Album Review: Weapons

C+

Welsh rockers Lostprophets have returned with their fifth studio album, Weapons. Lostprophets are known for their alternative yet radio-friendly rock sound, but with Weapons it seems the band are attempting a grungier, heavier rock image and are trying to shed the pop rock vibe they held throughout the mid 2000’s. The tracks on Weapons are all titled to fit this harder image and you expect the songs to have that real punk, heavy, nearly metal rock sound, but sadly, the album doesn’t quite make it.

The first song on the album and the first song to be released onto the radio is Bring Em Down. It’s a song which seems to be literally about bringing people down. I always feel the first song off the album should point the direction of the overall feel for the record, but Bring Em Down only confused me. It’s like half the song is headed for the darker, grungier look, but the other half is holding on to the remains of the pop rock emo thing of the last decade. And let’s be honest, that look and sound is so 2005.

The darker tunes are given another go with A Little Reminder That I’ll Never Forget and Better off Dead, which do feature a few cool guitar rhythms but are quickly ruined by a few too many distorts and a lead singer who sounds like he is straining his voice to put in that grunge sound. It also seems Lostprophets are trying to remind everyone they are more edgy and darker with song names like We Bring an Arsenal, but you just feel they are trying too hard. 

As I said before, the pop rock isn’t quite shed, and songs such as Another Shot and Heart on Loan show this. These songs feel less forced and it is a shame Lostprophets didn’t work on getting these songs perfect. Jesus Walks (not Kanye West cover) would probably take the top spot for me; it’s the only song on the album that just feels right.

When I heard Lostprophets were coming back with a new album, I got really excited. I wanted to see what they would do and which way their music would head. But overall I’m disappointed. Lostprophets simply do not pull off the darker, grungier look, and without the emo thing going on in mainstream music anymore it seems they have lost their place. I hope this isn’t the end of Lostprophets because I feel they have something to offer the music industry, but they need to sit down and figure out exactly what that something is.