(04) Matchbox Twenty - North (2012)
"North" is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Matchbox Twenty.
Matchbox 20 never quite broke up. Rather, they simply faded away. One day, they were ubiquitous, the next, they just weren't there and they stayed hidden for the better part of a decade, cobbling together a hits album and accompanying tour in 2007 but taking their time crafting their fourth album. A full ten years separate 2012's North and its predecessor, "More Than You Think You Are", a decade gap that seems slightly shorter due to Rob Thomas' pair of solo albums and also in how Matchbox 20 pick up where they left off, spending only the briefest amount of time reckoning with pop trends that have surfaced since their last record (i.e., the disco-rock pulse of "Put Your Hands Up" and a few groove-oriented cuts that betray the influence of Maroon 5). But that doesn't necessarily mean North is a relic of the new millennium, sounding like everything else the band's ever done. Remarkably, Matchbox 20 has lightened up with age, whittling away any excess and pretension, winding up with their first album that could truly be called pop. It's a big, bright, shiny record anchored with odes to the radio and partying, its few love songs sweet and easy, not tortured. At times, the slick muscular melodicism of North recalls prime Third Eye Blind more than Matchbox 20 hooks are always pushed to the forefront, everything is wrapped in alluring gloss but Thomas possesses a warm vulnerability that always alluded Stephan Jenkins, and Matchbox 20, as a whole, is coolly, expertly professional, turning out immaculate AAA pop that still manages to have personality.
Two singles are taken so far off this album, "She's So Mean" and "Overjoyed".
Track listing
01. "Parade" (Thomas) - 4:09
02. "She's So Mean" (Thomas, Cook, Doucette) - 3:50
03. "Overjoyed" (Thomas, Cook, Doucette) - 3:07
04. "Put Your Hands Up" (Thomas) - 2:52
05. "Our Song" (Thomas) - 3:01
06. "I Will" (Thomas, Cook, Doucette) - 4:03
07. "English Town
08. "How Long" (Cook) - 2:44
09. "Radio" (Thomas, Doucette) - 3:02
10. "The Way" (Cook, Doucette) - 3:17
11. "Like Sugar" (Thomas) - 3:46
12. "Sleeping at the Wheel" (Thomas) - 3:50
Released: September 4, 2012
Genre: Pop, Rock
Length: 42:24
Label: Atlantic
Producer: Matt Serletic
Personnel
Rob Thomas - lead vocals, piano
Kyle Cook - lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "The Way"
Paul Doucette - drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, piano, backing vocals
Brian Yale - bass guitar, backing vocals
Labels:
Matchbox Twenty
0 reacties:
Een reactie posten