Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!

by

hellogoodbye

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Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! is the perfect party album. The music is fun, upbeat, and whimsical. It begs you to dance along.

At first I was a bit apprehensive that Hellogoodbye's full-length would be too cheesy with overwhelming annoying synth and poorly crafted lyrics. I thought this whole album would mirror my initial reactions of "Call and Return" off their ep. I was pleased that none of the songs on Z!A!V!D! included one syllable words repeated to fit the desired syllable count and that keys were more sporatic. I also find the vocal effects aren't overdone, but simply make the music more enjoyable.

My favorite tracks are numbers 2 and 11 (Here in Your Arms and Two Weeks In Hawaii). Although Two Weeks in Hawaii was previously a demo downloadable online, I feel they way they revamped the song made it worth buying the album.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this album for anyone interested in having a good time or in need of something to dance to. The perfect pick me up CD.

I picked up this CD because I liked its Top 10 track "Here (In Your Arms)." While the rest of the songs aren't quite as good as that one, the album holds together pretty well with a collection of cheerful, upbeat songs that fall somewhere between rock and techno dance-pop.

Although most of the songs are guitar-type numbers, there is a surprisingly little amount of heavy guitar activity in the album. Even the songs that have a lot of guitar in them ("All Time Lows," "Homewrecker") don't feel overdone, like the electric guitar is in the spotlight. The guitars don't dominate, they support. Predominant in many of the tracks is a heavy dose of synthesizers, which, combined with the heavy beats and the cool digital effects sometimes applied to the vocals ("Here In Your Arms," "Touchdown Turnaround"), add a techno feel which is pretty cool.

"Stuck To You" and "Homewrecker" show that Hellogoodbye does a surprisingly good job with upbeat songs in a minor key. One of the middle tracks, "Baby, It's Fact," is musically a little different from the rest of the album, with a strong melody and a sycopated, classic feel which sounds so good that Hellogoodbye would do well to make more songs like it.

The lyrics are mostly lightweight pop love choruses, with a strong twenty-first century emphasis, such as in "I Saw It On Your Keyboard." With the focus on young love and the frequent modern references, Hellogoodbye is a decidedly Gen-Y band. The album doesn't end well, with a confusing "Two Weeks In Hawaii" that departs from the feel of the rest of the album without much success. Another thing that should be a kiss of death is that the album title has nothing whatsoever to do with any of the lyrics.

Bottom line: There's better music out there. "Here (In Your Arms)" and "Baby, It's Fact" were my favorites, and they're probably worth listening to sometime. But, on the whole, the lyrics don't do anything for you, and the music itself, although it's nice, isn't impressive enough to justify buying the CD. You won't be amazed. Unless this is really your style, you could probably just listen to something else.