Andrew W.K., You're Not Alone - Album review
Andrew W.K. has always had that same mantra - 'to party is to exist, and to exist is to party'.
He has made an entire career out of it. That super-hit played at rock clubs the world over - Party Hard - pretty much sums up his ideas.
On this, not much has changed.
Musically we have progressed a bit. We are really aiming for that classic stadium rock feel. Uplifting choruses, big riffs and a lot of pounding percussion. But those Halloween-metal vibes of Iron Maiden or sometimes Saxon are also present.
In a nutshell, if School of Rock starring Jack Black had been based during America's favourite dress-up holiday, it would sound like this.
He said of this record: "I’m going for the sound of pure, unadulterated power; every emotion, every thought, every experience, every sensation, every fear, every joy, every clarity, every confusion, every up, every down."
It is a shame, then, that much of it seems to lack meaningful substance.
The big choruses of Ever Again, their hopeful nature and harmonised backing vocals, do hit their mark.
Elsewhere, there is some feeling in the softer keys approach of Beyond Oblivion, even if it at times sounds like it's about to break into Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
But a 16-track album of this approach is far too long. It's going to be impossible to make every song resonate with listeners, particularly when you are just singing about partying and the 'meaning' of partying on repeat.
Keep On Going sounds like a Spinal Tap moment with its mixture of fun and volume. It's like The Muppets have been instructed to try out metal.
The Party Never Dies, too, with its church organ instrumentals over the top of the swirling guitars is just a bit...naff.
There are some heartfelt spoken interludes from Mr W.K., but even these begin to feel forced towards the end of the record.
Some of it is fun, some of it could have just been left on the drawing board.
Rating: 5/10
Andrew W.K. will bring his non-stop party to Birmingham's O2 Academy on April 15.
