Hollywood Undead - Swan Songs [Album]

A&M Records

January 13, 2009, 10:17 PM

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Hollywood Undead are another success story of the 21st century MySpace phenomena. After topping the unsigned artist listening charts in 2006, it was evident that it would only be a matter of time before a record label snapped up this six piece rap/rock outfit from sunny California.

AM/Octane records were the organization to come calling as work began for their debut album ‘Swan Songs’ with a release date of September 2nd 2008. An air of mystery surrounds Hollywood Undead, whose identity is hidden behind slipknot-esque style masks. Sadly, that’s where the similarities end with an album which isn’t quite sure what it wants to do, managing to evade itself from any particular genre. The opening track ‘Undead’ is extremely energetic, which is obviously written with a great amount of passion and shines through in the record. Arguably the best track on the album, it’s a shame the opening high standards quickly evaporate.

The majority of Hollywood Undead’s lyrics leave much to be desired with track number three ‘Everywhere I Go’ receiving special mention; "wake up, grab beer, grab rear, shave beard…gotta get drunk before my mom wakes up, break-up with my girlfriend so I can bang sluts…let’s get this party started’. Hmm. Let’s not eh? Nevertheless, with a MySpace friend count just shy of half a million, Hollywood Undead are obviously doing something right [or know how to rig the stats].

If you can bring yourself to ignore the child like lyrical content, Hollywood Undead make quite a decent attempt at playing easy listening, catchy hip-hop beats. Each track provides a unique sound ranging from the aggressive, angry ‘City’ to the soothing chorus provided on ‘Black Dahlia’. With six rappers on board, it is often difficult to distinguish who’s who. However, one sticks out like a sore thumb with a pretty poor impersonation of the talented Eminem. This proves an annoyance throughout as you find yourself urging the culprit to either do it properly or stop altogether!

With a short European tour soon to commence Hollywood Undead has successfully identified their target audience and you have to admire the passion and belief the band undoubtedly has. ‘Swan songs’ is by no means a tragedy but it isn’t exactly a classic either.

Track listing

1. Undead
2. Sell Your Soul
3. Everywhere I Go
4. No Other Place
5. No.5
6. Young
7. Black Dahlia
8. This Love, This Hate
9. Bottle And A Gun
10. California
11. City
12. The Diary
13. Pimpin’
14. Paradise Lost

Why not join the half million fans on their Myspace, your life will be so much better, honest!

http://www.myspace.com/hollywoodundead

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