This album received a slamming from both reviewers and fans alike, and I definitely wasn't looking forward to it after the let down that was Relentless. In fact, it wasn't until some months down the line from release that I actually bothered to listen to it... and though met with the same shock that many felt, I was also pleasantly surprised.
Let's get something straight: this is no Changes (FTFD's debut LP). And no, it never will be. And I imagine the band will never release another album like that. The problem seems to be that so many people go in expecting Changes because it was an album of such promise, and is considered a hallmark of melodic hardcore/metalcore... and they're disappointed when they realise the band is changing. Shying away from the new ground their first album broke is certainly a change for the worse, but by no means is Back Burner a bad release in itself when looked at separately.
Okay, yes, it seems quite watered-down and simplified in many places. The turn to cheesy clean vocals to provide more an element of melody doesn't help, and the album almost feels like a guilty pleasure. It's catchy, fun, anthematic and heavy, and though mindless at times it's still an entertaining listen. Fact is, in my opinion Back Burner is the band's most instrumentally-solid album to date, and if the clean vocals were dropped it would certainly trump all their previous releases.
Changes itself wasn't even that solid, with only a handful of epic tracks actually standing out. This album makes Relentless sound like B-sides and it seems like the band managed to refine the sound they were trying to reach with it, and though it's not the follow-up to the first album we all longed for, it's a new path for the band with new a vocalist and songwriter that you need to learn to quit whining about and accept.
Back BurnerReleased: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Melodic Metalcore/Post-Hardcore
"The Big Empty" music video
"Say What You Will"
FFO: The Ghost Inside, The Plot In You, A Day To Remember
