Hollywood Undead - Notes from the Underground (2013)
This album holds a weird place in my heart due to simply how I got it: I was given a copy of this album from a mentally insane guy who recorded God-awful raps (that I still have saved) on his phone in the bathroom of a mental hospital. He was and still is absolutely dumb as shit, but God, those raps are so unintentionally hilarious that I'm going to carry them with me for life. Now, on the subject of the album and not that neckbearded weeaboo, this album finds Hollywood Undead actually straying a bit into experimental (for them, I repeat, FOR THEM) material that doesn't always work out well, but there are little gems to be found. The old Hollywood Undead you loved/hated is still here, but attempting to think outside of the box a bit, and I respect them for that, especially given how most people shit on them for doing what they had been doing, so it feels like some of these songs were meant to show a darker, more mature side to Hollywood Undead, and the others.. Ugh.
This album is arguably their most bipolar, because one minute it's a party song with "Pigskin" with little wubwub dubstep noises in the beat, and then the next it's a very somber song from the perspective of a World War II soldier, "Rain", with Charlie Scene singing the chorus. It feels like nearly every song on here tries to do something different, but to mixed results: "Another Way Out" FUCKING SUCKS DICK. It's a track that's supposed to be all dancey and shit, with the "Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh!!" and electronic beat, but it annoys the shit out of me, and on a side note, I can't help but associate it with "Five Nights at Freddy's" due to a shitty music video a fan made for it, which, yeah, I dig "Five Nights at Freddy's" but holy shit that video was cringeworthy.
Now, some new ground that they covered that I feel is pretty good is "Up in Smoke" because it's a song about weed that -almost- sounds like a Dr. Dre beat, which is pretty fucking crazy for this band, "I Am" which is an aggressive song with a nice industrial-esque beat behind it, "Delish" which sounds like a song that'd be in an NBA game to hype you up, and perhaps most notably, "Believe", which sees the band chilling out for a bit and even letting chorus singer Daniel Murillo sing a verse, but since the album features Charlie Scene doing a fair bit of singing instead of rapping, it's a cool dynamic to have them essentially step into each other's spots from time to time.. At least to me. I also think "Five Nights at Freddy's" is cool, so keep that in mind.
When the album isn't venturing into new ground, it's staying firmly-footed on previously conquered land. "Dead Bite" is exactly what you'd expect from the opening track on a Hollywood Undead album, there are two songs called "Lion" and "We Are" that's pretty much "Young" from "Swan Songs", and really, despite it being a good tune, "One More Bottle" is pretty much "No. 5" off of "Swan Songs". I guess it's good to see them still bringing what originally brought fans in, and I understand why, but it can still get a bit tiring to hear them follow a general concept of "we need party songs, some aggressive songs, and some "epic" songs along the lines of Linkin Park" when I'd really rather just have the first two kinds of songs. I don't know, a Hollywood Undead song has never moved or inspired me to the point of considering it my personal anthem, even when I was a depressed and easily impressionable teenager.
All in all, it's what you've come to expect from Hollywood Undead with some new trims and finishes on the skirt. You probably won't leave a fan after listening to this album if you had previously disliked them, so it's pretty safe to just go with your gut-feeling on whether or not you're going to like this album, because you probably already knew before you even read this review.
7/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
