 A while ago I was scrolling through tiktok making a “controversial” statement that the “Homesick” album is the best and heaviest album made by A Day to Remember. Now I have listened to this specific album multiple times and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have not listened to most of their discography. So today we are going to do a quick review of A Day to Remember starting back in 2005 with an ep called “Halos for Heros, Dirt for the Dead”
Their first EP “Halos for Heros, Dirt for the Dead” was released in 2004. You hear the beginning sounds of A Day to Remember forming. Metalcore, some screamo with clean vocals, the one soft song, and pop punk style lyrics. Overall the 5 song ep was pretty good. The sound quality is not great but you can definitely see the beginnings of A Day to Remember (ADTR). The sound quality of this album is not the best but that makes sense for a band's first album, the EP is really good though. The softest song is “The Sun Has Set” an acoustic break up song. The heaviest song is “If Looks Could Kill… Then You’d Be Dead” which will later be renamed into “If Looks Could Kill.” Overall this is a nice EP to start off the discography. Favorite Songs: Breathe Hope In Me, “And Their Name was Treason” being their first full length album has a great metalcore sound, About a 50/50 screamo to clean vocals. The song “Heartless” being the heaviest and “You Had Me at Hello” being the softest. Throughout the album you can hear that Jeremy McKinnon is still fine tuning his vocals but you can definitely hear the distinct ADTR vocal sound taking form. Another note was that lyrics have an angry tone to most of the songs except “You had me at Hello,” which is an acoustic song that sounds like a bittersweet sad love song. Overall this is a great album! Favorite Songs: Second Glance, Heartless “For Those Who Have Heart” was released in 2008 and this album definitely shows how the band has improved musically. Jeremy’s vocals were so much better on this album. His screams were stronger and his clean vocals were cleaner and more controlled. The softest song is definitely “The Price We Pay” which is a nice acoustic that is very repetitive but enjoyable. The heaviest song on the album “The Danger of Starting a Fire.” “The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle” came in a close second for the drop at 3:41 but “The Sanger of Starting a Fire” is just heavier throughout the whole song. “For Those Who Have Heart” has increased production quality and the bands overall skill made their second full album fantastic! Favorite Songs: Speak of the Devil, The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle, Monument, Here’s to the Past, and Since U Been Gone Their next album is “Old Record” is exactly what it sounds like, an old record. ADTR re-recorded the album in 2 days at request from their record label, according to a wiki page about the album “And Their Name was Treason.” Changes included better production quality, a different tracklist, and the song titles were changed a little. For example “1958” is now “Nineteen Fifty Eight” and “You had me at Hello” is now “You Had Me @ Hello.” Since it was done so fast the instrumental were the only new recording leaving the original vocals which explains why “Old Record” has a different experience but not that different. Overall I really enjoy this album and like the way the tracklist was laid out which gave it a better flow to the album! Favorite Songs: Heart less, A 2nd Glance, Your Way with Words is Through Silence “Homesick” the album that started this whole journey, this is also the first ADTR album I bought! This is the first album with all new songs, so let us break it down! The first thing you will notice is that the production quality is better. Vocally and instrumentally the band is solid! Not that they were not before the album, just more solid! This album is also noticeably heavier and the lyrics are not as dark as previous songs like songs like “You Should have Killed me When you Had the Chance.” In fact this album has an air of fighting against oppression and achieving their dreams. The album also seems like a snapshot of them really starting to live the band life. Touring, being away from family and loved ones, wondering if it is going to work out, and trying to prove themselves. “If it Means a Lot to You” is the last song on the album and the softest. It is a mostly acoustic song that tells a story of a couple that is separated while he is on the road and that they understand their situation but also want each other close. Overall this album is consistently heavy, not really having a song that was the heaviest. However I am going to give it to “I’m made of Wax, Larry, What are You Made Of?” for the drop at 1:53. Overall “Homesick” is a great album that is fun to listen to all the way through, I have listened to it 7 times fully while writing this little review. Favorite Songs: The Downfall of Us All, “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What are you Made of?,” NJ Legion Iced Tea, Mr. Highway’s thinking About the End, Have Faith in Me “What Separates Me From You” was released in 2011. This album starts with the song “Sticks & Bricks” which hits you like a wave! This is the first album that does not have a soft acoustic song leaving “If I Leave” as the softest song. The heaviest song has got to be “2nd Sucks” because the bass hits hard and heavy throughout the whole song. The softest song on the album is “If I Leave” although it is not an acoustic song it is the calmest. I enjoyed this album a lot and if ADTR does a 10 year anniversary for this album tour next year I’m going! This album, up to this point, is probably my favorite because the track list, quality, and overall vibe of the album is great! Favorite Songs: All I Want, All Signs Point to Lauderdale, This is the House That Doubt Built, You Be Tails, I’ll Be Sonic P.S. I will go to that concert if things get back to normal. “Common Courtesy” was released in 2013 and has a few songs that are about reminiscing about the past 10 years of being a band. They also had a couple songs about how the fame has not changed them just where they have been and what they have done. After a first listen through I really love the song “I Remember” and “Right Back At It Again.” Something I really like is that after the song “I Remember” has ended there is audio of the band reminiscing about their adventures on the road. The album has the ADTR vibes but also has a slight change having a more pop punk sound than the metalcore sound they have carried up to this point. They still have that metalcore sound in songs like “Sometimes You’re The Hammer, Sometimes You’re The Nail” and “Life Lessons Learned The Hard Way.” The hardest song is “Dead & Buried.” Overall the bass hits hard until the chorus when the song has a more rock sound but the drops at 1:10 and 2:19 are the heaviest on the album. The softest song is “I’m Already Gone” which is a nice acoustic song that has the vibe of walking alone at twilight thinking about life. Overall I really liked this album and the creative difference from previous albums. Favorite Songs: City of Ocala, Right Back At It Again, I Remember, Best of Me, “Sometimes You’re The Hammer, Sometimes You’re the Nail,” I’m Already Gone The last album they have released is “Bad Vibrations.” “Bad Vibrations” has a nice progression from the harder songs at the beginning to the softer songs at the end. “Exposed” is the heaviest song on the album with a heavy hitting bass and the drop at 3:08 is insane! “Forgive and Forget” is the softest song on the album. “Forgive and Forget” has a similar start acoustic end a little hard style as “If it Means a lot to You” with a different message in the lyrics. Overall this album is very different from previous ADTR albums showing a slightly different direction for their style but it had lyrical similarities to their early albums. I did really enjoy hearing their new stuff although it is not my favorite I have a few songs that were really good. Favorite Songs: We got This, Same About You, In Florida, Paranoia, Bullfight This is the end to my journey to find the heaviest A Day to Remember album! I believe that the tiktocker was wrong saying that “Homesick” was the heaviest ADTR album although it is a fantastic album! I would say that “What Separates Me From You” is their heaviest album and after listening to all their stuff I would say that it has become my favorite album as well! I would encourage anyone to listen to any of their favorite bands' full discography start to finish. It allows you to really get to know the albums and the songs. Much like how listening to “Common Courtesy” gave me a snapshot into the band's life and be part of what they were experiencing at that time of their life. Also I had not paid enough attention to the fact that “Old Record” was just a partial rerecording of “And Their Name Was Treason” and learning that got me to go learn more about the album. This was an experience I thought would take maybe a day or two but turned into about a week long musical adventure. Maybe I’ll do this again but I’ll look at the band Seether and how their style changed from “Disclaimer” to “Poison the Parish.” Good luck on your own musical journeys! “Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.” - Jean Paul Friend Be Safe Be Happy Kai |
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