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 ofDuring 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
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