The All-American Rejects - When The World Comes Down Review

Posted by Jacob Crogie on 12.22.2008

The All-American Rejects are back with their third album, "When The World Comes Down" featuring the hit single "Gives You Hell" and they answer the question, what does a band do when they have outgrown their scene? The answer...hire a horrible producer and alienate fans!

Track Listing

1."I Wanna" - 3:29
2."Fallin' Apart" - 3:27
3."Damn Girl" - 3:51
4."Gives You Hell" - 3:33
5."Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)" - 3:15
6."Breakin'" - 3:59
7."Another Heart Calls" - 4:08 (featuring The Pierces)
8."Real World" - 4:03
9."Back to Me" - 4:28
10."Believe" - 3:28
11."The Wind Blows" - 4:22
12."Sunshine" Hidden Track - 2:59



Here comes the third effort from Oklahoma foursome, The All-American Rejects. This one is produced by Eric Valentine, whose previous resume includes work with Good Charlotte and Taking Back Sunday. "When The World Comes Down" dropped on Tuesday, December 16th and features the hit single "Gives You Hell". I'm trying a new format for reviews, let me know what you think in the comment section or by email! Let's get down to business!

Musicality

One thing that is always discarded when discussing the All-American Rejects is their musical talent, they are more than the prototypical power pop and actually show good technical ability beyond that of their peers. Drummer Chris Gaylor is vastly underrated and his work on "Move Along" was just spectacular. His work here is just as good, but is hidden by Valentine's ludicrous pop production which relegates the rhythm section to the backburner. Remember that drum intro for "Move Along"? There is nothing like that on here, he is basically just here for support. The one track where he gets to shine is "Breakin'" where his drum beats and fills are amazing, his speed is tight and he shows great creativity. He just gets lost in the shuffle far too often though. He also does this Phil Collins esque beat on "The Wind Blows" which is pretty solid. His work throughout this album is amazing, but is overshadowed by overblown production! This is also evident in the lack of bass power, bass simply seems to be missing while guitarists Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty are given limited opportunity to showcase their abilities. Even Tyson's voice doesn't sound as good as it has in the past, what the hell is wrong with Eric Valentine?

The band themselves can write solid pop music, never varying too much from standard chord progression, and why should they? They were the pioneers of power pop, and still continue to bring it in spades. It's the damn production of Valentine that brings them down. There is nothing understated on this album, and musically they suffer for handing the reins to someone who appears to have little understanding of their history. He seems intent on destroying everything that was so good about AAR. The orchestration is unnecessary most of the time, adding nothing and simply taking away from the talent of an underrated band.

Lyrical Ability

As always the lyrics provided by AAR are simple, but not stupid. They are simple in a pop way, expected rhymes and the like, however they are not generic in the vein of Simple Plan. Many reviewers are criticizing this simplicity, but that is where AAR intend to come from. They create catchy hooks and sing along choruses, and their lyrics are fraught with emotion. This appeals to listeners due to the sincerity evident, they are not master lyricists but they have always done well enough and that trend continues here. Sure there is repetition, and at times it is rather surreal for someone the age of Tyson Ritter to sing lines like "I wanna touch you/ You wanna touch me, too" or "Yeah I figured it out/ Breakin's what your heart is for" but there are many examples of quality writing, more than enough for them to still have artistic credibility.

Originality

This is where the debate truly begins when discussing the All-American Rejects, are they original or do they just follow a scene? I like to refer to the fact that they have been around much longer than these copycat bands in the vein of Boys Like Girls and Secondhand Serenade. This guys were the creators and originators of the power pop scene in the early 2000s and carrying on till today. The album sounds like your basic power pop formula, 3-4 minute long songs, pop production and catchy hooks. It only sounds unoriginal due to the exploitation factor, these guys hit it big and hundreds of copy cat acts sprung up all over the place. They try their damndest to distance themselves from that scene that they say they have outgrown, however, all the elements are there, if you delve below the bastardized production.

Replay Value

So as you have probably noticed, the fault on this album lies not with AAR but this producer who has taken one of the most creative and enjoyable pop bands and screwed it up, how does this joker still have a job? His idiotic over-production almost brings this album all the way down. However, there is more then enough here to warrant a purchase, especially if you are a fan of the Rejects or power pop in general. The catchy hooks are still there, but this Valentine guy tends to ruin quite a few tracks with his stupidly Steinmanesque production style. Still, I continue to listen to this album on a regular basis after formulating this review, and that's all I can really say about it's replay value, I suppose.

The 411: The band shows up to work and still have the ability to write catchy songs, however, the album is dragged down by the hand of producer Eric Valentine and struggles to regain what made AAR so popular. Solution: FIRE THIS MAN! Still enough here for fans to enjoy however and worth a purchase if you like power pop and want to hear from the originators!

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]