Review by Kelly O
Track Listing
1. “Follow Me Down” (4:40)
2. “Going to Hell” (4:36)
3. “Heaven Knows” (3:44)
4. “House on a Hill” (4:39)
5. “Sweet Things” (5:04)
6. “Dear Sister” (0:56)
7. “Absolution” (4:34)
8. “Blame Me” (4:27)
9. “Burn” (1:48)
10. “Why’d You Bring a Shotgun to the Party” (3:20)
11. “Fucked Up World” (4:16)
12. “Waiting for a Friend” (3:12)
Saturday 15th March, wake to a package sitting on the mat at my door, i hadn’t ordered anything i was expected so i had a feeling it had to be Going to Hell, new and egarly awaited album by The Pretty Reckless. Love her or hate her, you have to give Taylor Momsen credit for one thing: she stands by her career choices. The twenty-year old rose to fame as an actress, mostly known for her portrayal of Jenny Humphrey on the CW’s Gossip Girl, but raised several eyebrows when she walked away from the series at its height in order to pursue a career as a hard rock singer.
Lets get down to it! The first three tracks of the album, the fans will already know, starting with follow me down, self title track going to hell and heaven knows. Even though i already knew the words to these songs, listening to from the album itself rather than youtube, gave the songs a freshness and sense of “i’ve never heard this before!” Especially with follow me down, as this song was leaked by the band themselves, for #HellMondays.
The fourth song on the album is House on a hill. This is the first unheard song on the album. MY GOD! this song is very beautiful. On first listen my eyes were filled with tears, i was completely moved by this song and its melody more than anything. I personally felt this song had quite a dark feel to it but with a beacon of hope.
Fifth song, Sweet things. Most Fans have heard this song, but only either live or acoustically. This Track screams “you cant listen to me on any volume less than loud!” This song is a constant rollercoaster, of dynamics and tempo, constantly speeding up and slowing down, getting louder and quiter more times than i think i’ve ever heard in a song before! TAYLORS SCREAMS!!! (Thats all i’ll say on that 😉 )But i love it! And we can’t let the fact that its a duet go! with lead guitarist Ben Philliphs singing parts too, which is something we only saw once on The pretty recklesses second EP ‘Hit me like a man’. Taylor and Bens vocals work together on this track, to give a creepy, dark, grimm brothers fairytale feel to the song.
Sixth track is Dear sister. Very short song, the length is only 4 seconds short of a minuet, however still very beautiful, powerful, strong song. I feel its very simple, but less is more in the case of this song!
Seven, Absolution. WELL…..after hearing previews of the album, this was one song that stuck out to me, and did not fail to disappoint (but then again TPR, never have let me down). This song featured a sexy little solo and heavy riff which instantly made me think ZEPPELIN! After only hearing a short snippet i was excited for the rest the rest of the lyrics and melody are on point!
the 8th song, Blame me. This song i feel has one of the most memerable opening verses, i just love the momentum in the vocals. I feel the lead guitar, however has a very dominant part throughout the song and i love the strenght in the sound.
Burn is the 9th Track. Simple acoustic guitar, Beautifully stong and powerful vocals, that work with and don’t over power the guitar and compliments it nicely. They keep to the idea of fire and buring, using it as a metaphor, throughout the song. Very relatable song. This is also a song many fans are also very familiar with as its, like the song Follow me down, was leaked by the band themeselves for #HellMondays
Why’d you bring a shotgun to the party, Track 10. This is a very different, sound for The pretty reckless and you can definitley hear who directly influenced the sound of this song. Marilyn Manson, was the first person to spring to mind, when listening to this song, lyrically and melodically, it reminded me through and through of Marilyn Manson. So of course its a very fun song, yet i feel it has some powerful lyrics with strong opinion (much like Manson) lyrics like “everybody’s got one theres nothing new about it, if you wannna make a statement you should of come without it” i feel this links to conformity and being who you are.
11, Fucked up world. This another song you must listen to on full blast!! actually listen to the whole album full blast!!! This song is one that made me whip my hair more than the others (i still whipped my hair for the others though) ;p This song definitley has some of my favourite lyrics such as “sex and love and guns, light a cigarette” and “aint a chain on my brain, i’m nobody’s slave” and “i got one foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave”.
the 12th track shows how much the band have grown and developed their sound through their experience and tours around the world. you can also here different influences that they dont directly explore on their previous record ‘light me up’ Waiting for a friend’ Very stong Bob Dylan sound, featuring a harmonica on the track and it just perfect! i love Bob Dylan and this song officially has a soft spot and special place in my heart, seriously! This song won’t be to many of their fans taste, i imagine being so very different to the rest of the album, but im glad they did featured this song on the album! This track,i feel would of been one the band could of potentially worried about putting out there, sounding so different, but im happy to say i think its one of my favourite.
Check out some Videos from this album:
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