, perhaps Butch thought he could channel the current zeitgeist of American politics, our cultural landscape and craft a generation defining record. Afterall, music is a vital medium for our cultural and political dialogue. Unfortunately, the finished product is nothing more than a desperate artist pandering to radical keyboard activists on Twitter.
American Love Story attempts to paint a picture of the struggles of modern America, but instead is a tone deaf, narcissistic, condescending blight of a record. By all means to all you artists out there, write any political/social commentary you want into your music. Activism has been a cornerstone to modern music over many decades. But do so with conviction and nuance, because there is a fine line between facing injustice and pandering to an audience. American Love Story is a soulless bastard of a creation and lacks the awareness and insight for anyone to take this record seriously.
