Here, The Wonder Years have grown into the rarest of bands: one whose meanings accumulate between songs.... There's so, so much to hear this time around. [22 Aug 2015, p.50]
With No Closer to Heaven, Campbell and the Wonder Years have made an album that's more mature and thoughtful than before, but no less passionate and direct, and it ranks with their finest work to date as well as suggesting this band has an interesting and exciting future ahead.
Musically, the pop-punk sound has been largely abandoned (save for, perhaps, recent single 'I Don't Like Who I Was Then') in favour of something more forceful and nuanced.
There's enough here to satiate fans--"I Don't Like Who I Was Then" is as good as their best work--but there's an underlying sense that for the first time, the Wonder Years have missed the mark.
No Closer to Heaven is an album, and a true modern day punk rock album at that. In 2015 the art of the album has been lost. In the modern dayNo Closer to Heaven is an album, and a true modern day punk rock album at that. In 2015 the art of the album has been lost. In the modern day it appears that artists think an album is just a compilation of possibly marketable singles with a common title or that have a similar lyric. No Closer to Heaven is a journey, its a story. The listener is guided through emotions and changes of pace that just carry the listener along with a hurt and passionate vocalist throughout a seamless journey that sadly at some point must come to an end.
The tracklist has its highlights for sure, the guitar riff of Cardinals stands out as an instrumental highlight. The changes of pace within Stained Glass Ceilings, and You in January sums up the passions and emotions of the album perfectly. The uniqueness of A Song for Earnest Hemingway is an great track on its own. A personal favorite being the honesty of Palm Reader, and A Song for Patsy Cline, and finally the transition from the punk rocked induced I Don't Like Who I Was Then to the softer Cigarettes & Saints is pure genius. Its why the album itself was invented.
No Closer to Heaven tells a story the way a story was meant to be to told. Stories change emotion they have highs and lows. Love, break-ups, and life has ups and downs and thats how The Wonder Years connect to their audience. They tell a relatable story through passionate vocals and through incredibly honest lyrics. The Album starts and ends soft and strong with Brothers & and the title track. In between its intro and its conclusion we feel joy, revenge, sadness, and of course anger as we feel the lyrics of each song go through our ears to our souls. Nostalgic of the Punk Pop Rock glory days of the 2000s The Wonder Years have created quite the treat with their 5th studio ALBUM.…Expand
On The Wonder Years’ fifth studio album, the band shows off a darker side of themselves. Going from crying about their own problems toOn The Wonder Years’ fifth studio album, the band shows off a darker side of themselves. Going from crying about their own problems to referencing real life struggles that real people deal with, No Closer To Heaven has moments of heartbreaking realism. Possibly the best part of the album is how everything connects. There’s a story to it comparable to My Chemical Romances’ Danger Days. It’s not an album of randomly selected and unconnected songs, but a story told throughout with recurring lyrics such as “We’re no saviors if we can’t save our brothers”. this appears twice, once in “Brothers &” and again in the bridge of “Cardinals”.
Fans of Man Overboard, Mayday Parade, The Maine, and others will appreciate the pop-punk style of music that remains unchanged from The Wonder Years’ previous albums. The title song “No Closer To Heaven” ends the album on a calmer note with it’s acoustic sound. “Cigarettes & Saints” lacks a repetitive chorus, focusing more on the story being told and remains one of the more popular songs on the album as well as one of my personal favorites.
No Closer To Heaven might be the best album The Wonder Years has produced to date. The band seems to have been gaining fame and popularity since their debut album, Get Stoked On It! arrived back in 2007. Hopefully, they won’t be stopping anytime soon.…Expand
This album starts off fantastically with the epic intro "Brothers &" building into first song proper "Cardinals" a heavy pop rock number thatThis album starts off fantastically with the epic intro "Brothers &" building into first song proper "Cardinals" a heavy pop rock number that alternates nicely between delicate precision and heavy hitting bluntness. Things improve further with track 3, "A Song For Patsy Cline", so anthemic it is a lighter in the air moment for the band. Unfortunately this is the peak of the album in my opinion and from here on in we are treated to familiar sounding punk pop by numbers - neither bad nor great. The album is highly listenable but it's a pity it didn't deliver on its exceptional early promise.…Expand
During the promotion of The Greatest Generation, The Wonder Years said that their 2013 album was sort of the ending of a trilogy. At the time,During the promotion of The Greatest Generation, The Wonder Years said that their 2013 album was sort of the ending of a trilogy. At the time, it seems like they were just talking about a narrative about growing up, which weaved itself nicely throughout the group’s first three albums. They have not changed their efforts only lyrically, but instrumentally as well.
The Pop Punk phase of The Wonder Years now seems like a thing of the past. They still have the energy that we all know and love (which is evident on tracks like ‘I Wanted So Badly to be Brave’ and ‘I Don’t Like Who I Was Then’) but there have definitely been some stylistic changes that stand out in this album. People will one day say “Remember when The Wonder Years were Pop Punk?” and that’s a very weird thing to think about. Okay, you get it…they’ve changed. Now, let’s discuss whether this change was for better or for worse.
“We’re no saviors if we can’t save our brothers” seems to be a line that was supposed to be mentioned throughout the whole album. It’s mentioned in enough songs in the first half of the album to make you think so. But after ‘Cigarettes & Saints’, we never really hear of it again. It’s a very weird decision which turned this from a “concept album” into “some concept songs”. You wouldn’t think this is a big deal, but for myself…it makes the flow of this album very muddled…something I’ve never felt about The Wonder Years before.
When it comes to the songs themselves, I’m very divisive. I love the feeling of grandeur with ‘Brothers &’ and ‘Cardinals’, but then it’s dropped in ‘A Song for Patsy Cline’ which puts me off of that track completely. Maybe if it was in another spot in the album, I would give it more love, but it’s just not really strong right here. Probably the weakest thing I could say about the album is the decision to use a guest singer (not sure who) in Stained Glass Ceilings. The whole screamo appearance didn’t really belong on this song or the rest of the album for that matter.
Lyrically, Dan Campbell is still writing some great stuff. This album has some of the most heartfelt writings this band has ever seen. Quotable lines like “Hey Hannah, don’t go. We could’ve given you such a beautiful home”, “Don’t take me home, don’t take me home, don’t take me”, and “We’re no saviors if we can’t save our brothers” make this album shine very bright. The thing that muddles is, though, is the weirdly the music. With quality music files and headphones, it’s really hard to understand Dan sometimes due to the shoddy mixing of this album. It might have been a conscious decision to mix the songs this way, but it does the album no sort of justice.
My closing thought on this album is this: No Closer To Heaven is much like The Upsides, in the way that they are both the first albums in a new era for the band. These albums are the products of the band finding out where they want to go. In no way is this a bad thing, I love The Upsides and No Closer To Heaven is growing on me after a couple of listens. But there are definitely some rough edges around these albums, which holds them down from being better. Hopefully after experimenting with new sounds and thoughts, The Wonder Years will return with a follow up that is a little more focused. I didn’t leave this album with as many chills like I did with their previous albums, but I still had an enjoyable ride.…Expand
I do not think this album is pop punk. I would say it's more general rock. Or more "emo". At this point, I am sick and tired of the leadI do not think this album is pop punk. I would say it's more general rock. Or more "emo". At this point, I am sick and tired of the lead singer's whining. The first few albums, ok, we get that you're establishing a style, but you changed your style. The Wonder Years' early songs were fast, and they were punk rock. As their sound evolved it became less and less punk. While their sound changed, their lyrics, angst and general emo-ness did not evolve. So what we get is a sad rock song with a bunch of whining. You would think that at the mid 20's stage of your life, you'd be a little less depressed. Nope.
I can understand what the Wonder Years tries to do. They try to compliment their "profound" lyrics with slower and heavier instrumentals. This just creates a churning, slow, and drawn out album full of angsty lyrics, hints of depression, and cynicism. No one wants that **** No one wants to hear a bunch of men sing about how much the world sucks.…Expand
It probably inappropriate to review an album from a musical genre that one simply does not understand. For a famous example, look up theIt probably inappropriate to review an album from a musical genre that one simply does not understand. For a famous example, look up the reviews that Rolling Stone allowed the first three or four Led Zeppelin albums during the 1969-1971 period. Oftentimes albums received poorly become classics.
Having said that, I listened to the first two songs from the recently released No Closer to Heaven by the Wonder Years. Thinking that the emo genre had thankfully gone to its grave a decade ago, there is something perverse in discovering its revival of sorts.
The whine. The self-pity. The mistake notion that the world owes me something it hasn't given? Will
recordings of this nature become classics in the years to come?
In as few words as possible: obnoxious, repellent, execrable.…Expand
